Tag Archives: Product Management

Top 5 Product Management Trends for 2024

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As we step into 2024, the landscape of product management is undergoing a transformative shift. Here we explore the top five product management trends that will reshape this dynamic field, providing insights for product managers to stay ahead in this rapidly evolving industry.

Product Management Trends 2024

1. The Rise of AI in Product Management

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into product management is going to be a defining trend in 2024, revolutionizing how product teams operate and deliver value to users.

Generative AI goes mainstream

AI’s integration into product management is no longer a futuristic concept. With the advancement of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, product teams are enhancing user experiences and setting new standards in software interaction. AI, particularly generative models, are going to be integrated into a wide range of products, enhancing user experiences and expectations. For example, AI can now generate creative content, offer predictive text in communication apps, or provide intelligent assistance in various software applications.

AI Automation in Product Management

AI already has and will continue to automate many routine and time-consuming tasks within product management, allowing product managers to focus on strategic areas and innovation. AI-powered tools offer wide range of capabilities from data analysis to market research to even some aspects of product design like decision-making and user experience personalization. By leveraging AI for data analysis and prediction, product managers will be able to more informed decisions. Further, AI will streamline the documentation process by drafting product requirement documents or automating report generation.

In addition to some of the traditional tools that a Product Manager must be good at, here are the top 5 AI Tools for Product Managers:

  1. Project Management – Asana, Jira, Trello
  2. Data Analytics & Marketing – Mixpanel, Amplitude
  3. Research and Documentation – ChatGPT, Google Bard
  4. Design and Wireframing – Visily AI, Uizard
  5. Support & CRM – Zeda.io, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce

Please note that there are a much much more number of AI tools available out there but these are just the few we have tried or read about.

2. Customization and Personalization through Data Analytics

Data analytics is actually nothing new and has already been revolutionizing product management by enabling personalized user experiences. But with AI support, the scale and impact of data analytics is going to increase exponentially. In 2024, customization and personalization through data analytics will become a cornerstone in product management. By analyzing user behavior, preferences, and interactions, AI-driven data analytics tools can create personalized user experiences. These tools will now go even one step further and start predicting user needs and preferences, allowing companies to proactively offer personalized content, products, or services. This is what will truly differentiate machine learning from artificial intelligence.

AI-driven data analytics has led to remarkable personalization in various products and services. Here are some more examples illustrating this trend:

  1. Netflix: Netflix uses AI-driven algorithms to analyse viewing habits and preferences and then suggest movies and TV shows tailored to individual tastes, leading to a highly personalized viewing experience.
  2. Amazon: Amazon employs AI to analyse customer purchase history, browsing patterns, and ratings. This enables them to suggest products that customers are more likely to be interested in, thereby enhancing the shopping experience.
  3. Google Maps: AI in Google Maps analyses travel patterns, search history, and location data to offer personalized route suggestions, traffic updates, and even restaurant recommendations.
  4. Grammarly: Grammarly’s AI-driven writing assistant personalizes suggestions for grammar, tone, and style based on the individual writing patterns and preferences of the user, making it a unique tool for each person.
  5. Duolingo: Duolingo uses AI to adapt its lessons to the learning style and pace of each user, providing a personalized learning path that optimizes their language acquisition process.

These examples demonstrate how AI-driven data analytics has become integral in creating personalized experiences across various industries, catering to the unique preferences and behaviours of individual users. With recent advancements in AI this personalization is going to get more sophisticated across various fields.

3. Smaller and More Effective Teams

The economic landscape, especially post-pandemic, has led many companies to reevaluate their workforce strategies. With the tech industry experiencing mass layoffs and hiring slowdowns, organizations have had to adapt by creating smaller but more agile teams. 2024 sees a trend towards smaller, more agile product teams, driven by economic challenges and a shift in work dynamics, including remote working. These compact teams are proving to be more efficient, fostering faster decision-making and more focused product development. Advancements in technology, particularly in collaboration and project management tools, have significantly supported the functioning of smaller teams. Tools like Slack, Asana, and Trello facilitate seamless communication and project tracking, enabling teams to stay connected and organized despite their size.

Smaller teams are also a response to cost-cutting measures, as organizations strive to maintain productivity with fewer resources.

