👌 5 Tips from a Product Manager at Intuit
Today, we're unpacking - tips from a PM at Intuit, a one-stop for all PM roles, and how to build great product design!
We recently stumbled upon a fascinating blog post featuring insights from Jonathan Park, a Senior Product Manager at Intuit. He manages the Mint personal finance and budgeting app for the Canadian market and has shared some best practices that are golden nuggets for anyone in the product management field.
Here are five actionable tips from Jonathan's treasure trove of experiences, tailored for our readers.
1. Prioritise Building Relationships
Jonathan Park highlights the significance of relationship-building in product management, especially when working virtually. He stresses that understanding each team member's role and their impact on both the customer and the business is vital. This approach goes beyond mere networking; it's about creating a fabric of mutual support and understanding within the organisation. For example, Park's method of delving into the work styles and priorities of his colleagues not only helped him fit into the broader organisational structure but also fostered a cooperative environment. It’s a reminder that the strength of a product lies in the strength of its team's relationships.
2. Deep Dive into Existing Product Strategy
When Park took over Mint’s Canadian market operations, he first immersed himself in understanding the app's strategy in its primary market. This deep dive approach is akin to studying the blueprint of a building before planning an extension. He underscores the need to fully grasp the product’s current standing, challenges, and successes to tailor a strategy that resonates with a new market. It's about building on the existing foundation, not reinventing the wheel. Park's method serves as a guide for aspiring product managers to first become students of their product, learning every nuance before attempting to innovate.
3. Adopt 'Design For Delight'
At Intuit, 'Design For Delight' (D4D) is more than a slogan; it's a philosophy that Park passionately embraces. It involves empathetic design thinking, where understanding the customer’s world is paramount. Park talks about 'Follow Me Homes' - an innovative approach where they observe customers in their natural environment. This unfiltered lens into the customer’s interactions with the product uncovers genuine insights. It’s about observing the unspoken, the routine, and the mundane to find where true value can be added. Park's experience shows that the most authentic understanding of users comes not from behind a screen but from being in their shoes.
4. Embrace Lean Experimentation
Park's approach to product development revolves around lean experimentation and rapid hypothesis testing. He illustrates the importance of setting up quick, minimal experiments to validate ideas. This method minimises both risk and resource expenditure. For instance, Park talks about launching a basic version of a feature to gauge user interest before rolling out a full-scale implementation. This approach is a lesson in agility and smart resource allocation, teaching aspiring product managers that sometimes, small steps lead to big leaps in understanding and success.
5. Securing Stakeholder Alignment
One of Jonathan’s key strategies involves gaining alignment with stakeholders right at the onset of a project. He emphasizes the importance of sharing user research findings with stakeholders to ensure a common understanding of the problems to be solved. This initial consensus makes subsequent decisions and processes smoother. For example, he points out that if stakeholders are hesitant about an experiment, assuring them of the ease of rollback and iteration can be persuasive. It’s about balancing stakeholder confidence with the agility of product development.
If you’re an aspiring or existing product manager looking for a new PM role, check out Airtribe’s Career Hub! Here, we specially curate PM roles available at the moment at high-growth companies. It’s an easy way for you to keep track of where to apply based on experience required and location. Interested? Click here
🎨 How to build great product design:
That’s all for today, folks! We hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter. 🤗
Until next week, keep learning and growing! 👋