Role of a Product Manager

1. Understands The Market:

• Communicates with customers & prospective customers

• Conducts usability tests

• Surveys

• Keeps an ongoing record of compliments/complaints

• Actually uses the product regularly

 

2. Develops Market-Based Product Strategies:

• Research

• Is aware of, and understands, the competition

3. Creates Relevant, Usable Documentation:

• BRD: Business Requirements Document - Identifies business problems, solutions. 

• MRD: Market Requirements Document - Functional, non-functional requirements. 

• PRD: Product Requirements Document - Feature details, user interface, flow. 

• FSD: Functional Specifications Document - Engineers, screen by screen. 

• Note: Not every company uses these acronyms-or documents-in the same way!

4. Brings Product into (and out of) the Market:

• The job is to meet market demands and actually make it to market

• Realize that pioneering doesn’t always pay

Examples: Xerox’s Star computer (’81), Lycos TV (’99)

5. Develops Customer Relationships