https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog Product management insights and strategies for building great products. en Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:19:24 GMT https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-workshop-template https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-workshop-template Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most OKR workshops fail not because teams write bad goals, but because the facilitator does not manage the room. This guide gives you a 4-hour workshop template, facilitation techniques, and a follow-up plan. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/minimum-viable-product https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/minimum-viable-product Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT A minimum viable product validates your riskiest assumption with the smallest possible investment. Learn the MVP Sizing Framework, validation techniques by business type, and why most teams build too much. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/lean-methodology-guide https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/lean-methodology-guide Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Lean methodology eliminates waste and maximizes customer value. A product coach's guide to the 5 lean principles, Build-Measure-Learn cycle, and implementation patterns for product teams at every stage. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/scrum-vs-kanban https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/scrum-vs-kanban Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Scrum uses fixed sprints. Kanban uses continuous flow. A product coach's honest comparison with a proprietary decision matrix to help your team choose the right agile framework. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/qualitative-user-research https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/qualitative-user-research Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT What is qualitative user research and when should you use it? A product coach's guide to interviews, observations, and diary studies, with a decision framework for choosing the right method. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/continuous-discovery https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/continuous-discovery Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Build a weekly continuous discovery habit with cadence models, habit loops, and stage-specific patterns. Coaching-tested frameworks from 50+ product teams. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-discovery-techniques https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-discovery-techniques Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT 10 product discovery techniques organized by the situation you face — from "we don't know the problem" to "stakeholders can't agree." Coaching-tested with failure patterns. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-research-tools https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-research-tools Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT 15 user research tools organized by research phase: discovery, testing, surveys, analytics, and synthesis. Practitioner-tested picks with free tiers highlighted. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/ux-research-process https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/ux-research-process Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most teams skip structured research and pay for it later. Learn the 6-phase UX research process that prevents wasted development and builds products users actually need. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-testing-guide https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-testing-guide Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT You've decided to test with real users. Smart move. But which type of test should you run? Moderated or unmoderated? Remote or in-person? Five users or fifty? https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/lean-analytics https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/lean-analytics Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Lean Analytics helps product managers focus on the metrics that matter. Learn the OMTM concept, the Five Stages framework, and how to distinguish actionable metrics from vanity metrics. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/customer-discovery https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/customer-discovery Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Learn the customer discovery process from Cindy Alvarez (GitHub). Practical techniques including stock questions and the magic wand method to validate that customers will pay for your solution. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/pmf-framework https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/pmf-framework Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT A PMF framework transforms the abstract goal of finding product-market fit into a concrete, measurable process. Learn the five-component PMF Canvas and the metrics that indicate true fit. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/plg-metrics https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/plg-metrics Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT PLG metrics measure the success of your product-led growth strategy. Learn which metrics matter at each stage, with benchmarks from 600+ SaaS companies. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-examples https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-examples Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT OKRs work best when you see them in action. See 15 real-world OKR examples from Google, Netflix, Spotify, and top product teams. Each example includes the objective, key results, and guidance on how to adapt it. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-vs-kpis https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-vs-kpis Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT OKRs and KPIs are often confused, but they serve different purposes. OKRs drive change with ambitious goals. KPIs monitor ongoing business health. Here's when to use each. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-interview-questions https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-interview-questions Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT A practical guide to user interview questions organized by discovery phase, featuring expert insights from GitHub, Zalando, and proven frameworks. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-positioning https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-positioning Sun, 04 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Product positioning is the foundation of every successful product launch. It determines how customers perceive your product, why they choose you over alternatives, and whether your messaging resonates. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/go-to-market-strategy https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/go-to-market-strategy Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Learn how to build a go-to-market strategy with this 7-step framework. Includes GTM types, real examples, and expert insights from SVPG. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-led-growth https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-led-growth Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Product-led growth uses the product itself to drive acquisition, conversion, and expansion. Learn PLG metrics, implementation frameworks, and lessons from practitioners. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-coaching-startups https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-coaching-startups Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Product coaching helps startups find product-market fit faster. Expert guidance for founders and small product teams from idea validation to growth. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-framework https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/okr-framework Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT The OKR framework is more than a goal-setting template. Learn why stretch goals work, how to implement OKRs in your team, and see role-specific examples. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/usability-testing https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/usability-testing Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT You've shipped a feature your team spent weeks building. Usage metrics come in. They're disappointing. Users aren't completing the flow. Support tickets pile up asking how to do something that seemed obvious. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-research-methods https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-research-methods Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT A practical guide to user research methods for product teams, featuring expert insights from practitioners at GitHub, Zalando, and Riot Games. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-market-fit https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-market-fit Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Product-market fit is the moment when your product stops being a solution in search of a problem and becomes the solution to a problem people are desperate to solve. Learn what PMF is, how to find it, how to measure it, and what it feels like when you've achieved it. