Basic Product Management Jargons - II

Hello readers👋 Today we will learn about basic jargons used in Product Management. It is a continuation of my previous blog where I had discussed about a set of basic PM jargons. If you haven't read it here's the link - Basic Product Management Jargons - I

PRD - A Product Requirements Document (PRD) is a document which helps the development, design, marketing and sales team understand the requirements/ essential details for a product or feature. It is intended to help the team to deliver the specific needs of the target audience. Some key components of a PRD are - product overview, objectives and goals of the product/feature, Requirements, User Scenarios and Use Cases, Wireframes/Mockups, Dependencies and Constraints, Acceptance Criteria, etc. A PRD can be updated throughout the product development process.

A/B Testing - Also known as split testing or bucket testing, this is a UX research method used to compare two versions of the same feature/product to check which one performs better based on the predefined metrics. This methods draws conclusions based on actual user behavior and reduces guess work, helping teams to implement changes which cater to specific business goals. Steps performed in A/B Testing can be seen as:

1. Defining the goal
2. Hypothesis Creation (whether to keep blue button or red button on a sign up page)
3. Design variations (Atleast two)
4. Random Assignment 
5. Data Collection
6. Analysis of the results

JTBD Framework - The Jobs-to-be-done framework basically puts emphasis on what the customers really what. The main focus is not on demographics or product features but on the reasons people "hire" products to make their lives better. For example - 
When Apple launched the iPod, it wasn’t just selling a portable music player but positioned it around the job: “When I want to listen to music on the go, I want a convenient and high-quality way to do it, so I can enjoy my favorite songs anywhere.” This led to design, functionality, and messaging that made it easier for users to "carry their music library with them" and enjoy music without hassle.

MVP - MVP stands for Minimal Viable Product. It has only the core features required in a product that address the jobs to be done problem of the primary users and can be termed as the simplest version of a product. It's importance is to check the market validation for the product and whether the users are satisfied with the features. Feedbacks from the MVPs allow data-driven development with future adjustments if required. Companies save time, money and effort by using MVPs which reduces the risk of developing features which users do not value. Example -
When Dropbox started, it didn’t build a fully-fledged file-syncing platform. Instead, they created a simple video demo explaining the product concept. This MVP approach generated massive interest and validated the idea, helping them secure initial funding and attract early users without heavy upfront development.

Product Market Fit - PMF is the stage where the product successfully meets the needs/demands of their target audience and signals a strong demand for their products in the market which could lead to potential growth. When a product is a PMF it usually has these characteristics - has a high customer satisfaction and retention rate, has a unique feature which sets it apart from it's competitors, has a strong NPS score, low churn rate and high usage frequency. 
A PMF survey as known as the Sean Ellis Test, can help measure how close a product is to PMF. In this survey, customers are asked how disappointed they would be if they could not use the product anymore. 

Wireframe - It is a basic visual representation of a product's layout. It helps to understand the UX and functionality of a feature/product without getting into the design details. It is typically used in the early stages of the product development. A PM can build low-fidelity or high-fidelity wireframe depending upon the requirement of the stakeholders and other team members.

Pivot - It is a significant shift of direction in the product strategy of a company, based on the market demand, customer feedback or insights. The reason is to follow a more successful path forward when the current strategy is not giving the predicted/desired outcomes. The different types of pivot a company can make are - customer segment pivot, problem pivot, product feature pivot, revenue model pivot, technology pivot and channel pivot. 
Pivots can be risky but are important for sustainable growth and a good PMF. Decisions must always be taken after experimentation, analysis and then adapting to the new strategy.

Go-to-Market - A GTM strategy provides a roadmap for how to launch and grow a product in a new market that aligns with market demand and company goals. This basically includes defining the market, value proposition of the product, product positioning and messaging, growing the distribution and sales channels, pricing strategy, determining the success metrics and generating an operational plan. 

Feature Flags - Also known as feature toggles/switches/flippers are software development techniques which allow a developer to switch on/off a feature present in a product without deploying new code which in turn effects the visibility of the feature. They are used in various purposes like - 

• Progressive Delivery - New features are delivered to a small percentage of users to check it's impact.
• Targeted Delivery - Features are released to specific group of people who are generally termed as premium/subscribed users
• Feature Experimentation - To check different versions (A/B Testing) of a feature
• Kill Switch - Buggy features can be disabled when the issue is not fixed
• Sunsetting - Features that are no longer in use can be discarded
• Gradual Rollouts/Canary Releases - It helps to deploy a code in subsets so that quality is maintained and the precedent features are not hampered

Roadmap - It is a high-level strategic plan of action which emphasizes on the vision, goals and direction for a product over time. It provides a timeframe within which different features of a product must attain their goal/milestone. Big tasks are divided into iterations to make the work easy and manageable. Feature prioritization and progress updates are subparts that come under the umbrella of a roadmap in product management.  
Popular tools like Aha, ProductPlan, Roadmunk, Jira, and Trello provide templates to create effective roadmaps. 

 

That's all for today's read. Hope you liked it! 😊