Pre-conference workshop

So You Want To Be A Product Manager...

Jeff Lash, Chris Baum

22/03/2007 (Thursday). Half day (pm)

When wandering the hallowed halls of Information Architecture conferences, at local User Experience group meetings, and in design firm lofts, one often hears lamentation about how Information Architecture and User Experience practitioners are not asked to participate in the larger strategic conversation and help guide and (re)form organizations.

Even when we are offered the opportunity to step into management or take on another role with more visibility, many IAs hesitate to give up their schematics and task flows. Yet, we yearn to contribute at this higher level, to demonstrate the amazing insights that our work avails upon us.

We can influence or even own the architecture, just likely not as the IA or CXO. One path of influence is as Product Manager. The IA as PM is still doing similar work, just at a larger scale with a different title.

This half-day pre-conference workshop is designed for IAs who are interested in moving into product management as well as practitioners who want to understand how to work better with product managers. It will help IA practitioners utilize their existing IA knowledge and techniques as a bridge to becoming Product Managers, providing a better opportunity to directly influence the direction of the organization.

The session will consist of a series of brief presentations, followed by an exercise to demonstrate how IA practice fits into the PM role.

Preliminary topics covered:

• Differences Between IA and PM
• Requirements vs. Specifications: Strategic Direction vs. Screen-Level Detail
• Research: Overlap of Equals
• Living the Business Context
• Shifting IA Deliverables to Serve as PM Artifacts
• Common mistakes Product Managers make

After the session, you'll have a hands-on appreciation for the benefits of being a Product Manager:

• Focus product strategy on customer and end user needs
• Help ensure user focus throughout entire product – not just the design, but communications, policies – the entire “customer experience”
• Work with marketing, sales, and other stakeholders to effectively communicate unique benefits of your product
• Provide input on strategies for other products within the organization

By letting the UX organization do the detailed design, IAs start influencing the larger picture. Product Managers don't stop doing IA – they stop doing schematics and content audits. Come work with us on how to show the IA world that the transition is not as wrenching as it may initially seem.