[8024] relationship between product management and software development

This article is excerpted from Revelation: Building users' favorite products.



A book and author's blog



And published in programmer magazine 11
Year 05
By Marty Cagan
He is a product management expert with world reputation. He once served as vice president of Wangjing and eBay.
Senior Vice President of product management and design. TranslatedShiyin tribe
The original article is too long. I will repeat it several times. This time I will pick a topic that many developers will be interested in-the relationship between product management and software development.
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Text/Marty Cagan
Translate/
Oukun and Sun Yang

Relationship between product management and software development

If a successful product is a combination of real user requirements and current feasible solutions, the importance of the relationship between the product manager and the development team is self-evident.

The product manager is responsible for defining product solutions. The development team knows which product designs are feasible and is responsible for product development and implementation. As a product manager, you will soon be able to develop qualified products only when you work closely with the development team. Otherwise, it will be a long and difficult time to wait for you.

The key to forming a cooperative relationship is that both parties acknowledge mutual equality --
Either Party does not belong to the other party. The product manager is responsible for defining the right products. The Development Team is responsible for correctly developing the products and the two sides are mutually dependent. If you require the development team to complete the task, you must first obtain their approval and be sure to do so to meet the product quality standards; the development team also needs to leave you enough space to design valuable and available products.

Product Management and software development are mutually reinforcing. developers can help product managers to improve product definitions. Don't forget that they know whether your product design is feasible.

There are three ways for developers to help product managers improve product definitions.

• Developers can directly face users and customers, understand users' confusions and concerns, and understand the seriousness of the problem. Good ideas often come along. For example, you can invite a developer to participate in product prototype testing.
• Learn about the latest technology development trends and discuss which new technologies can be used in products. Launch
  Brainstorm"
  To see if the current technologies or technologies to be implemented can solve the problem at hand.
• Allow developers (or primary programmers) to participate in product design evaluation at the initial stage of product discovery (Definition) and assist in planning solutions. Product managers often make one type of mistake, that is, after the product definition is completed, it is ignored by the development team. This will only lead to the best time to coordinate the needs and feasibility, and it will be too late to find the problem.

The product manager can also assist developers in the following ways.

• The product manager focuses on the basic requirements (core functions) of the product ). Product managers should realize that what they define is not the final product, but the prototype of the product that meets the basic requirements. Only in this way can good interaction be formed between product management and software development.

• Once the product enters the development stage, you should avoid modifying the product requirements and planning as much as possible. Although some things are beyond your control, the changes are inevitable, and developers can understand them, do not try whimsical ideas at this time.

• There will inevitably be many problems in the product development stage, such as the loss of use cases or the Incomplete consideration of use case design. This is normal, and even the best product team cannot avoid it. The product manager should take immediate action to provide a solution while maintaining the core features of the product and avoiding modifications as much as possible.

I often encourage outstanding developers to try product management. I told them that if the product has no market value, no matter how good the development team is. Many excellent products are developed by programmers by themselves based on user needs. Broaden your horizons is not only conducive to the development of your career, but also to products, customers and companies.

 

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