Product Management & Roadmapping Best Practices

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Why Strategic Product Teams Focus on Outcome-Based Roadmaps

When product teams use roadmaps as checklists, they reduce roadmaps to a formality, not a strategic tool. They make mechanical updates or even abandon roadmaps altogether. But strategic product teams that focus outcome-based (or ‘outcome-driven’) roadmaps have, uncoincidentally, better long-term outcomes. Instead of checking boxes as work is done, these teams align on long-term objectives. […]

Making Sense of Planning in an Agile World

“But we’re agile. We don’t plan.” If you’ve ever worked with an agile team, chances are you’ve heard this excuse. However, even agile teams need a disciplined…
How to Foster a Culture of Gratitude

As we head into a new year, we tend to talk more about gratitude. We talk about what we’re grateful for in our own lives, and often…
Why Transparency Matters When Prioritizing Product Features

Product management is about making informed, strategic decisions and ensuring product aligns with organizational goals and customer needs. But a product manager’s duties don’t begin and end…
5 Product Marketing Lessons I Learned at INBOUND 2018

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending HubSpot’s INBOUND conference in Boston. The conference marked my first trip to Boston (go Sox!) and was a delightful…
4 Themes to Take Away From Mind the Product 2018

Mind the Product has certainly established itself as a premier event for product people to connect, share, and learn from their peers. For 6 years now, the…
4 Myths About Scaling Your Business

When I joined Sonos in 2005, I was the only software product manager. The company, known for its wireless smart speakers, was founded 3 years earlier and…
Product Management Lessons I’ve Learned From Cave Diving

After working in the product management space for a few years, I realized that I needed to take some classic product management advice and apply it to…
Define Your Own Product Management Career Path

Many companies provide a single career path up the proverbial corporate ladder where the only way to get ahead is by moving up in the title, rung…
Getting to the MVP: 5 Tips for Launching New Products

There’s no universally effective plan for launching new products. So, here are the five most valuable lessons I’ve learned.
Four Steps to Creating a Strategy-Based Team Roadmap: Why Starting with Vision Matters

Keep your eyes focused on the bigger, strategic picture, wave your flag proudly, and make sure everyone is following you on your path to success with a…
#prodmgmt: 2017’s Most Interesting Product Management Tweets

At ProductPlan, we’re lucky to work with product managers on a regular basis. One thing we’ve noticed is that product managers are pretty avid consumers of content:…
Environments, Teams, and Success in the Product System

This blog follows up on a previous post introducing the concept of systems thinking for product managers. Both posts feature a recent conversation between veteran product manager…
A Guide to Assembling a Product Roadmap

Why Do Product Managers Assemble a Roadmap? As a product manager (PM), you need to know where you are, where you’re going, and what needs to be…
12 Product Managers Lessons You Can Learn from Kids

You’ve carefully curated your product management career trajectory. You’re a full-grown professional with valuable life experience. You know what makes a great product manager and you’ve carefully…
Mastering Communication: Why Product Managers Should Understand Personality Types

A cornerstone of being a successful product manager is effective communication. Given the number of individuals, teams, and stakeholders a product manager interfaces with on a regular…
Atlassian Summit 2017: 8 Event Takeaways for Product Managers

This week, more than 3,500 attendees from 50 different countries arrived in San Jose, California for the 2017 Atlassian Summit. Events like these are an excellent opportunity…
What I Learned From My Product Management Internship

Product management isn’t a very well-known occupation—at least among college students. On top of that, it seems like unless someone has been a product manager or has…
2017 Product Planning Survey: The Results are In!

ProductPlan asked product managers from hundreds of companies about their product planning process. We collected their responses and crunched the numbers to give you an exciting glimpse…
Misfits, Geniuses, and Ringleaders: Why Product Management May Be Perfect for You

This article is for recent graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset who are thinking about what would be the perfect job for them. It’s also for people thinking…
Marc Foglino on Bringing a Mobile Payments Product to Market at Amazon

In this episode of Product Lessons Learned, Marc Foglino (formerly of Amazon, Telefónica and Samsung) walks us through the process of launching a mobile payments product in…
A Non-Designer’s Guide for Hiring a UX Designer

Technology and design are in the midst of an exciting crossroads, where businesses are becoming aware that the products and services they provide, no matter how innovative,…
Product Lessons Learned: Interview with Hassan Khajeh-Hosseini, Co-Founder of AbarCloud

This post is part of a series of interviews that we are conducting with product leaders across various industries. In this interview series, product leaders share advice…
Building a Software Company: A Conversation With Jim Semick

We recently teamed up with Pivotal Tracker and Notion to host a product management networking event in Los Angeles called “Product Stack”. Over drinks and snacks at…
5 Ways to Become a Better Product Advocate Within Your Company

I recently did a webinar with Pragmatic Marketing on the topic of thought leadership for product managers. One of the most interesting questions I received from our…
Data-Driven Product Roadmaps: Choosing the Right Metrics

Developing an effective product roadmap requires more than a product manager’s intuition and vision, although those elements are crucial. But equally important for an effective roadmap will…
Product Lessons Learned: Interview With Chris Leckie, Product Design Director at FanDuel

This post is part of a series of interviews that we are conducting with product leaders across various industries. In this interview series, product leaders share their…
A Customer Journey Map of the ProductPlan First Time User Experience

How do you make a customer journey map for a first-time user experience? Let’s show you how to develop the right customer journey map.
5 Hidden Prioritization Pitfalls That Product Managers Should Avoid

Product management can often be a difficult balancing act, in which you find yourself constantly trying to satisfy many competing agendas for your product. Your sales team…
Product Management Lessons: Interview With Brian Crofts, VP of Product at Namely

This post is part of a series of interviews that we are conducting with product leaders across various industries. In this interview series, product leaders share their product…
Product Managers: Are you a Thought Leader or Follower?

I was recently featured on a Pragmatic Marketing webinar about how product managers can become thought leaders. There was a very active Q&A at the end of…
Product Lessons Learned: Interview With Julie Cabinaw, VP of Sales & Marketing Technology & Innovation at Scentsy

This post is part of a series of interviews that we are conducting with product leaders across various industries. In this interview series, product leaders share their…
Our Most Popular Product Management Articles in 2016

As 2016 comes to an end, we’ve looked back and reviewed over 70 product management articles that we’ve written and published on our blog this year. Most…
How to Build an IoT Product Roadmap

Let’s face it. Building an IoT product roadmap is hard — much harder than building roadmaps for “normal” technology products. That’s because IoT products are complex systems.…
Product Lessons Learned: Interview With Lea Hickman, VP of Product Management, InVision

This post is part of our product lessons learned series of interviews that we are conducting with product leaders across various industries. In this interview series, product…
Product Management Chalk Talk: How Do I Build Shared Understanding?

One of the central roles of a product manager is to drive shared understanding. With shared understanding, a team is more effective, resilient, and creative. Alignment without…
The 5 Ways to Know if Your Product Idea is a Winner

Thousands of new products launch every month. Yet only a fraction of those gets enough traction to be considered successful. Of course, there are the exceptions —…