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-marketing https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-marketing Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Learn the Four Pillars of product marketing from SVPG. Understand how product marketing and product management work together to drive product success. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-stories-and-epics-for-the-win https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/user-stories-and-epics-for-the-win Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/story-mapping https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/story-mapping Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-vision https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-vision Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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... https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-vision-strategy https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-vision-strategy Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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... https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-strategy https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-strategy Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-launch-checklists https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-launch-checklists Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Master your product launch with this 25-step checklist. Timeline templates, stakeholder communication guides, and rollback planning from 50+ launches. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-discovery https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-discovery Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Product discovery is the process of validating customer problems before building solutions. Learn the complete discovery process, frameworks, techniques, and tools — with expert insights from GitHub and Zalando. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-development-roadmap https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/product-development-roadmap Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/practical-okr-planning-guide https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/practical-okr-planning-guide Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT What are OKRs and how do you plan them? A product coach's complete guide with a 5-step planning process, real team examples, meeting templates, and a maturity model to level up your OKR practice. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/post-mortem https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/post-mortem Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT The post-mortem meeting just ended. An hour of finger-pointing, defensive explanations, and vague promises to "be more careful next time." No one wants to bring up issues anymore. Sound familiar? A well-run post-mortem should feel completely different. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/organic-organizations https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/organic-organizations Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT An organic organization is a flexible, decentralized structure that prioritizes adaptability over rigid hierarchy. Learn what makes them work, why the Spotify model failed, and how to transition with a practical 5-step framework. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/meeting-facilitation https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/meeting-facilitation Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Have you ever found yourself lost in a never-ending meeting, unclear about the decisions made? Or witnessed team members act contrary to what was agreed upon? According to research, only 30% of meetings are considered productive — meaning seven out of every ten meetings fail to achieve their goals. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-manage-stakeholders https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-manage-stakeholders Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Avoid the most common stakeholder management mistakes product managers make. Learn how to identify, categorize, and communicate with stakeholders effectively. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-user-story-mapping https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-user-story-mapping Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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... https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-estimate-tickets https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-estimate-tickets Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Learn the WORD framework for estimating user stories: Work effort, Overall complexity, Risk, and Deployment. Includes capacity planning template and real forecasting examples. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-define-an-mvp-with-user-story-mapping https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/how-to-define-an-mvp-with-user-story-mapping Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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... https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/great-product-manager https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/great-product-manager Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT What separates great product managers from good ones? Learn the 10 skills that define PM excellence, from AI fluency to strategic thinking. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/get-into-product https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/get-into-product Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Breaking into product management without experience feels impossible. Job postings demand 3-5 years of PM experience. Bootcamps promise shortcuts for thousands of dollars. Headlines claim AI will replace product managers entirely. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/empowering-teams https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/empowering-teams Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT You've just finished another status meeting. Thirty minutes of your team reading out what they did yesterday, while you mentally catalog everything that needs approval before they can move forward. Later today you'll review six decisions that could have been made without you. Sound familiar? https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/due-diligence https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/due-diligence Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 70-75% of acquisitions fail. Learn the 5 key areas of product due diligence — from team evaluation to technical assessment — with this comprehensive checklist for VCs, buyers, and leaders joining new companies. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/definition-of-done-and-ready https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/definition-of-done-and-ready Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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? https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/break-down-features https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/break-down-features Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Teams with clear feature breakdowns are 97% more likely to succeed. Learn the spike, task, tech story, and bug framework that separates organized teams from chaotic ones. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/benefit-from-a-product-coach https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/benefit-from-a-product-coach Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Product coaching delivers 700% median ROI. Learn what product coaches do, why they work, and how to find the right one for your team. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/backlog-management https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/backlog-management Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Master backlog management with practical tips for Scrum teams. Learn prioritization, cleanup routines, Definition of Ready, Jira workflows, and team ownership. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/backlog-grooming https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/backlog-grooming Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/7-product-kpis https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/7-product-kpis Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Product KPIs are the measurable indicators that tell you whether your product is creating real value for customers and the business. Without them, you're shipping features blindly. With them, you can prove impact, predict problems, and make better decisions. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/5-okr-best-practices https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/5-okr-best-practices Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT The difference between teams that succeed with OKRs and teams that abandon them after two quarters comes down to five practices. I've seen both outcomes many times. Companies that nail these practices create focused, aligned organizations. https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/4-key-product-learnings https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/4-key-product-learnings Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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... https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/12-sprint-planning-mistakes https://www.christianstrunk.com/blog/12-sprint-planning-mistakes Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT 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.