The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 11, 2023

The customer journey is such an important tool when building your product strategy. In product-led growth, its importance is even more significant. The initial versions I get as a response are usually so oversimplified that they are useless for any discussion or strategic effort.

User Testing 78

User Testing Customer Experience Systems Review Enterprise 78

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 11, 2023

We all want maximum value for minimum effort or cost. In times of an economic downturn, it is very tempting to offer less for lower prices. But is it really what your customers want? Here’s how to look at it in order to make the right decision for your customers. But which one is more important? I decided to meet B.,

Customer Experience 78

Customer Experience User Testing Weak Development Team Research Software 78

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 19, 2021

The first product manager in a startup is a critical role with immense impact on the startup’s success?—?both Photo by Tolga Ulkan on Unsplash When I joined Twiggle as their first VP Product I was the thirteenth employee. Shortly after I started, the CEO surprised me by saying I should hire a product manager.

Product Management 163

Product Management Product Manager User Testing Weak Development Team 163

The Product Coalition

JULY 2, 2023

As product leaders you cannot ignore the full customer journey to make sure it makes sense. I’m sure you know this quote and see it a lot in product management. But the difference between theory and practice isn’t limited to product management theory  — mostly processes and methodologies.

User Testing 107

User Testing Customer Experience Product Strategy UX 107

The Product Coalition

AUGUST 13, 2023

But to truly solve customers’ problems, founders and product leaders must think beyond what they already know about the product. Unfortunately, in the case of your morning meeting — it is going to happen, and it’s a big one which you must attend and arrive on time too. How to solve a certain customer problem?

Customer Experience 113

Customer Experience User Testing Generative AI Books 113

The Product Coalition

AUGUST 16, 2020

SplitShire-London-Collection-210062 When I work with companies on sharpening the value proposition and refining the product strategy, one of our information sources for the process is their existing customers. Who they are, why they chose to work with the company, what value they are getting out of the product, etc.

User Testing 164

User Testing Customer Experience Customer Feedback Product Strategy 164

The Product Coalition

JUNE 13, 2021

Product strategy is one of the most important tasks of the product leader, and definitely one of the hardest things to do. In the effort to bring the company’s vision into reality, the details matter, often more than the innovation and completeness of the vision itself. Even higher-level goals can be refined and detailed.

Vision 104

Vision Product Strategy Strategy User Friction 104

The Product Coalition

JULY 16, 2023

In recent years it seems that product management is all about execution and delivery. Photo by Kea Mowat on Unsplash When I moved into product management, almost 20 years ago, it used to be a very senior role. The discussion was about whether or not someone is senior enough to move into product management.

Strategy 137

Strategy Product Management Product Manager Management 137

The Product Coalition

JUNE 27, 2021

Creating a solid product strategy is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. Once you created a first draft that you are happy with, it’s time to bring it to the market and iterate according to the feedback you get. But how can you test a strategy? It’s actually simpler than you think. In some cases?—?for

User Testing 89

User Testing Product Research Strategy Product Strategy 89

The Product Coalition

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Ford’s famous quote tells you exactly how he wanted it done: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black”. In our world, this would have been considered a great product strategy. As you are reading this, replace Ford’s car with your own product. What was so special about it?

Product Strategy 114

Product Strategy Strategy User Testing Product Research 114

The Product Coalition

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

Your product will always have bugs, and you will always need to chase and fix the important ones. But sometimes, the really important bugs are not showing in the product itself. These are bugs in your product strategy, and if not fixed, it will be very difficult for your product to succeed.

Customer Experience 137

Customer Experience Feedback Software User Testing Product Research 137

The Product Coalition

JULY 30, 2023

Your product might be awesome, but if there is no significant need on the other side, it wouldn’t succeed. A need is more than a general desire, and you should trust your customers’ actions more than their words. His stats showed that over 60% of his customers only bought from him after having known him for two years or more.

