Top 10 Questions Developers have about Product Management

I've interviewed countless of developers to get a sense of what questions do they have, and the answers they seek, to demystify product management.

Sep 19, 2023

Demystifying Product Management

Hey Development Community,

Ever scratched your head thinking, "Why did we pick feature X over Y?" or "How's that user feedback shaping next week's tasks?" If you have, this substack's for you. Think of it as a behind-the-scenes look into the 'whys' and 'what' of the stuff we build.

In simple words, Product Management is about building valuable experiences that folks love and find useful. For you as a developer, getting the gist of this can be a game-changer. It's not just about knowing how to approach building a feature set, but understanding the bigger picture. And trust me, if we can do a good enough job explaining, showcasing, and story telling about our product and our process…when you get it, our teamwork goes from good to "Whoa, we nailed it!”

High Level Answers:

Note: E3 Framework summary below.

The E3 Framework is a structured approach designed to guide Product Managers from conception to completion of products. Broken into three key segments — Envision, Empower, and Elevate — it emphasizes crafting a clear product vision, fostering teamwork and collaboration, and assessing post-launch results for continual improvement. A holistic tool, E3 ensures products resonate with user needs, business goals, and technical realities, all while fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

What exactly does a Product Manager do daily?
- A Product Manager juggles multiple roles daily, including guiding product vision, collaborating with teams, and driving customer-centric solutions. Using approaches like the E3 Framework helps PMs efficiently move from idea to execution.
How does a PM prioritize features or tasks, and what factors are considered?
- Prioritization is a blend of user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. Techniques within the E3 Framework, especially under the 'Envision' phase, help in aligning these aspects. To understand how to effectively prioritize, my book provides actionable strategies.
What's the difference between a Product Manager and a Project Manager?
- A Product Manager is primarily focused on what to build (product vision and strategy), whereas a Project Manager is concerned with how to build it (execution, people, and timeline). The interplay between these roles is crucial and while some organizations have both disciplines, it is not uncommon for the Product Manager to have the skillset of a Project Manager in addition to their primary workload.
How do PMs handle conflicts between business needs and technical constraints?
- It's a delicate balancing act. The 'Empower' phase of the E3 Framework emphasizes collaboration and dialogue between stakeholders to find the middle ground. My book illustrates real scenarios where such conflicts arise and how to navigate them.
How do Product Managers determine user needs or requirements?
- Through continuous customer discovery, feedback, and market analysis. The 'Envision' phase in the E3 Framework provides tools to align products with genuine user needs. It all starts with a solid pitch deck based on the product manager’s best analysis and sometimes guess as to what is the best next step for the product.
Can you explain how you validate product ideas before deciding to build them?
- Validating ideas is paramount. Techniques within the E3 Framework involve both quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure the product resonates with users. It’s a mixture of ROI, Risks, and Technical abilities. As you already know, product manager’s best friend is the developer who can help the product manager understand technical constraints when validating ideas.
How do you measure the success of a feature or product? What KPIs are typically looked at?
- Success is measured through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) aligned with business and user outcomes. The 'Elevate' phase of E3 emphasizes post-launch evaluation and optimization. Too many books talk about the highest level KPIs (revenue, conversion, average order value, etc) but to grasp which a whole slew of KPIs and why they matter and why, my book offers detailed examples.
How do you handle feedback from users, especially when it's about bugs or issues?
- Feedback is gold. The E3 Framework fosters a culture of embracing feedback, iterating on it, and ensuring customer satisfaction. If you have a product manager asking to build a feedback loop within the product, run, don’t walk - that ease of providing feedback is paramount to the product’s success.
What role does a PM play in the agile/scrum process, and how do they collaborate with the Scrum Master or the development team during sprints?
- A PM sets the product vision and collaborates closely with the Scrum Master and the team during sprints. The 'Empower' phase in the E3 Framework emphasizes this collaboration. Effectively once everyone understands “the why” [vision, strategy, problem being solved] and “the what” [epic, user stories] - the product manager’s role within the empower phase is simply to remove all hurdles which can be questions during refinement, scope change direction based on new information during the execution phase, and any clarity needed while coding.
How do you envision the future of this product? Is there a long-term strategy or roadmap that guides decisions?

A product's future is crafted through continuous learning and adaptation. The E3 Framework is built on this philosophy of iterative growth. The book lays out how to build and adapt roadmaps based on ever-evolving insights. Typically your vision doesn’t change often, your strategy needs to be deployed to understand if it is robust enough to handle all use cases, and the output of these things (pitches, epics, and user stories) should be monitored to see if real value is being provided for the customer and the business.

And if, by the end, your curiosity is piqued and you're thinking, "I'd love to dive deeper into this subject", then I invite you to explore the E3 Framework in my book. It's crafted with insights from this very journey of aligning product vision with its execution.

What questions do you have? Leave them in the comment section and I’ll be happy to help!

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