In an era of rapid technological advancement, the role of a product manager is becoming increasingly multifaceted and complex. It’s no longer sufficient to simply understand user needs and business objectives – today’s PM must speak the language of developers, grasp technical nuances, and make informed decisions at the intersection of business and technology. This evolution of the product manager’s role presents new challenges to professionals but also opens up exciting opportunities for creating truly innovative products.
Diana Lebedeva is a prime example of a new generation product manager, successfully combining a deep understanding of business processes with extensive technical knowledge. With experience in international companies and startups, from fintech solutions to cutting-edge AR technologies in e-commerce, Diana knows firsthand how crucial it is for a PM to understand the technical aspects of development. Today, Diana shares her experience and insights on how a product manager’s technical literacy can be the key to creating successful products in the modern digital world.
- Diana, how does understanding the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) impact a product manager’s effectiveness?
It’s arguably one of the key factors determining a product manager’s effectiveness. It’s like having a map when navigating the world of software development.
First and foremost, SDLC gives the product manager a holistic view of the product creation process. You see not just the end goal, but all the stages along the way. This allows for more accurate planning of resources and time needed for project implementation.
Understanding the design phase helps the product manager collaborate better with UX/UI designers and engineers, ensuring a balance between user needs and technical capabilities.
During the development phase, understanding SDLC allows the PM to coordinate team work more effectively, anticipate potential bottlenecks, and respond promptly to emerging issues.
SDLC knowledge is particularly crucial in the testing and deployment phases. A product manager who understands the specifics of these processes can ensure a smoother product release, minimize risks, and effectively manage user expectations.
Moreover, knowledge of SDLC aids in choosing the appropriate development methodology. Whether it’s Agile, Waterfall, or a hybrid approach – understanding the life cycle allows you to adapt processes to the specific needs of the project and team.
Overall, a deep understanding of SDLC transforms the product manager from a mere ‘translator’ between business and development into a true conductor of the product creation process. This enables more informed decision-making, more efficient resource allocation, and ultimately, the creation of higher quality products in shorter timeframes.
- What strategies would you recommend to product managers for quickly mastering their team’s technology stack?
To quickly master your team’s technology stack, I recommend several strategies. Start by getting an overview from a lead developer or architect. Study the documentation for key technologies – this will give you an advantage in communicating with the team. Conduct informal ‘technical tea breaks’ to discuss specific aspects of technologies.
Experiment on your own: set up a local version of the product, explore the API, try writing a simple script. Attend technical meetups and conferences with your team. Create a personal glossary of technical terms. Regularly conduct ‘Explain Like I’m Five’ sessions with different team members.
Remember, your goal isn’t to become an expert in all technologies, but to understand them sufficiently for making informed decisions and effective communication. Focus on understanding the capabilities and limitations of technologies, rather than the details of their implementation. These strategies will help you quickly enhance your technical competence and effectiveness as a product manager.
- How can a product manager effectively interact with the R&D department? What key contacts should be established?
Above all, it’s crucial to establish strong connections with key figures: the CTO, development team leaders, lead developers, and the QA lead. These people are your main allies in understanding the technical capabilities and limitations of the product.
For effective interaction, I recommend regular one-on-one meetings with key figures. This helps you stay informed about technical issues and opportunities, and builds trust. Participating in technical reviews and sprint planning, even if you don’t understand all the details, shows your interest and helps you better understand the development process.
It’s important to work on creating a common language between business and development. Encourage a culture of open discussions where technical specialists aren’t afraid to voice their ideas and concerns. Be transparent in your decisions, explain why certain product decisions are made.
It is necessary to be a bridge between business and technology. Effective interaction with R&D will allow you to make more informed decisions, better plan product development, and respond more quickly to market changes.
- How deeply should a product manager understand the basics of frontend and backend development? How is this knowledge applied in practice?
The depth of understanding frontend and backend development for a product manager is a matter of balance. I believe a PM doesn’t necessarily need to be an expert in these areas, but a basic understanding of their principles is critically important.
Regarding frontend, knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics provides a significant advantage. This helps in better communication with designers and developers, understanding the possibilities and limitations of the user interface. For instance, understanding the concept of responsive design allows for more informed discussions about adapting the interface for various devices.
As for backend, it’s important to have an understanding of databases, server logic, and APIs. Understanding SQL basics, REST API principles, and knowledge of different database types allows for more effective participation in product architecture discussions.