User Testing 106

User Testing Customer Experience Webinar Consulting 106

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash When I was VP of Product at Twiggle, building the product from zero to one (and then one to ten and so on), I hired a technical writer freelance. Our product was an API, and we needed comprehensive technical documentation. I have worked with great technical writers, they weren’t the problem.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Marketing User Testing Customer Experience 78

The Product Coalition

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

Highlights from my ProductX talk “The 24/7 Product Manager” Image by annca from Pixabay Raise your hand if you are not extremely busy. When you say that to a room of product managers, nothing happens. And it seems like we are all struggling to find more time to do more work. Product management is an all-in game.

Customer Experience 78

Customer Experience Product Management Product Manager User Testing 78

Userpilot

JULY 26, 2022

SaaS businesses tend to have heterogeneous customer bases, which means you will probably have customers with different needs. Therefore, you should set different, specific goals for them inside your product and segment them to better understand their needs. A goal is like a milestone that you want your customers to reach.

Customer Feedback 82

Customer Feedback Customer Experience User Testing Feedback Software 82

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 28, 2024

Your product sells not for its features, but for the value it brings to your customers. True product value lies in understanding and meeting the deeper, often unspoken needs of customers, beyond just functionality. Here’s a three-step approach to ensure products connect with users on a more meaningful level.

Framework 104

Framework Feedback Software User Testing Customer Experience 104

The Product Coalition

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

The fact that your potential customers have a problem, doesn’t mean that they are willing to do what it takes to solve it. I knew about the idea of laser eye surgery for a long time but was always too afraid to even think about it. But I can tell you that I was still afraid this time too. I was still afraid.

User Testing 138

User Testing Customer Experience Product Research Startups 138

Product Innovation Educators

APRIL 17, 2023

How organizations can empower product managers Today we are talking about what a product-led organization is, barriers that can prevent an organization from being product-led, and actions to create the product-led organization. I eventually got fired as a product manager.

Customer Experience 95

Customer Experience Leadership Startups Engineering 95

The Product Coalition

FEBRUARY 11, 2024

We were monitoring our customers’ databases, and the architecture caused a severe performance impact on the databases themselves. It was an informed decision before my time there, that allowed us to release something very quickly. While none of our customers wanted to use this feature, many of them wanted to have the option.

Framework 104

Framework User Testing Customer Experience Definition 104

ProductPlan

APRIL 18, 2023

In-app messaging is a way of communicating with users within the context of your product, often taking the form of tooltips, banners, or in-app chat. For software products, in-app messaging includes all of the native messages sent to a user while they are using your product.

Feedback Software 72

Feedback Software Messaging Customer Communications Customer Experience 72

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Despite its population of 6 million people at the time, it felt like a ghost town. We went for a walk — it was my first time in China — and the streets were almost empty. Time will tell. You need to have a product strategy. There are many ways to crisp up your strategy. For how long? No one knows.

Leadership 78

Leadership User Testing Customer Experience Customer Feedback 78

Product Management University

JUNE 5, 2023

Most product managers know how to create a product vision, but that’s not the hard part. The extent to which stakeholders get behind your product vision has everything to do with how the product vision is articulated. What is a Product Vision? Why is a Product Vision Important?

Vision 130

Vision Product Research User Testing Customer Experience 130

The Product Coalition

JUNE 18, 2023

It took me time to understand that I need to present myself as a product leadership coach and product strategy expert rather than a consultant. While that’s a very common interpretation, it’s not the only one, and one that will limit your ability to make a real impact, especially if you are a product leader.

Naming 127

Naming User Testing Feedback Software Weak Development Team 127

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 6, 2024

The competitive analysis itself is a major part of your product strategy efforts, and here is how to do it at the right level. That’s normal and makes perfect sense, as not all customers want the same thing. For example, if the customer profiles don’t vary by size, what do they vary by?

User Testing 110

User Testing Customer Experience Customer Feedback Presentation 110

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 17, 2023

With any of our customers. I’m sure that your product, too, has a generic list of competitors. But when you define your product strategy, and your differentiation from the competition, it is important to understand what your real competition is. Not a single one. But our real competition wasn’t there.