The Benefits of Smaller Teams

  • Increased Flexibility and Agility: With fewer members, teams can pivot and adapt to changes more quickly, an essential trait in the fast-paced technology sector.
  • Enhanced Collaboration and Communication: Smaller teams often experience better communication dynamics, leading to more cohesive and aligned efforts.
  • Quicker Decision Making: With fewer people involved, decision-making processes tend to be faster and more efficient, accelerating the product development lifecycle.
  • Greater Ownership and Responsibility: Team members in smaller groups often have a clearer understanding of their roles and are more invested in the success of the project.

The Challenges of Smaller Teams

  • Increased Workload: Each team member might have a broader range of responsibilities, which can be demanding.
  • Skill Gaps: Smaller teams might lack certain specialized skills that larger teams possess.

Implementing effective time management and prioritization strategies can help manage workload efficiently. In addition, cross-training and upskilling become will be crucial, allowing team members to acquire a diverse set of skills to cover various aspects of product management. This also leads to our next trend of the evolution of a Product manager.

4. The Evolving Role of the Product Manager

Product managers are now expected to possess a diverse skill set, extending beyond traditional boundaries. In 2024, the role of the product manager is more dynamic and multifaceted than ever before, reflecting the fast-paced and continuously evolving tech landscape.

  • Beyond Core Product Management: The modern product manager’s role goes beyond traditional boundaries of managing the product lifecycle. It now includes elements of UX design, marketing, data analytics, and even customer success.
  • Collaboration Across Departments: With teams becoming smaller and more integrated, product managers often find themselves working closely with marketing, sales, and customer support teams. This requires a good understanding of these domains to ensure coherent strategy and execution.
  • Technical Acumen: Product managers are increasingly expected to have a strong grasp of the technical aspects of their products. This doesn’t mean they need to be experts in coding, but a solid understanding of the technology stack and the capabilities and limitations it brings is crucial.
  • Adapting to New Technologies: As new technologies emerge, product managers need to stay informed and competent in their use. This might include AI tools, data analytics software, and modern project management platforms.
  • Lifelong Learning: Continuous learning is key, whether through formal education, online courses, or on-the-job training. This helps product managers stay relevant and effective in their roles.

5.Prioritizing Cybersecurity and Ethical Product Development

In 2024, with technological advancements, the focus on cybersecurity and ethical considerations in product development has become more critical than ever before. This is driven by the increasing digitization of products and services, the prevalence of data breaches, and a growing awareness of ethical implications in technology.

Cybersecurity in Product Management

Product managers must integrate robust security measures at every product development stage, from ideation to the very last stages of even shutting down a product, to protect user data and maintain trust.

  • Security by Design: Cybersecurity is no longer an afterthought but an integral part of the product design process. This approach ensures that products are built with security measures from the ground up.
  • Risk Assessment and Management: Regular risk assessments are vital to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities. This includes vulnerability scanning, threat modelling, and implementing appropriate security protocols.
  • Compliance with Data Protection Regulations: With stringent data protection laws like GDPR and CCPA, product managers must ensure their products comply with these regulations to avoid legal repercussions and build trust with users.

Ethical Considerations in Product Management

  • Data Privacy and Consent: Product managers would need to be more considerate of respecting user privacy and ensuring that data is collected and used with consent. This includes clear privacy policies and user controls over their data.
  • Inclusivity and Accessibility: Products should be designed with inclusivity in mind, ensuring accessibility for all users, regardless of their abilities or backgrounds.
  • Transparency in AI and Algorithms: With the rise of AI, there’s a need for transparency in how algorithms make decisions, especially to avoid biases and ensure fair treatment of all users.

The pace at which the technological landscape is evolving is unprecedented and there will be many more trends that will emerge in the future. Let us know in the comments your thoughts on the above trends or any other upcoming trend in the field of product management.

How to break into Product Management?

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So, you think you can manage product? Product management is one of the fastest growing professions right now with ~32% growth from 2017 to 2019. And just like it is with anything in the growth phase, everybody wants to get in on the action. 

However, product management has still not gone mainstream yet. A lot of us (including myself) are not even aware of this profession until we come across a product manager. And by the time we get to know, understand and fall in love with product management, it might already have been too late. We might have taken a different course during graduation or already started our career in a different domain. And thus, many of us are left wondering “How to break into Product Management?”

Get into Product Management

Why Product Management?

If you are here reading about breaking into product management, then I can safely assume that you have a good idea of what product management is, what does a product manager do, and you are excited about pursuing product management as a career. However, I have seen a lot of people get fancied by wrong stereotypes or myths and thus deciding to get into product management. So, just a quick heads up before we start – 

1. “You are not going to be the CEO of your product”

You are not going to be the sole decision maker (especially in MNCs) and will have to take inputs from probably 10 different teams. It’s not gonna be like whatever you think of gets build.

