Product management is the function that defines what and how a product should be developed and facilitates its production from idea to launch to iteration.

Step #1: Learn itStep #2: Apply itStep #3: Stay up-to-date

Access the following free resources from across the web. Note that Bootstrap Ed does not own any of the resources featured on this page.

Computer Science Fundamentals

  • David Evans – Introduction to Computing
  • MIT – Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, Spring 2011 (6.00SC), Lecturer: John Guttag
    • 38 sessions, approximately 50 minutes each
    • Playlist
  • Harvard – Introduction to Computer Science I, Lecturer: David Malan
    • 20 sessions, approximately 50 minutes each
    • Playlist
  • MIT – Computational Science and Engineering I, Fall 2008 (18.085), Lecturer: Gilbert Strang
    • 50 sessions, approximately 50 minutes each
    • Playlist
  • MIT – Mathematics for Computer Science, Spring 2015 (6.042J), Lecturer: Albert Meyer
    • 110 videos, approximately 5-25 minutes each
    • Playlist

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Product Management Overview

  • The Art of Product Management – What is a Product Manager?
  • ProductPlan – Product Management Terms Explained
  • Mind the Product – The History and Evolution of Product Management
  • Product Manager HQ – Who Does a Product Manager Work With?
  • The Clever PM – The Product Lifecycle
  • Silicon Valley Product Group – Product Success
  • Wharton School – The Art of Product Management with Sachin Rekhi (ENG’05 W’05)
  • Startup: HY How to Start a Startup 2015 – Lecture 4 – Building Product, Talking to Users, and Growing (Adora Cheung)
  • Startup: HY How to Start a Startup 2015 – Lecture 7 – How to Build Products Users Love (Kevin Hale)
  • Andreessen Horowitz – Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager
  • Matt LeMay – A New Skill Model for Product Managers

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Discovery

  • Product Talk – An Introduction to Product Discovery
  • Product Talk – The Rise of Modern Product Discovery
  • Harvard Business Review – Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done”
  • UX Planet – Product Discovery Techniques #1: Inspiration
  • UX Planet – Product Discovery Techniques #2: Ideation
  • Interaction Design Foundation – Learn How to Use the Best Ideation Methods: Brainstorming, Braindumping, Brainwriting, and Brainwalking
  • Cleverism – 18 Best Idea Generation Techniques
  • UX Planet – Product Discovery Techniques #3: Prototyping & Testing

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Product Roadmaps

  • Product Plan – What is a Product Roadmap?
  • Aha! – Introduction to Product Roadmaps
  • Smartsheet – Best Practices and Expert Tips for Creating Product Roadmaps
  • Aha! – Free Product Roadmap Templates

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Delivery

  • ProdPad – How to Write Great Product Specs
  • This is Product Management – Prototyping is Product Management
  • Hacker Noon – The Ultimate Guide to Minimum Viable Product
  • Mind the Product – The Craft of Prototyping by Caitlin Kalinowski
  • UpGrad – A Comprehensive Guide to Wireframing in Product Development
  • Trello – The Beginner’s Guide To Scrum And Agile Project Management
  • Agile Alliance – Agile 101
    • Click through each of the six sections (Agile 101, Agile Manifesto, etc.)
    • Reading
  • Aha! – Introduction to Agile Development
  • Aha! – What is scrum?
  • Aha! – What is Kanban?
  • Aha! – What is a sprint and how is it managed?
  • Mind the Product – The Product Managers’ Guide to Continuous Delivery and DevOps

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Launch

  • Product Camp – A Pocket Guide to Product Development & Release Management
  • ProductPlan – Product Roadmap vs. Release Plan
  • Aha! – What is a good product launch checklist?
  • Appcues Blog – The Ultimate Guide to Launching a Product Redesign / 2.0

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Understanding Users

  • This is Product Management – Product Research: How to Learn What Your Users Really Want
  • UXPin – The Practical Beginner’s Guide to User Research
  • Smashing Magazine – A Comprehensive Guide To UX Research
  • Guide to UX Research – Guide to User Research (UXR)
  • Userzoom – 23 Quantitative and Qualitative User Research Methods: A Comprehensive Guide
  • Startup: HY How to Start a Startup 2015 – Lecture 16 – How to Run a User Interview (Emmett Shear)
  • ProductPlan – User Persona vs. Buyer Persona: Are Your Users Also Buying Your Product?

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Collaboration

  • Roman Pichler – 8 Tips for Collaborating with Development Teams
  • Product Coalition – Building Shared Understanding on Major Product Changes

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Data Analytics

  • Mind the Product – Everything a product manager needs to know about analytics
  • Product School – Data Analytics for Managers
    • 28 videos, approximately 30-90 minutes each
    • Playlist
  • Stanford – SQL

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Careers

  • ProductPlan – What is the Product Manager Career Path?
  • Product School – How to Get a Product Management Job by Google Product Manager
  • Vince Law – Forge Your Own Path Into A Product Management Career
  • Product School – How to Crack the Product Manager Interview by Gayle McDowell
  • The Art of Product Management – The 5 Step Framework for Answering Product Questions in PM Interviews
  • The Art of Product Management – 7 Steps for Answering Quantitative Interview Questions

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Free Project Management Tools

  • Asana – Free version is available for up to 15 users
  • Todoist – Free version is available for up to 5 users per project, 80 active projects
  • Trello – Free version

Complete the following exercises to apply your newly acquired knowledge.

  • WRITE: Industry trends (3-5 pages double spaced)
    • Choose an industry of interest to you and conduct desk research to identify at least one trend that is currently shaping the industry. Explain the trend, the drivers of this trend, and its implications for current and prospective users.
  • USER RESEARCH: User interview
    • Identify a population of current or prospective users of a product or service. Conduct at least one interview with a member of this group to discover problems faced by this population that could be addressed by a product or service. Create an interview guide, conduct the interview(s), and translate your findings into specific user needs.
  • WRITE: Product specifications (1-2 pages double spaced)
    • Using the user need(s) discovered in the previous exercise or user needs associated with a different problem, write product specifications for a product or feature that aims to address user needs.
  • TEST A PRODUCT: Become a beta tester
    • Volunteer to beta test a product as a user. Note how the user test is facilitated.
  • HACKATHON: Compete on a team
    • Hackathons are time-bound “sprints” (often 24-48 hours) in which small teams compete to create the best product or prototype of a product. A panel of experts judges the creations and awards prizes. Participate in a hackathon in your area. Many are free to participate in.
  • SIDE PROJECT: Ship a product
    • Research a problem, devise a solution, design a minimum viable product, and get feedback from users. While this requires a high degree of commitment, shipping an actual product is the best way to practice the work of a product manager.

Engage with the field on an ongoing basis. Note that Bootstrap Ed does not own any of the resources featured on this page.

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Related topics: Computer Science, Software Engineering, UX/UI

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