A user story is a short description of a feature from the end user's perspective: As a [user type], I want [goal] so that [benefit]. This guide covers 10 real-world examples, the INVEST framework, acceptance criteria templates, and how to break epics into stories.
User story mapping is a workshop-based technique that visualizes the user's journey through your product. This complete guide includes two detailed real-world examples, MVP definition techniques, and how to pitch your story map to teams and stakeholders.
There’s the assumption that the “average” person has about 10 ideas in their life that could/would change the world. Very successful people have about 15-20 of these ideas. That’s interesting, isn’t it? How do you really know that an idea could become a life-changing billion-dollar product or...
Have you ever wondered how certain intrinsically motivated people and companies, driven by a strong sense of passion and commitment, continually change the world we live in? If you want to understand how they do it, keep reading! This blog post takes you behind the scenes of an effective and...
Product strategy is a high-level plan that connects your product vision to execution. Learn frameworks, expert insights from SVPG, and how to create a strategy that drives real decisions.
Do you ever get the feeling after releasing a new product or feature, that you may have forgotten something? Do you ever think you’ve thought absolutely everything through, only to realize you haven’t.? If you can relate, then I recommend continuing reading. I wrote this article based on my...
Teams waste $29.5 billion annually on unused software features. Learn the product discovery process that prevents this—including 12 techniques, templates, and frameworks with expert insights.
A product roadmap is a visual, strategic document that communicates your product's direction, priorities, and planned releases over time. Learn the 4-step process to create roadmaps that align teams and stakeholders.
What are OKRs and how do they work? Learn the complete OKR framework with practical examples, a 5-step planning process, and best practices for product teams.
We've all been there - launch day arrives, and despite the countless hours of planning, something goes wrong. Maybe it's a minor bug that slipped through QA, or perhaps it's a critical issue that affects the user experience. Either way, the team is left scratching their heads, wondering, "What we...
I was always very interested in how big companies such as Google, Facebook, or Spotify work. Not purely from a Product Management point of view but how the organization functions as a whole. Hiring, budgeting, marketing, sales, and everything else that keeps a business ticking along, were always ...
Have you ever found yourself lost in a never-ending meeting, unclear about the decisions made? Or perhaps you've witnessed team members act contrary to what was agreed upon? These are common struggles in the realm of meeting facilitation, especially in product management and leadership roles. In ...
Avoid the most common stakeholder management mistakes product managers make. Learn how to identify, categorize, and communicate with stakeholders effectively.
Do you remember your very first software project? I remember. I was a Product Manager back in 2014 and it feels like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to prepare and define a project with story mapping. Nor did I have any clue how to define the product scope or a minimum viable...
Particularly at the beginning of a Product Manager’s career, Scrum ceremonies and everything related to project preparation can be challenging. If you can relate to that, imagine the following scenario: You just started working as a Junior Product Manager. You’re working with a squad of 5 Enginee...
In the first part, we looked at the basics of a user story map and the story mapping creation process. I hope you didn’t develop a sticky note phobia after your first story-mapping session. So, what happens after you’ve created the first version of a story map? Who do you pitch/present it to? How...
A great Product Manager (PM) plays a crucial role in building successful products, aligning the product vision with customer needs and stakeholder expectations. But what qualities truly define a great PM? Let’s explore the key traits and skills that effective Product Managers possess and how they...
I believe Product Management is the #1 role that contributes to the success of a company! Especially in Covid times, we’ve seen how the whole world needs to change and adapt to new circumstances with a lot of uncertainty. So, great Product Managers are needed! But how do you get into Product...
Remember your first day at school? When you walk into the building for the very first time... get assigned to a class… find your seat in the classroom… see so many new faces… A lot of things happened on that single day. How is this connected to empowering and forming Development Teams? Every day ...
Companies are acquired on a daily basis and many startups raise money to try and solve people’s problems. I’m sure that if you’ve started to read this article you’re probably familiar with the concept of “due diligence”. There are all kinds of things people take into consideration when conducting...
Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) are team working agreements that answer two critical questions: When is work ready to start? And when is work actually finished?
Having well-defined epics and user stories in place is a great way to prepare for upcoming projects. However, that’s just the first step. The second step is to examine your goals and what you want to achieve with the whole team. You can break things down from there. This mainly happens during,...
Discover the vital role of a product coach in Agile teams, exploring how they enhance skills, drive value, and support team success in today's market.
Master backlog management with practical tips for Scrum teams. Learn prioritization, cleanup routines, Definition of Ready, Jira workflows, and team ownership.
Backlog refinement (also called backlog grooming) is a team meeting where Product Managers and Engineers discuss upcoming work to gain clarity before sprint planning. When done right, it prevents confusion during implementation. When done wrong, it wastes everyone's time.
Do you know this excited feeling you get when you start working on a new feature? When you start going through all the things you’ll need to consider and plan ahead? There’s everything from the customer to the design and experience, dependencies, technology, the market, and the list goes on. As a...
These days, I hear and read a lot of heated discussions about objectives and key results (short: OKRs). I’ve worked for companies that do a great job using OKRs, and others that are very dysfunctional when it comes to implementing them. Maybe you can relate to one of these scenarios. 😉 Before I...
Many years ago, when I was studying, I started my first-ever software project with a friend. We were absolutely certain that the two apps we were building would be the best in the world. Guess what: They weren’t! Back then, I had no clue about product management or building products. Reading book...
Sprint planning mistakes that hurt velocity and team morale. Learn what goes wrong in sprint planning meetings and how to fix each issue with practical tips from years of running agile teams.