2. You will be held accountable for anything that goes wrong

Though you are not the sole decision maker of your product, you will have to take responsibility (directly or indirectly, fully or partially) of your product’s failure. Also, you may not always get recognized (or at least will have to share credit) when your product delivers successfully. 

3. You will have to multitask

You’ll be making long term strategic decisions and at the same time firefighting 10 different day to day issues. So, don’t ever think of giving excuses like “I am not able to focus because of context switch”. 

Note – Getting into any profession mainly has 2 key steps – 
1. Getting shortlisted for the interview 
2. Acing the interview
Here we try to focus more on the “getting shortlisted for the interview” part of breaking into product management. To learn more about what skills you may need to actually ace the interview refer to our post on Top 10 product management skills.

Who are you?

Now, there is no one size fits all guide for breaking into product management. Depending on where you are right now in your professional journey you may have a different path to product management. 

Fresher (Recent college graduate) 

You have just recently finished college and have no (or very less) work experience.

1. Practise Practise Practise

This holds true for almost any profession. The more you practise the better you’ll get at the product management.

a. Try to think from multiple point of views 

  • User (How does the product adds value to the user),
  • Business (How does the product helps generate revenue), 
  • Technology (Tech feasibility, complexity and scale of your product)

b. Pick your most frequently used apps (or websites). Assume that you are a product manager there and try to come up with –

  • 10 things you would like to improve about that app
  • 10 things you really like about that app which you think are unique about it

2. Awareness of basic Product Management concepts 

Familiarize yourself with the basic product management concepts like PRD, MVP, Sprint, Wireframes, User stories etc. May be do an online course related to product management. However, don’t yet go too deep into the theoretical concepts. The idea is just that you are able to understand and follow the discussion if these terms come up in a discussion somewhere and don’t end up feeling totally lost.

3. Build something 

Showcase your passion and, in a way, prove yourself.

a. Make your own website

This is a highly underrated exercise. Don’t worry too much about the content to begin with. Just think of it as your online CV (curriculum vitae). Put whatever information is in you CV on your website. The simple process of designing the website, structuring the site directory would give you (as a fresher) immense clarity on what lies ahead on the road to product management. You’ll realize that there is a thought process behind even the simplest of the things like font, font size, button color etc.

b. Make your own app

Since we are living in a mobile world, this is the need of the hour. There is an app for almost everything nowadays. There are many platforms like Appy Pie, Andromo etc. which let you create your own app quickly without much technical (or coding) knowledge. This would again give you clarity of thought and structure in terms of what the user flow should be, how to arrange information, should you show all information on one page or split it into multiple steps etc. And besides everything else, this is actually quite fun.

4. Communication skills 

Though there are a lot of skills required for product management, communication skills stand out for a fresher as you probably don’t have many projects to showcase your skills yet. And thus, your communication skills are your biggest ally to convey your ideas and thoughts to the interviewer. For other important product management skills, refer to the “Top 10 skills that every product manager must be good at”.

5. Internship

If you can get a few months internship in a product management role, go for it. You can easily find out internship opportunities on almost every job search platform. Although I’m not a big fan of unpaid internships, but if it’s a good role (or a brand), then I would suggest not to make stipend (salary) as a big mental roadblock and just go for it. Think of these few months as a long-term investment in your future.

6. Referrals

You are much more likely to get an interview call if you are referred by an existing employee vs if you applied online. Also, as a fresher, chances are that your CV would most likely get filtered by bots (due to lack of experience) if you just apply online on the company website. So, reach out to your network of friends, family, school / college alumni and just shamelessly ask for a referral. It’s not a big deal.

Working professional in Engineering, Design, QA or Analytics 

You are at an advantage here as most probably you already know how product management works. Being part of Engineering, Design, QA or Analytics, you must have already spent a good amount of time with product managers in your company and thus have a much better and realistic understanding of the role.

It’s much much easier for you to transition into product management within your current org. Even if you don’t like the PM org in your current company or don’t plan to stay at your current company for long, just stick around and transition into product management first. Take whatever project you are getting as a product manager. Just get stamped as a product manager once. Because there is a basic flaw in how the recruitment happens in majority of the companies – your most recent designation matters the most during recruitment.

Just be very open and transparent with your manager that you want to get into product management. A lot of employers (or managers) appreciate it when employees are clear and honest about their career aspirations. If you have stayed a few years in your current company (in any of the above roles) then transitioning to product management is more of a question of relationship management rather than skills.

