Everything you need to know about Product Management 

Product management involves developing, launching, or improving a new product or service throughout its lifecycle.

A product manager is responsible for planning, developing, marketing, and delivering products to their target market. They oversee a product from concept to launch; they analyse customers’ needs, discover the product that would specifically meet their needs, and plan and map the entire product journey till development and launch. They work with different teams to ensure a product meets company goals and customer needs. 

There are processes involved in product management, and they are:- 

1. Idea Management: This stage involves gathering ideas for new products or features. This can be from a lot of sources, like customer feedback, market research or internal brainstorming. Doing market research allows product managers to identify market trends, customers’ needs, and pain points, which will enable them to create a product or add new features that address their needs for products. 
2. Defining Product: Once the idea has been identified, the product manager works with the stakeholders to determine the product requirements. This includes what the product will do, its target audience, and how it will be different from other competing products.
3. Product Roadmap: A product roadmap is a plan that outlines the development and launch of a product. It identifies the key milestones and deliverables that need to be achieved. The product roadmap is a living document that will constantly be updated as new information is learned.
4. Development and Delivery: Once a product roadmap and features have been established, the product manager works with the development team to build the product at this stage. The PM will collaborate closely with designers, developers, engineers, and stakeholders.
5. Prioritisation: Not all ideas can be implemented at once, so PMs must first prioritise which features and functionalities need to be developed. This process involves considering customers’ needs, business goals and technical feasibility.
6. Analytics and Measurement: Once a product has been launched, tracking its performance and measuring its success is important. Product managers use analytics tools to collect data on how users interact with products. This data is used to identify improvement areas and inform future product decisions.
7. Customer Feedback: Gathering and incorporating customer feedback is the most important part of the product management process. The feedback can be used to identify bugs, improve usability, and add new features. There are several ways to collect customer feedback, examples are surveys, interviews, and user testing.

Product Management is a key function in any business that wants to create and launch successful products. It can be a rewarding field and offer opportunities to make a real-life impact on a product’s success.