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Quantaledge Tech Empowerment Foundation

Beginner

Product Management

The whole product lifecycle, from finding an opportunity through discovery, specification, prioritization and delivery, to launch and the iteration that follows it. Weighted toward the artifacts a working product manager is judged on: the PRD, the roadmap, the backlog, the metric, the launch plan.

  • 59 lessons
  • Beginner

A product manager sits between business strategy, design and engineering and is accountable for a result none of those three owns alone. This course covers the whole product lifecycle, from finding an opportunity to the iteration that follows a launch.

It is deliberately weighted toward execution. Strategy frameworks are taught, but so are the artifacts a working product manager is judged on: the PRD, the roadmap, the backlog, the metric, the launch plan.

What a graduate can do

  • Say precisely what a product manager does, how the role differs from project management, and which product manager archetype a given job is describing.
  • Write a product vision and strategy, and defend it with competitive analysis and positioning using Porter's Five Forces, Blue Ocean Strategy and SWOT.
  • Run user research, build personas and journey maps, apply jobs-to-be-done, and size an opportunity with TAM, SAM and SOM.
  • Validate a problem before building, run structured ideation and design thinking, scope an MVP, and test it through prototypes.
  • Write a product requirements document, user stories and acceptance criteria, and produce wireframes and design briefs a designer can work from.
  • Prioritize with RICE, MoSCoW, the Kano model and value against effort, then build and communicate a roadmap and keep a backlog healthy.
  • Work inside Scrum with an engineering team, through sprint planning, story grooming, release planning and velocity.
  • Instrument a product and read it, using a north star metric, the AARRR framework, analytics tooling, A/B tests, funnels and cohorts.
  • Apply UX principles, run usability testing, shape information architecture and user flows, and account for accessibility.
  • Hold a credible technical conversation about APIs, databases, cloud computing, system architecture and technical debt.
  • Build and run a go-to-market plan, position and message the product, run a beta, and iterate after launch.

How it is taught

Twelve weeks, three sessions a week of two to three hours, online and instructor-led, with a self-paced track alongside it. Learners work in Figma, Jira and Miro against a library of product management templates and frameworks, on product development projects with real companies rather than invented case studies.

Assessment and certification

Project work throughout, plus mock interviews and case study practice sessions of the kind used in product management hiring. Work produced during the course is shaped into a portfolio.

Finishing the course does not produce a certificate on its own. The certificate is issued by Quantaledge Tech Empowerment Foundation and carries the signature of the Chairman.

Before you start

None, though the course is aimed at people already working in engineering, design, marketing, analysis or operations.

What the course covers

11 modules · 59 lessons

  1. 1. Introduction to product management

    What the role is and how it differs from project management, the B2B, B2C, platform, growth and technical archetypes, the essential competencies, and the career paths open.

    • What product management is and what the product manager does

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Product manager against project manager: the key differences

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Types of product manager: B2B, B2C, platform, growth, technical

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Essential skills and competencies

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Career paths and opportunities

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  2. 2. Product strategy and vision

    Writing a vision and mission, Porter's Five Forces, Blue Ocean Strategy and SWOT, competitive analysis and positioning, alignment to business objectives, and communicating a roadmap.

    • Writing a product vision and mission

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Strategic frameworks: Porter's Five Forces, Blue Ocean Strategy, SWOT

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Competitive analysis and market positioning

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Aligning product strategy to business objectives

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Building and communicating a product roadmap

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  3. 3. Understanding users and market research

    Interviews, surveys and focus groups, personas and customer journey maps, jobs-to-be-done, market sizing with TAM, SAM and SOM, and competitive analysis.

    • Research methods: interviews, surveys, focus groups

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • User personas and customer journey maps

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Jobs-to-be-done and identifying user needs

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Market sizing and opportunity assessment: TAM, SAM, SOM

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Competitive and market analysis

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  4. 4. Product discovery and ideation

    Opportunity identification and problem validation, brainstorming and design thinking, lean product development and build-measure-learn, defining an MVP, and prototyping and concept testing.

    • Opportunity identification and problem validation

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Ideation: brainstorming, design thinking, innovation workshops

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Lean product development and the build-measure-learn cycle

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Defining and validating a minimum viable product

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Prototyping and concept testing

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  5. 5. Product requirements and specifications

    Writing a PRD, user stories and acceptance criteria, feature and technical specifications, wireframing in Figma, Sketch and Adobe XD, and working with designers.

    • Writing an effective product requirements document

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • User stories, acceptance criteria and use cases

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Feature specifications and technical requirements

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Wireframing and mockups in Figma, Sketch and Adobe XD

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Working with designers and writing design briefs

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  6. 6. Prioritization and roadmapping

    RICE, MoSCoW, Kano and value against effort, building and maintaining a roadmap, balancing stakeholder demand against technical debt, and managing a backlog.

    • Prioritization frameworks: RICE, MoSCoW, Kano, value against effort

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Building and maintaining a roadmap

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Balancing stakeholder demand against technical debt

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Communicating a roadmap to different audiences

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Managing a product backlog

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  7. 7. Agile product development

    Agile principles and the product manager's role in Scrum, sprint planning, standups and retrospectives, grooming user stories, release planning, and agile metrics and velocity.

    • Agile principles and the product manager's role in Scrum

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Sprint planning, daily standups and retrospectives

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Writing and grooming user stories

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Working with engineering teams

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Release planning and version management

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Agile metrics and velocity

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  8. 8. Data-driven product management

    North star metric and the AARRR framework, Google Analytics, Mixpanel and Amplitude, A/B testing and experimentation, cohort and funnel analysis, and product health dashboards.

    • Product metrics and KPIs: the north star metric, the AARRR framework

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Analytics tooling: Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • A/B testing and experimentation

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Cohort analysis and funnel optimization

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Interpreting data and telling the story it supports

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Dashboards and product health tracking

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  9. 9. User experience and design thinking

    UX principles for product managers, the design thinking process, usability testing and user feedback, information architecture and user flows, and accessibility and inclusive design.

    • UX principles for product managers

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • The design thinking process in practice

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Usability testing and collecting user feedback

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Information architecture and user flows

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Accessibility and inclusive design

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Collaborating with UX and UI designers

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  10. 10. Technical fundamentals for product managers

    The software development lifecycle, APIs, databases and cloud computing basics, system architecture and scalability, technical debt and engineering trade-offs, and communicating with engineers.

    • The software development lifecycle

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • APIs, databases and cloud computing basics

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • System architecture and scalability

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Technical debt and engineering trade-offs

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Communicating effectively with engineers

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

  11. 11. Go-to-market strategy and product launch

    Building a go-to-market strategy, positioning and messaging, launch planning and execution, working with marketing, sales and customer success, beta programs, and post-launch iteration.

    • Building a go-to-market strategy

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Product positioning and messaging

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Launch planning and execution

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Working with marketing, sales and customer success

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Beta programs and early adopters

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open
    • Post-launch monitoring and iteration

      Reading · optional

      Enroll to open

Past cohorts

Runs of this course that have already been taught, with a facilitator and a group working through it together.

Product Management - Quantaledge