Give it time. My view is to give it around 6-12 months. If your manager can’t get you a full-time PM role in this time, then it’s clear that you are being taken for a ride and it makes more sense to start exploring outside your current company. But hey, hopefully by now you have got at least one product management gig and can mention yourself as a product manager in your CV (We all exaggerate in our CV. That’s a fact. Don’t judge me).

Working professional in some other domain

You are probably working in a profile which has no (or very little) overlap with product management, let say Accounting, Sales or HR.  Now, this is a career shift we are talking about. First of all, kudos to you for at least acknowledging it to yourself that you want to make this shift. You may have to let go of the work experience and seniority that comes with it. It may involve a pay cut as well.

Please me mentally prepared that it is going to be relatively tough for you to get into product management (due to the basic flow in recruitment practices we talked about earlier). Once you have made up your mind about getting into product management, then the steps for you are pretty much similar to what we discussed for a fresher above (because like it or not, you are a fresher when it comes to product management).

Please note that these were just some of the non-conventional practices to break into product management. You still have a lot more to do with respect to actually honing your product management skills and acing that interview once you get a call. Let us know in the comments your thoughts on the above steps or if you have any more ideas about breaking into product management that may help aspiring product managers in future.

How to explain Product Management to your parents?

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Let’s be honest, as a product manager, you find yourself in a really tough spot when your friends and family ask you that dreaded question – “So, what does a product manager do?”. Heck, people within the tech domain also can’t properly explain what Product Management is and what does a product manager do? And a lot of times, product managers themselves can’t properly explain what they do (and thus, the high level of Impostor Syndrome among product managers). Over the years, I have (or at least I think I have) been able to successfully explain my job role to my mother. So here is my 2 cents to fellow product managers trying to explain their job to the world without feeling like a total con man.

Explain Product Management to Parents

P.S. Our assumption here is that we are dealing with someone who isn’t familiar with the know-how of the tech world. And thus, at times, some of the concepts below may seem too obvious to you but try to think of it from the perspective of a complete outsider.

Step 1 – The “short and simple” explanation

Don’t overload your family with complex Product Management concepts at the beginning itself. They won’t get it in the first attempt for sure. Don’t even think of bringing up that Venn diagram where Product manager sits at the intersection of business, design and technology. Just give them a simple and short explanation to build some credibility and comfort first. For me, during the initial few years, the go-to answer has been “I make Software”. I know that it is not entirely accurate as product managers don’t code but at the same time it is not completely false as well since product managers do help create software by defining what the software should do.

Next, sooner or later, you’ll be asked some variation of “But you don’t code. So how do you make software then?”. Time for step 2.

Step 2 – Explain how Software is made

Now, without getting into too many details, you just have to communicate the concept of how a software is made. I usually explain it as –

  1. There should be someone who can define what the software should do. For e.g. – should it help you buy stuff online, book a cab or watch a movie etc. These are the product managers. 
  2. There should be someone who can actually write the code to create the software as per the requirements defined above. These are the software engineers.

To make it simple, try to use an analogy with some other profession which is more relatable to them. I usually use one of the below 2 –

Making a movie

  • There are “Actors”, who act and are the face of the movie for most of the people. And then,
  • There are “Directors”, who decides the storyline, cast the actor, guides them and works with them to make sure that everyone plays their role to perfection.

A product manager is more like a “Director” for the software.

House Construction

  • There is an architect who designs the blueprint of a building – how many floors it should have, how many rooms should each floor have, size of each room, where should the kitchen be etc. etc. And then,
  • There are contractors who, along with their team, carries out the task of actually building the house as per the architect’s design. 

A product manager is more like an architect in this example.

Feel free to use any other profession if it helps your case.

Step 3 – Time for the details 

Now that you have briefly explained your role as a product manager, it’s time to get into the finer details of product management. Now you have to try and explain your product (aka Software) to your family. There is no set framework for this. However, it would really help your case if they have already used your product (or a competitor’s product) in some capacity. If not, then try to make them use your product if possible. Next, try and explain them –

  • Who are the users of your product?
  • What problem does your product solve?
  • Most importantly, how does your company make money (or plan to make money) through this product?

However, just try to keep things at a high level without getting into too many details. Remember, you are not trying to hire them for your team. You are just trying to explain your work life (which is at least one-third of your life) to them so that you both can connect better and have much more meaningful conversations. And believe you me, when you get to a state where you can freely talk about your work with your family, it brings a totally different level of satisfaction and peace of mind.

