Frequent Product Questions

What is a quarterly planning event and how could I run one?

What is a Quarterly Planning event?

Quarterly planning is an event where teams who have work that build towards a desired outcome and their stakeholders get together and discuss their plans for the next three months.

How should I start a tech product delivery?

Getting started on your tech product delivery shouldn’t take long – rarely longer than a week. It is more than just diving in, though. Taking the time to prepare now will save you time, effort and aggravation later on many times over.

How can I write a good tech product manager CV?

People who work in product are an ambitious lot. There should be no surprise here as they are constantly looking to build something release it and think about how to improve it. Their career is likely to be built on this same principle.

How should I interview a tech product manager?

We’ve put together a few of our favourite questions for potential tech product manager hires. Whilst not exhaustive, you can use this as a basis for getting a good conversation started with a candidate. This is aimed mainly at seasoned or experienced product managers, new entrants in to the field may need a bit of an easier time, though many of the questions are still relevant.

What's the difference between an internal and external product?

Ed talks to Niko Vijayaratnam about the difference between an internal and external tech product.

How can I scale a digital business?

There is a large difference between start up and scale up. The organisations will have very different characteristics. Moving from one to another won’t happen overnight, sometimes you only realise you have transitioned when you are well into the change. Here’s some things to look out for.

What is a digital product experiment?

A major shift in tech delivering tech product has been achieved with the concept of rapid experimentation.

What is a moonshot?

Referring to JFK’s 1961 speech in which he said “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth”, the moonshot has become tech product legend. So what is it and why does it matter?

What is a tech product roadmap?

Most companies will want some form of predictability about what is going to happen, what they will get and especially what they will get for their money in terms of return on investment.

What is a proxy product owner?

The term proxy product owner is common in many agile environments, but what is it, why does it exist and is it useful?

How can product managers make the time to run experiments?

Thanks to Ollie Killinger who got in touch to ask how product managers can make the time to run experiments.

Watch the video here.

How do I write an agile business strategy?

Actually, instead of asking the question “How do I write an agile business strategy?’, what we really should be asking is “How can I make a business strategy agile?”. Let’s explore why.

How can I gather the information to build a tech product strategy?

A good tech product is derived from the guidance of a good business strategy. Building a business strategy needs good analysis tools. There’s loads to choose from so we’ve picked some oldies but goodies and some newer tools here too, all of them helping you get the info you need to make the informed decisions needed to get off on the right foot.

How does Conway’s Law apply to Tech Product?

Firstly, what is Conway’s Law? Well, according to Wikipedia, Melvin Conway said in 1967 that:

Any organisation that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organisation’s communication structure.

What are lead and lag indicators?

Lead and lag indicators are helpful in getting you to realise your vision and outcomes, keep on track and give confidence to those around you.

What’s an ‘Individual Contributor’?

The phrase ‘Individual Contributor’ is having a resurgence. It’s another phrase that’s not new. It’s largely being used as the Amazon and Google favoured Single Threaded Owner model gets more widely adopted. So, what is it and why does it matter?

What's the difference between a target and an outcome?

Connor Hodges got in touch to ask “what’s the difference between a target and an outcome?”.

How can I measure success with OKRs?

One of the most frequent questions we get asked is how can I measure tech product success with OKRs?

Let’s build up to that answer. Firstly, let’s briefly consider the difference between a target and an outcome.

What is the biggest mistake a company can make in product management?

Quite often, the biggest mistake a company can make in product management relates to how it is set up in the first instance.

How can I use a persona to pivot?

Using a persona to pivot your product is a classic use of the tool. A scenario:

Let’s imagine Amina is the Single Threaded Owner (STO) of a puzzle app. Amina is a big fan of personas and created a couple for it when she started. The personas were instrumental in driving product decisions, which led to it being a big success.

What is a tech product persona?

We can’t possibly understand the needs of every single user or customer we have on a personal basis, so we often use a tech product persona.

What is a tech product bet?

A product bet is a simple way to capture a hunch you have about some potential value. These are sometimes used as a precursor to writing an epic user story or a user story. They follow a simple pattern.

How do I write a tech product vision?

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there. You need a vision. So, how can you write a quick, simple, effecting tech product vision?