In practice, this knowledge is applied in many aspects of PM work. When planning new features, you can more realistically assess complexity and implementation time. In discussions with developers, you can ask more specific questions and better understand technical constraints. When writing user stories, you can include more relevant technical details, which simplifies developers’ work.
It’s important to remember that your role is not to replace developers, but to be an effective mediator between the technical and business aspects of the product. A deep understanding of technical details helps in making more informed decisions and managing the product more effectively overall.
- What role do you think understanding APIs plays in a product manager’s work, and how does this affect interaction between teams?
In my work, it plays a key role. It’s not just a technical aspect – it’s the foundation for effective communication between different parts of our system and team.
When I delved deeper into understanding APIs, it opened up new horizons in product management for me. I began communicating better with developers, more accurately assessing the complexity of tasks and their impact on the overall architecture. This knowledge allows me to make more informed decisions about product development priorities.
Understanding APIs proved particularly valuable when working on integrations with external services. I can more accurately assess the potential of such integrations and their impact on our product development. Additionally, it helps in managing API versioning, which is critical for maintaining product stability during its evolution.
Interestingly, API knowledge indirectly affects user experience. Although users don’t directly interact with APIs, their quality and efficiency greatly influence the product’s performance and functionality as a whole.
In large projects, understanding APIs has become key to effective coordination between teams. I can anticipate potential integration problems and help teams interact better with each other.
Finally, this knowledge has proven invaluable for strategic planning. I can better assess technical debt, understand the capabilities and limitations of our system when planning new major features or scaling.
- What core technical skills do you think are essential for a modern product manager to work successfully?
I’d highlight several aspects that I consider critically important.
Primarily, it’s understanding the basics of software architecture. Basic knowledge in databases is also very useful. Understanding the difference between SQL and NoSQL, knowing the basic principles of working with data helps in better planning functionality related to information processing.
I’d also note the importance of understanding UI/UX design principles. This doesn’t mean you need to be able to create mockups, but knowing the basic patterns and usability principles is critical for effective work with designers and evaluating user experience.
Knowledge of web technology basics, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, gives a great advantage. This helps in better understanding the possibilities and limitations of frontend development.
API skills are becoming increasingly important. Understanding RESTful API principles, GraphQL, or other approaches to building APIs helps in planning integrations and assessing task complexity.
A basic understanding of security principles and data protection is also necessary. In today’s world, this is critically important for any digital product.
I’d also add knowledge of cloud technology basics. Understanding the principles of working with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud helps in planning product scaling.
Finally, data skills and analytics basics are becoming increasingly important. The ability to interpret data, understand key metrics, and A/B testing principles help in making more informed decisions.
Let’s not forget that a product manager doesn’t need to be an expert in all these areas. The main thing is to have a basic understanding and be able to communicate effectively with experts in each field.
- How do you see the evolution of the product manager’s role in the context of increasingly complex technologies? What skills will become critical in the near future?
This is a topic that really fascinates me. I see how our profession is transforming, and it’s both exciting and demanding.
In the near future, I think we’ll see an even greater merger of technical and business competencies in the PM role. Already, it’s not enough to just understand user needs and business goals – you need to have a deep understanding of the technologies behind our products.
I anticipate that knowledge of artificial intelligence and machine learning basics will become critically important for product managers. These technologies are penetrating various fields more deeply, and the ability to assess their potential and limitations will be key to creating innovative products.
Also, I think the importance of understanding cybersecurity principles will increase. With the increase in data volume and system complexity, security and privacy issues will become central in product development.
I also think that skills in UX/UI design will become more important. With growing competition and user expectations, the ability to create intuitive and attractive interfaces will become a key factor in product success.
Overall, I believe the product manager’s role will become even more multifaceted and complex. We’ll need to combine the skills of a strategist, technologist, designer, and business analyst. This will require constant learning and adaptation, but that’s what makes our profession so exciting.
The world of technology continues to evolve rapidly, and this means we must constantly learn and adapt. Whether it’s artificial intelligence, blockchain, or some yet-to-be-invented technology – our task is to stay abreast of new trends and be able to assess their potential for our products.
Ultimately, our goal as product managers is to create products that solve real user problems and bring value to the business. And the better we understand the technologies behind our products, the more opportunities we have for innovation and creating truly outstanding solutions.
So let’s continue to learn, ask questions, and not be afraid to dive into technical details. After all, it’s at the intersection of business, technology, and user needs that the most interesting and successful products are born. And we, as product managers, are in a unique position to bring these ideas to life.