P.S. The above steps got the job done for me in the past. They are not guaranteed to work with every individual. However, it’s worth a shot.

Did you find this helpful? Is there some other approach that has worked for you to explain product management? Let us know in the comments or through our social media. 

8 User Experience (UX) design LinkedIn does wrong

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With over 700 million users and monthly active users (MAU) of over 300 million, LinkedIn is one of the top social media platforms. In today’s world of social media overload, LinkedIn has been able to carve a unique niche for itself in the form of “networking for professionals”. However, LinkedIn’s user experience (UX) has not evolved much over the years and LinkedIn has been winning primarily because of lack of decent competition. If LinkedIn focus more on its UX game, will it be able to better tackle the growing competition from Indeed, Glassdoor and other similar platforms? Will it be able to drive more engagement and user growth? Let’s discuss the top 8 user experience (UX) design that LinkedIn does wrong.

User Experiene (UX) design
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Top 10 Product Management Skills

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What does it take to be a good Product Manager? This is a question that has troubled mankind for decades(maybe). Product Management as a domain is still evolving and is one of the few domains which has not yet been transformed into an exact science. You think of ‘Marketing’ and immediately Philip Kotler’s name comes to mind as a marketing leader. Investment enthusiasts have got a great deal to learn from Warren Buffett and his investment principles. Core tech world has got their Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg etc. But when it comes to Product Management, there is no general consensus on a ‘leader’ of the domain. And thus, there are no role models / benchmarks for aspiring Product Managers to follow and learn from. So, let’s discuss the top 10 Product Management skills that every Product Manager must be good at (in no specific order).

Skils
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Product Delight – The journey from Good to Great Products

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We, as product managers, put in a lot of effort in terms doing market research, competitive reviews or taking user feedback to come up with the best version of our product for our customers. But, it is also true that everybody does these things and probably that’s the reason why 80% of most of the products look exactly similar to the competition (some sort of Nash equilibrium equivalent of the Product management world). For e.g. – majority of the apps in the ecommerce industry look similar. And in such a scenario, how can we expect loyalty from our customers? How can we expect them to be our brand ambassadors in their local circle of influence? The answer lies in “Product Delight”.

Product Delight
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What if the Avengers were Product Manager?

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A Product Manager has one of the most broadest and vaguest job description ever. There are product managers with completely different set of skills and still equally successful. There are companies where product managers are just a “cog in the wheel” and then there are companies where product managers are “the wheel”. We, as product managers, often like to think of ourselves as “the CEO of the Product” or “the one wearing multiple hats” and many other similar buzzwords. In our own world, we are nothing less than a superhero. So, let’s take this fantasy a step forward and figure out “What if the Avengers were Product Manager?”

Avengers - Iron man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk
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Top 9 User Experience (UX) design Twitter does wrong

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With a total user base of 1.3 billion comprising of monthly active users (MAU) of 330 million and daily active users (DAU) of 145 million, Twitter is one of the top social media platforms. Twitter became a hit soon after it’s launch because it brought a radical shift in the content game. You no more need to write 1000s words long blogs/articles to get your point across and don’t need to worry about getting decent exposure. Twitter made everybody a content creator. However, user experience (UX) is not considered to be one of Twitter’s forte and one can say that Twitter is winning the game primarily on the basis of content and engagement. What if Twitter ups its UX game? Could it drive more engagement and user growth? Let’s discuss the top 9 user experience designs that Twitter does wrong.

User Experience design
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Top 5 Product management tools every Product Manager must be good at

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In the current digital and remote working age, we are increasingly reliant on a lot of digital tools to get our job done. Companies are now migrating to digital solutions for processes that have been manual for decades. With time, these tools have evolved from just being a helping hand to an absolute must in their field. Different teams have their own unique requirements and thus their own set of favourite tools. Let’s discuss the top 5 product management tools that every Product Manager must be good at.

Multitasking manager
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5 User Experience (UX) design Instagram does wrong

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Instagram is the 6th most popular social network in the world and we spend a good amount of time daily on Instagram. Instagram is often praised for its UX design which has made it a hit among youngsters. However, there are quite a few UX design principles / standards that Instagram breaks regularly. Is this something that differentiates Instagram from the rest or is this a missed opportunity by Instagram? Let’s discuss the 5 User Experience design that Instagram does wrong.

User Experience - Preview Image
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