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From Developer to Product Manager: The Hard Parts

From Developer to Product Manager: The Hard Parts

I have been working as a front-end developer for ten years. In 2018 I changed my role after spending a few years working closely with product managers. It was something I liked and was already exploring back then. In these slides I share the main three problems I struggled with during the transition.

This was presented on March 31 at a Codemotion Webinar.

Fernando Agüero

March 31, 2020
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  1. A podcast where we look at how tech companies work

    from the inside. inprogressshow.com
  2. Tactical Strategical Tactical Types of work done Operational Short-term activities

    like: - Scoping work - Crunching data to decide what to build next - Work with developers and designers
  3. Operational Connecting strategy and tactical work: - Roadmaps - Aligning

    teams Strategical Tactical Operational Types of work done
  4. Strategical - Positioning the product and the company. - Planning

    long-term. Strategical Tactical Operational Types of work done
  5. The Waiter The most common type of PM CEO requests

    Sales requests Marketing requests Customer requests
  6. Associate PM 50% Strategic - 50% Operational The Career Path

    PM Senior PM Director of product Manage people VP of product CPO Chair in directive board Product line First level of people management
  7. • You main job is to explore, define and communicate

    why you should build it. Owning the why • You main job is not to tell your team what to build.
  8. • Our brains love to think in terms of solutions.

    Focusing on the problems • When someone is talking about the problem using solutions, your job is to get to the root of the problem.
  9. Focusing on the problems Problem exploration User research Understanding the

    context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it
  10. Focusing on the problems Solution exploration Problem exploration User research

    User testing Understanding the context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it • MVP = learn • Showing a prototype • Running experiments
  11. Solution exploration Problem exploration User research User testing Understanding the

    context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it • MVP = learn • Showing a prototype • Running experiments WARNING Focusing on the problems
  12. Solution exploration Problem exploration User research User testing Understanding the

    context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it • MVP = learn • Showing a prototype • Running experiments JUST GUESSING Focusing on the problems
  13. Communicating the why There is not better way to understand

    the problem that to see the user frustration it with your own eyes
  14. Communicating the why Invite the rest of your team to

    your sessions and calls with customers
  15. Once we understand the why, we need to connect it

    with the what Communicating the why
  16. Story mapping consists of ordering user stories along two independent

    dimensions: activities and implementation Communicating the why
  17. Try story mapping with your team when designing a complex

    feature or flow Communicating the why
  18. Are we using our time the best as we can?

    3. DECIDING WHAT TO BUILD
  19. • There are frameworks we can use to decide what

    to build: benefits mapping, Kano model, etc. Deciding what to build • We need to be aware of doing only components optimization.
  20. Deciding what to build Features Strategy A strategy is on

    top of features, it’s focused on goals and vision Feat. 1 Feat. 2 Feat. 3 Feat. N
  21. Deciding what to build Features Strategy A strategy is on

    top of features, it’s focused on goals and vision Feat. 1 Feat. 2 Feat. 3 Feat. N Feat. X Nice to have Feat. Y Just a small thing ®