Mastering the Art of Product Sense
A guide for Product Managers
In today’s newsletter, I will talk about a crucial intuitive skill that PMs need to develop - Product Sense. I will cover:
What is product sense
Why is product sense important
How to cultivate product sense
What is product sense?
The following definition of product sense by Jules Walter in Lenny’s newsletter summarizes the core of product sense.
“Product sense is the skill of consistently being able to craft products (or make changes to existing products) that have the intended impact on their users. Product sense relies on (1) empathy to discover meaningful user needs and (2) creativity to come up with solutions that effectively address those needs.”
Product sense is an intuitive PM skill that needs to be honed to ship great products.
Why is product sense important?
PMs ship products that deliver user value: PMs with great product sense can understand user needs and create products that consistently solve those needs. This results in higher customer satisfaction and more sales for the company.
PMs deliver value to the organization: With a great product, the business benefits due to a deep understanding of the customer, the business and the product. This can’t be done if a PM doesn’t have excellent product sense.
How to cultivate product sense
Cultivating product sense involves understanding the following deeply:
Customer behavior
Domain knowledge
Understanding customer behavior
This is the first place to crucially understand customer needs and how to create a product that solves those needs. Here are some tips to help you understand customer behaviour:
Observe customers using your product: It’s always important to start with a small group of people to gather as much detail as possible. The goal is to understand the intentions of users using your product, the actions they take in using the product and the underlying motivations behind using the product.
Market research and customer data: This is secondary information that enables you to get a deeper understanding of how customers use the product. This data could be obtained via an analytics tool that outlines the customer journey. It could also be from market research analysis done by a research company.
Understanding and enhancing domain knowledge
This knowledge gives you a deeper understanding of the industry, business, trends and awareness of what the competition is doing. To do so, here are some tips:
Reviewing industry trends: Understanding the nuances of your industry like regulation and new technologies impacting your industry. This knowledge will help you identify potential areas of risk and opportunities for applying new tech trends.
Check competition: As you solve for your customers, as a PM you need to be aware of what the competition is doing. This will inform you of the features you need to prioritize and how to differentiate your product from competitors.
Getting advice from professional experts: These could be senior product leaders and professionals in your industry. They will always give you information that’s necessary in improving your product sense and subsequently improving your product.
Conclusion
As a PM, it’s essential to develop product sense to consistently ship products that deliver value. It’s a skill that can be developed and the best way to master it is to consistently apply it to your work.
Further references
Where does product sense come from
How to Develop product sense
https://maven.com/articles/product-sense
thansk for sharing