Learning a New Domain as a PM
Mastering industry knowledge as a Product Manager
You’ve finally made the transition to a new industry as a PM but you’re still green in your new industry. What’s next?
Unlike other tech roles, PMs need to understand their domain. Domain knowledge sets the foundation for:
Understand the users and the market
Grasp the product: Tradeoffs, regulation and any other product constraints
Understand the business and aspects like revenue models and competition
In this article, I will share how to learn the new domain and some bonus tips to help you along the journey.
Seek expert opinion
You’ve probably mastered your product skills at this time. However, you don’t know the inner details of working in a new industry. Be humble and do the following:
Talk to domain experts: Seek them out in your new workplace or find them online. This gives you firsthand information and helps you focus on crucial aspects of your domain.
Seek secondary information: Read books, articles, and podcasts on your domain. This gives information about regulation, new technologies and any other broad information necessary to succeed in your role.
Talk to users
You will understand the following:
Pain points your product is solving
Core motivation for using your product
Use your product
That's pretty obvious. Here’s why:
Helps you understand your user flow: You understand the design choices and tradeoffs made in creating your product
Adopt a user perspective: Gives a deeper perspective on potential areas to improve upon.
Bonus tips
Be curious: Ask questions and absorb as much information as possible to understand your industry
It’s an iterative process: Be patient. Don’t beat yourself too much if you make mistakes. The mistakes will help you in your growth as a PM.
Conclusion
Learning a new domain is not an easy task. To do so, PMs must constantly seek expert opinion, talk to users and use their product.
Thanks for sharing