What Is Product Management? (Processes, Tools, FAQs)

Udn Webber

Managing Editor

Curious about what is product management ?

Product management is the process of managing the complete product life cycle, from development to deployment.

Sounds like a tough task, right?

Sure, there are complex steps like research, creating a roadmap, product development, and more.

But here’s the payoff for all the hard work:

A quality product delivered to the customer within the given timeline and budget.

And more importantly, you’ve developed a product that’s loved by everyone.

Just like that perfect slice of a pizza!

In this article, you’ll learn what is product management , its key elements, and its benefits. We’ll also cover all the steps in the product management process .

And as an added bonus, we’ll share our secret sauce to help you manage the product management process easier.

Let’s get started.

What Is Product Management?

Product management is the process of developing, managing, and successfully deploying a great product that meets customer needs. It’s a multistage process that spans tons of steps, ranging from setting goals and objectives to executing them.

But why do you need product management ?

Effective product management helps you:

Let’s learn all about this process in detail.

What Is The Product Management Process? (Step-By-Step)

The product management process involves these four simple steps:

Sound like too much to handle?

Don’t worry! UDN Task Manager has got you covered.

Whether it’s project ideation, developing a business strategy, or tracking goals , UDN Task Manager ’s product management features help you execute all steps smoothly.

Bonus: Check out our product management glossary ! ⭐️

Let’s take a look at each product management step and how UDN Task Manager helps you with them:

Step 1: Ideation and market research

Just like the process of making a pizza starts with preparing the dough, every product starts with an idea.

But first, you need to be crystal clear about your ideas.

After all, they can’t be half baked .

Here are a few ways to ensure this:

For a great start, extensively research the target market with the help of surveys, interviews with focus groups, or observations of market trends.

Let’s see how UDN Task Manager makes this step of the product management process a breeze:

Use UDN Task Manager ’s Mind Maps feature to transform your ideas into beautiful free-form mind maps and organize them in no time.

UDN Task Manager offers two modes for creating mind maps:

Additionally, you can share your mind maps with product people outside your Workspace , helping them stay updated on how the projects are progressing.

Use UDN Task Manager ’s Docs feature to create documents, wikis, and knowledge bases for anything you want.

Here’s what you can do with Docs:

Not everyone can carry a pen and paper along with them all the time, right?

Nearly 50% of employed Americans are afraid of becoming burnt out from having to juggle so many different technology tools or apps for work. With UDN Task Manager , you won’t have to!

Its online Notepad feature helps you jot down ideas quickly, especially handy during product brainstorming sessions.

With Notepad, you can:

So whether it’s scribbling down your product planning ideas or creating a list of your favorite pizza joints, you can easily do that in Notepad in the comfort of your privacy!

Step 2: Product strategy and roadmap

You can’t prepare a pizza by just chucking all the ingredients in a bowl and giving it a mix, right? That’d be an example of a failed execution (and bad pizza making skills).

Similarly, to execute an idea you need a thought-through strategy.

And how do you do that?

By creating a product roadmap !

A product roadmap represents your strategy and helps you control all the steps of the product development process. It clearly describes every stage of the process for everyone involved in product development.

Sorta like a recipe book!

Here’s how UDN Task Manager helps in this product management process stage:

Milestones signify the end of a large task group, like the release of a new feature.

Use this ClickApp to set significant tasks as progress markers in a roadmap.

What’s more?

In the List and Calendar view , you can quickly identify which tasks are Milestones with the diamond icon and emboldened task name.

And in the Gantt view , Milestones are represented as colorful diamonds, which is a great way to track project progress.

Step 3: Product development and testing

Now that you have everything in place, it’s time to execute the plan. Chop chop!

And who does that?

The product development team.

Essentially, the development and testing phase involves steps like:

And when you’re ready with a quality product, add the extra relevant features to meet all the customer demands.

Just like your favorite toppings on a pizza!

Here’s how UDN Task Manager makes this stage a cakewalk:

Use UDN Task Manager ’s Gantt Charts to get a bird’s eye view of all your tasks and projects in your Workspace.

With Gantt Charts, you can:

Check out our blog post on Gantt charts .