What is an operating rhythm?

Establishing an operating rhythm is a great way to bring transparency and build trust.

Many product managers feel that their senior teams interfere with what they do. This can range from simply telling them which features the business wants next (undermining the ability to drive progress though experimentation) to constantly badgering them for more information on metrics, timelines and the like.

What's the best approach to tech product discovery?

Thanks to Katie for getting in touch and asking ‘What’s the best approach to tech product discovery?’.

What is business model innovation?

Business model innovation is the process whereby a business re-positions itself by considering why it exists and what its purpose is. This is different from product innovation which is about thinking about developing new products or services that will give you a competitive edge.

What is peak end theory?

In his 2011 book Thinking fast and slow Daniel Kahnerman unpacks the cognitive bias Peak End Theory. Peak end theory hypothesises that the experiences we have at both the peak and the end of a journey leaves a disproportionate impact on us compared to everything else.

What’s the difference between Opex and Capex?

OpEx and CapEx is terminology used often in corporations to categorise spend. Here’s a simplistic way to think about it:

What’s the difference between business owner, product manager and a product owner?

The roles of business owner, product manager and product owner are often confused, so what is the difference between them?

Why does page speed matter in tech product?

Why does page speed matter in tech product? Google ranking loves a page that loads quickly. In order to make a page load fast the product manager needs to know some basics. Every webpage goes through four stages. Let’s look at them one by one.

Why should I keep my tech product simple?

Product Managers beware! Keeping tech product simple is crucial to product success.

What is minimum viable product (MVP)?

Minimum viable product (MVP) is a useful term in tech product.

Minimum = smallest thing you can get away with

Viable = actually works

Product = provides some value

What is a lever?

In tech product you’ll often hear people ask ‘what are the levers’ they can pull to make something happen.

What is a digital company?

Think that you have to work in a ‘high-tech’ Silicon Valley start-up to work in tech product? Think again! A digital company is simply a company that interacts, transacts and enacts its business through digital channels. If you don’t think that’s you, you’re almost certainly mistaken.

How can I smash my tech product interview?

I’ve got a tech product interview. How can I smash it?

Nice work! You’ve done it. Your tech product interview is now scheduled and just a week away. Whilst every company and interviewer will be different, there are some solid things you can do to prepare. Let’s cover some of them.

What is tech product?

To establish what tech product is we need to both contrast it to something else and interpret the name.

What is the difference between vision, mission & programme?

Establishing a common language is one of the simplest ways to make progress in tech product. Often confused are the terms vision and mission, programme. What’s the difference?

What is single threaded ownership (STO)?

“Single-threaded teams” or “single-threaded ownership” as it is sometimes known, are terms that have been popularised, some say coined, by Amazon. It is a concept designed to side-step the problem of focus being diffused by unnecessary business distractions. Ultimately, the single-threaded owner becomes the leader of one deliverable, valuable, business outcome.

What is a quarterly planning event and how could I run one?

What is a Quarterly Planning event?

How should I start a tech product delivery?

How can I write a good tech product manager CV?

How should I interview a tech product manager?

What's the difference between an internal and external product?

How can I scale a digital business?

What is a digital product experiment?

What is a moonshot?

What is a tech product roadmap?

What is a proxy product owner?

How can product managers make the time to run experiments?

How do I write an agile business strategy?

How can I gather the information to build a tech product strategy?

How can I gather the information to build a tech product strategy?

How does Conway’s Law apply to Tech Product?

What are lead and lag indicators?

What’s an ‘Individual Contributor’?

What's the difference between a target and an outcome?

How can I measure success with OKRs?

What is the biggest mistake a company can make in product management?

How can I use a persona to pivot?

What is a tech product persona?

What is a tech product bet?

How do I write a tech product vision?

What is an operating rhythm?

What's the best approach to tech product discovery?

What is business model innovation?

What is peak end theory?

What’s the difference between Opex and Capex?

What’s the difference between business owner, product manager and a product owner?

Why does page speed matter in tech product?

Why should I keep my tech product simple?

What is minimum viable product (MVP)?

What is a lever?

What is a digital company?

How can I smash my tech product interview?

What is tech product?

What is the difference between vision, mission & programme?

What is single threaded ownership (STO)?

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