Spend a day with the Product folks at Meesho, and you are sure to hear jargon such as “User Empathy,” “Product Sense,” "Product Lifecycle," “PRD,” (Product Requirements Document) and “MVP” (Minimum Viable Product).
You see, the success of every Product Manager (PM) here depends on truly understanding these phrases and imbibing them in their work.
As a company, we have made a habit of hiring and growing exceptional talent. Our PMs are prime examples of this mantra in action. But what makes our PMs great? Stay tuned, because, in this blog, some of our best PMs are giving a master class on Product Management 101.
We’ve roped in Vaibhav Bhargava (Senior Director Manager - Live Commerce Org), Anant Gupta (Group Product Manager - Monetisation Org) and Prachi Bhoyar (Senior Product Manager - Live Commerce Org) to reveal their recipes for success.
Developing User Empathy
All our PMs agree that the first step to product management is to develop “user empathy,” and what that means, is “putting yourself in the shoes of the user.” One of the ways to develop user empathy is to “try out the products you’re building regularly.
This is the best way to gain insights as a customer.” says Anant. Vaibhav echos Anant’s sentiments: "Force yourself into situations and surroundings where you get to live the user's life. Consider Meesho users; they are residents of tier-2, tier-3 cities with limited income. So, a great way to develop user empathy would be to get yourself a 3G phone and live on a fixed budget for a certain amount of time. This will help you understand their thought process, actions and even motivations."
"Another type of user empathy comes from analysing how the users are adapting the product", explains Prachi, adding, “Keep a sharp eye on the data points as well as the qualitative customer feedback.
These parameters will help you understand what's working well (in the product) and what's not, which makes it easier to decide when to scale the product and what to iterate on.”
Asking the Right Questions
The most fundamental aspect of product management, Prachi opines, starts with a “why”: “Why should your product should exist in the current environment?”
According to Vaibhav, your questions should help you identify your customer, and further seek the answers for: What is the underlying problem you’re trying to solve? Why is it important now? What makes your solution 10X?
Anant insists on all questions being open-ended, meaning, "Make sure you listen to your users without any bias, so as to truly gauge what they like about the product and what they don't.”
Developing a Product Sense
The art of understanding and figuring out what makes a product great, even if you don't find the correct answer, is at the heart of developing a product sense. "In order to develop a product sense make sure you consume blogs, podcasts, and webinars of influencer PMs.
This in turn will help you understand what are the different points of view while building a product,” says Anant. Prachi also emphasises the importance of keeping abreast of what is happening in your industry.
She elaborates, “Make sure you understand what your competition is doing, study their product strategies, and keep an eye on their latest releases. Arming yourself with this information will give you a fair understanding of the current happenings in the ecosystem.”
Whereas Vaibhav suggests "Be a disciplined observer. Try out as many products as possible, and note down the small nuances of the product. Start looking out for your customers' motivations and behaviours."But, the sure-shot way to develop a product sense, as Anant suggests is "Plain and simple, build as many products as you can. That can even be side hustling in building your own 0-1 products.”
The Ingredients to be a Great PM
So, ultimately, what makes a great PM?
For Prachi, it’s “Clear and crisp communication”. She elaborates, “As you gain more experience & excel at core product competencies like problem discovery, prioritisation, user first mindset, strategic thinking etc, one thing that'll stand out is how well you manage people expectations.
Aligning all the stakeholders along with strong product judgement is a core skill set to hone. According to Anant, "Most great PMs have an ownership bias and have high accountability of success rate of the things they are building. As they do not treat their job as mere executioners but someone who pitches ideas and align the leadership on what to build."
Vaibhav agrees and chips in, "Even though great PM's have the ability to move people. One of the skills they develop over their career is the art of prioritising. They know what is important, what needs delegation, and what things need to be on the back burner.
Helping them focus on one priority at a time."So, there you have it, folks. Being a great Product Manager starts with incorporating these fundamentals to build your basics and then remixing for the specific problem you are tackling.
If you’re a PM looking to create impact and solve problems that have a massive impact on India’s e-commerce landscape, look no further. Join us.
Editor: Mangala Dilip (Twitter, LinkedIn)
Creatives 🧑🏻🎨 Ved Sarkar (Portfolio, Linkedin)