UDN Task Manager ’s Dashboards offer a high-level overview of your entire Workspace.

Sorta like a mission control center!

It provides quick visual summaries of your projects to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

Customize your Dashboard with various Agile charts like:

Not everyone loves pineapple on pizza, right?

That’s why you have various different pizza toppings!

Just like UDN Task Manager !

With Multiple Views, you can view your tasks from any angle you like.

UDN Task Manager offers various views, like:

Step 4: Product marketing and sales

The marketing strategy should be delicious enough to sell the product.

And that’s where the product marketing manager comes into the picture.

A product marketer takes your product to the customer and explains all the features in detail and the value it adds.

Moreover, after a successful product launch , they also collect important sales data and regular customer feedback.

The benefit?

With data on the market response, you can:

And tracking these important metrics can help any product marketing manager guide their team towards the further development of the product.

Let’s find out how UDN Task Manager helps in product marketing and sales of your product:

UDN Task Manager ’s Goals are high-level containers that can be broken down into smaller, measurable Targets .

For example, if the Goal for a pizzeria marketing manager is to increase customer engagement, then their Targets could be ‘conduct three rounds of the survey’ and ‘get feedback from 20 customers.’

So how do you achieve these Goals and Targets?

Simple: Complete all the Targets within a Goal!

What’s more?

UDN Task Manager offers a variety of units to measure a Target.

So if your Goal is to ‘become the #1 Pizzeria in the block,’ your targets could be measured as:

Every time you update a Target, UDN Task Manager auto-updates the completion percentage to show you how far you have come in achieving your Goal.

Is that all?

Nope!

UDN Task Manager offers tons of other useful features , like:

Also check out these handy product management templates to kick start your product management!

What Are The Benefits Of Effective Product Management?

With all the steps executed and the product out of the oven , it’s time to enjoy the benefits of your hard work.

Here are the key benefits of effective product management:

1. Develop customer-centric products

How do you know if you’re building a successful product ?

By having an in-depth idea of why you’re building it!

And the product management process helps you do that with a thorough understanding of customer needs. Additionally, collecting feedback in the post-production stages of the process also ensures continued customer success.

2. Collaborate seamlessly

The product management process requires different teams to work together in a bigger, cross functional team

Sounds like too much to handle?

Don’t worry. The product manager takes care of it.

The product management role ensures smooth communication between all parties and prioritizes productive collaboration over all else.

3. Reduce the risk of product failure

Effective project management ensures that your developed product is a success in the target market.

How?

Initially, a business analyst and the marketing team spot the market gap. This product management skill of understanding market trends allows them to identify new selling opportunities for their target customers.

This crucial intel helps the product team to design the new product and create its roadmap . As you’re taking customer and market trends into consideration from the start, you’re minimizing your risk of failure!

FAQs About Product Management

Still looking for some answers?

That’s why we have FAQs!

Take a look at some of the frequently asked questions about product management.

1. Who is a product manager?

A product manager is an organizational role that looks after the product management process. They lead the cross functional team and work with each stakeholder throughout the process, keeping everyone on the same page.

2. What is the role of a product manager?

The product manager role revolves around creating the product roadmap and defining the features of a product.

To be more precise, a successful product manager:

3. What is Agile product management?

As the name suggests, Agile product management focuses on developing products through the Agile methodology.

What’s the Agile methodology ?

The Agile methodology is based on the principles of the Agile manifesto. It’s an iterative approach for product development. Agile product development takes place in a collaborative environment that encourages continuous improvement based on customer feedback.

How?

In the Agile product management framework, a large development project is broken down into smaller cycles called sprints. At the end of each sprint, the team takes customer feedback and implements it into the next cycle. This process continues until all customer demands are met.

Take a look at our detailed guide to Agile project management.

Conclusion

Effective product management is the easiest way to ensure business success.

But just like pizza, everything comes at a cost!

You need to invest your precious hours to create an effective product management plan.

However, with a product management tool like UDN Task Manager , the process can feel less daunting.

Whether it’s resource allocation or managing virtual teams , the Agile project management features of UDN Task Manager can help you do it all!

Get UDN Task Manager for free today and (che)easily execute any product management activity!