Technical Review 119

Technical Review Weak Development Team User Testing Systems Review 119

The Product Coalition

FEBRUARY 4, 2023

Influence without authority has always been the foundation of product management. As product leaders, this is even more important. I was at the pool for two hours every day, 6 times a week, and often attended competitions on the weekends. I worked hard again, but this time with very little success.

Leadership 142

Leadership User Testing Product Strategy Strategy 142

Revulytics

OCTOBER 12, 2018

An interesting question was recently posed to respondents of the Pragmatic Marketing 2018 Product Management and Marketing survey: “If you could say one thing to your CEO without fear of retribution, what would it be?”. By comparison, respondents said they spent nearly half the month managing email and attending meetings.

Data Visualization 66

Data Visualization User Testing Customer Feedback Customer Experience 66

The Product Coalition

AUGUST 14, 2022

Theoretically you would think that a consulting business isn’t impacted by the time of the year, but I learned that that’s not true. For some reason, most of them want my product strategy and product-market fit lectures during May and June, every year. That thing that is being released to production and customers use.

User Testing 124

User Testing Feedback Software Product Research Customer Feedback 124

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 25, 2022

There are many ingredients needed in order for your product to succeed. Not all of them are related to your product, or even to your product’s domain. Your customers’ ecosystem has more impact on your ability to succeed than you might think. Bottom line, I work on many presentations, all the time. Here is why.

User Testing 110

User Testing Customer Experience Presentation Engineering 110

Good Product Manager

AUGUST 2, 2018

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy writing and doing other things related to product management, of course — here’s an update! August 8 in Denver: Product Strategy on a Page. October 2 in Cleveland: Product Management Leadership.

Presentation 60

Presentation Product Management Product Manager Research Software 60

Good Product Manager

AUGUST 2, 2018

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy writing and doing other things related to product management, of course — here’s an update! August 8 in Denver: Product Strategy on a Page. October 2 in Cleveland: Product Management Leadership.

Presentation 60

Presentation Product Management Product Manager Research Software 60

ProductPlan

DECEMBER 9, 2022

With so many social media posts, blogs, videos, ebooks, and podcasts, it’s hard to keep up. 10 Great Questions Product Managers Should Ask Customers. It’s a tenet of Product Management 101 that PMs need to get out of the building and talk to real-live customers… even if it’s just over Zoom.

User Testing 52

User Testing Customer Experience Certifications Product Research 52

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 24, 2021

Photo by Ono Kosuki from Pexels OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a useful tool for goal setting and team alignment, and in recent years they have gone from being used primarily in quantitative parts of the organization (namely sales and marketing) to being very popular in product and technology as well. Sales create revenue goals.

Analytic Tools 181

Analytic Tools Customer Experience B2C Enterprise 181

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 11, 2023

With everything you have to do every day, it is so easy to neglect strategy. But much like code, your product strategy also requires maintenance. It’s what I call a “strategic debt” that is built over time, and at some point, it is impeding any potential progress. Because your customers aren’t product leaders.

Startups 78

Startups User Testing Customer Experience Roadmap 78

The Product Coalition

OCTOBER 18, 2020

A good product strategy helps you to acquire happy customers and retain them over time. Here is how product strategy helps you overcome them. Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash Working on product strategy is an iterative process. I wrote this article to answer that question.

User Testing 108

User Testing B2C Customer Experience Weak Development Team 108

The Product Coalition

DECEMBER 31, 2023

It is a well-established company, a leader in its domain, but it still needs to deliver new products to the market so product-market fit is a very relevant topic. To make the point I wanted to make, I shared a story from the time I met my husband. We had a good time and liked each other, but it wasn’t enough.

User Testing 102

User Testing Workshop B2B Leadership 102

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 16, 2022

Of course, it would have been ideal to find someone who had had both extensive experience and amazing learning abilities, but there’s a reason unicorns are so rare. For example, you gain nothing from having a new product if the company can’t sell it to the market, so your roadmap must address also the sellability of the product.

Roadmap 151

Roadmap Data Visualization Customer Experience User Testing 151