In real life v/s interviews, which frameworks do you actually employ?

Not simply for interviews, it might also be for getting buy-in. In any case, I discover that I use several frameworks more performatively than functionally.

But which conceptual frameworks do you actually find helpful? For instance, I actually adore and frequently use RICE for prioritization.

I’m the founder of a small firm and wish to streamline our procedures, however the majority of available advice seems more thrilled with its acronym than its usefulness.

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Welcome to the Prowess community @BobbyDuncan.

In real life, product managers use a variety of frameworks to help them understand their customers, define and prioritize product features, and make data-informed decisions. Some common frameworks that product managers use include:

  1. Customer Development: This framework, developed by Steve Blank, helps product managers understand their customers by conducting customer interviews and other market research.
  2. Lean Startup: This framework, developed by Eric Ries, emphasizes rapid experimentation and iteration to validate product assumptions and minimize risk.
  3. Design Thinking: This framework, developed by the Stanford d.school, helps product managers understand their users and design solutions that meet their needs.
  4. Agile Development: This framework, which originated in the software development industry, emphasizes iterative, incremental delivery of products and a focus on collaboration and flexibility.
  5. Jobs-to-be-Done: This framework, developed by Clayton Christensen, helps product managers understand the “job” that a customer is trying to do and how a product can help them do it better.

In interviews, product managers may be asked about these frameworks and how they have applied them in the past. It’s important for product managers to be familiar with these frameworks and to be able to discuss how they have used them in past projects.

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Quite agree to @EvaRichardson. She’s very systematically explained the concept. However, I often use the Eisenhower matrix, as well as percentage analysis (which essentially introduces spectrums on 0–1 scenarios), and I regularly question clients and teams how confident they are using the spectrum. comparisons to a car, a house, or other everyday objects to describe more complex situations.

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Could you please explain more about percentage analysis - maybe with an example?

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Okay, so let’s take an example where we are in sprint 4/10 and we are about to build a new feature that is supposed to have an impact, the impact of which will be, for this example, $10m USD in their first 36 months. I then ask the team what percentage of confidence they have in delivering on sprint 10 and what percentage of confidence they have in achieving the business goal with the business team, ranging from 0% to 100%, based on the current level of confidence from the scrum team.

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For the purpose of identifying and comprehending real prospects for innovation, efficiency, and table stakes, jobs maps and statements/scoring are used.

Opportunity solution trees are used to ensure that the why is stated clearly and that opportunities are given for people to offer potential solutions.

To explain how we’re going to meet needs and agree on the principles of how we’re going to make money, we’ll use value proposition canvas and business model canvas.

Not all of them find the above to be useful for every issue, but when applied appropriately, they do.

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I can tell you about some frameworks that are commonly used in the field.

As @EvaRichardson pointed out, one framework that is often used in product management is the “lean startup” approach, which is based on the idea of building a product or service iteratively, testing and learning from each iteration, and using data and customer feedback to inform decision-making.

Another popular framework is the “customer development” process, which involves identifying and validating the needs of target customers, creating a product or service to meet those needs, and continuously testing and refining the product based on customer feedback.

The “jobs-to-be-done” framework focuses on understanding the underlying “job” that customers are trying to get done when they use a product or service, and building a product that helps them do that job more effectively.

There are also several frameworks for evaluating and prioritizing product ideas and features, such as the “Kano model,” “priority matrix,” and “MoSCoW method.”

In interviews, you may be asked about your familiarity with these or other frameworks and how you would apply them in a product management context. It’s important to have a good understanding of the various tools and approaches that are commonly used in the field, but ultimately the most important thing is to be able to think critically and creatively about how to solve problems and create value for customers.

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Welcome to the community dear friends.

Any suggestions for getting started with Opp Mapping?

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Teresa Torres explains the situation far better than I would reply here.

But based on what I’ve seen in use, I would advise:

Make sure your main opportunity is aspirational, reachable, and ambitious. To use the instrument, you want individuals to be truly enthusiastic about accomplishing it.

Avoid delving too deeply into the opportunity/solution details right from the first chance; instead, outline the process through three or four layers of “since we want to achieve X, we need to address Y.” These layers provide you the chance to question your presumptions and give your team a truly clear explanation of “why.”

Include information you’ve already discussed to help clarify where you are without fear.

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These may not be frameworks. I’ve found the Kano model and analysis to be quite helpful. Additionally, story maps are used. It has been really helpful to consider ways to “de-risk” a startup (or just your product). I discovered that many of the startup-related essays by Paul Graham and Y Combinator are also helpful for product thinking. “Do things that don’t scale,” for instance. I honestly don’t care what the interviewers think.

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Real Life or Interviews, neither has any frameworks.

Maybe if I try something, it will be useful, but I’ve never had the need for anything more than my own naive, piecemeal, ad-hoc implementations of some of the framework subsets I occasionally read about.

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Yes, that’s correct. The Kano model is a tool that can be used to evaluate and prioritize product features based on the satisfaction they provide to customers. It categorizes features into three types: basic, performance, and delight. Basic features are those that are expected and required by customers, and their absence would be noticed and result in dissatisfaction. Performance features are those that improve the product’s performance and lead to higher levels of satisfaction as they are added or improved. Delight features are unexpected and can create a “wow” factor, but their absence does not lead to dissatisfaction.

The priority matrix is a tool that can be used to prioritize work based on the effort required and the potential impact on the business. It typically involves plotting items on a grid with one axis representing effort and the other representing impact, and then identifying which items fall into each quadrant. This can help product managers prioritize which items to focus on first.

The MoSCoW method is a technique for prioritizing work based on the importance of each item. The acronym stands for “must have,” “should have,” “could have,” and “won’t have this time.” “Must have” items are those that are critical to the success of the product, “should have” items are important but not essential, “could have” items are nice to have but not necessary, and “won’t have this time” items are not included in the current scope of work. This method can be used to help product managers prioritize work and make trade-offs based on available resources.

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The customer development process is a framework for understanding and meeting the needs of customers. It was developed by Steve Blank and is based on the idea that startups are not small versions of large companies, and therefore require a different approach to product development. The customer development process involves four main steps:

  1. Customer discovery: This is the process of understanding and identifying the needs of target customers. It involves conducting customer interviews, gathering data, and creating customer personas to better understand customer needs and pain points.
  2. Customer validation: This is the process of testing whether the product or service being developed is something that customers actually want and are willing to pay for. It involves creating a minimum viable product (MVP) and gathering feedback from potential customers to validate the product concept.
  3. Customer creation: This is the process of creating a product or service that meets the needs of target customers and building a customer base. It involves marketing and sales efforts to attract and retain customers.
  4. Customer growth: This is the process of growing and scaling the customer base over time. It involves continuously testing and refining the product based on customer feedback and data and implementing strategies to drive growth.

The customer development process is iterative, meaning that it involves repeating these steps until the product or service meets the needs of customers and the business is viable. It’s designed to help product managers and startups validate product ideas and ensure that they are building something that customers actually want and will pay for.

Hope that helps. :+1:

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Thank you so much for your replies and valuable insights. As you all know that Product management is a complex and multifaceted field, and there are many different frameworks and approaches that product managers can use to inform their decision-making. It’s important to be familiar with the various tools and techniques that are available and to choose the ones that are most appropriate for the specific problem or situation at hand. Ultimately, the most important thing is to be able to think critically and creatively about how to solve problems and create value for customers. Thanks once again.

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