How can product managers balance business and user needs?

One thing that I think gets lost with product managers is that you are looking to create things with business value, not just things that users want. I like to focus on what is the user need that's being identified first, then understand what's the value of solving that need, down to the expected business impact. That will help you prioritize if the effort vs reward is worth it.

Most important thing to keep in mind is that as Product Managers we are not solving just a specific user need. We target to solve a problem which is a market need. - Analyse the market and related problem based on different geographic and demographic segmentation - Target a particular consumer base In order to perform the above functions there has been many tools and techniques followed so far: - Qualitative and Quantitative research - Competitive analysis - Beta testing (If you have an MVP in place. Based on the results from above research and analysis, create a North Star Metric for your product which is comparable to your intended business outcome(s).

The best approach is to keep an eye out for signs and patterns in both the stories people tell and the numbers they show us. This helps us figure out what troubles customers the most. Once we know their biggest problems, we can turn them into business challenges that customers are willing to pay to solve. But we shouldn't just focus on what customers complain about the most loudly or passionately. We also need to see if customers are currently finding their own ways to solve these problems. If they aren't, it might not be worth our time to create a solution for them.

In my experience, working at an enterprise level, once you clearly understand the problem, you need to decide if the solving solution will apply to all clients or not. In other words, you need to decide whether the potential solution will bring real value and create a better product for every other client. It may be a good idea or improvement for a client but not applicable to others. Unless this would be a new trend, a new best practice, that is worth investing, the request should not be added to the roadmap.

Understanding and starting from business outcome would be important. Breaking down the business outcome to product outcomes (which are derived from customer needs) will help us in managing the tradeoffs

I would think about this in bets. - First line of thinking: Is there an asymmetric bet, meaning something that benefits business and users' needs at the same time? If yes, do it, if not ?? - Second line of thinking: Is there a user need that could potentially drive or match a business need if satisfied? Vice versa, is there a business need that, if solved in a certain way, can also benefit customers? If yes, do it, if not ?? - Third line of thinking: Trade-offs. What would you have to give up if you choose one option or the other? Estimate cost and benefits and pick the option that maximizes benefits and reduces costs.

A helpful tip when dealing with resource prioritization is to consider the Lean approach. Lean thinking encourages the continuous delivery of value to the customer while minimizing resource waste. By applying Lean principles to prioritization, you can consistently question which features or improvements will bring the maximum value with the minimum effort. Ask : - What is the potential impact of this feature or improvement on customer and business value? - How complex is it to implement this feature or improvement? - What is the cost associated with implementation? By weighing these factors, you can identify high-impact opportunities with minimal effort, maximizing development efficiency.

Regardless of how you prioritize (RICE, MoSCow, Kano Model, etc.), concentrate on what value means to your business and your users. You must solve meaningful user problems that influence a strategic goal (growing revenue, increasing users, etc.). For example, if you want more paid users, address an urgent need many users are willing to pay for. Separate the business impact from the user impact and assess if the effort (cost, time, resources, etc.) is justified. For a product (or feature), consider - What business and user outcomes will this produce? Define your desired outcomes in specific terms (OKRs, SMART, etc.) - How much effort will this require? Evaluate your assumptions and the work (discovery, development, validation, etc.)

Prioritizing value is essential in product management. The MoSCoW method, for instance, helps in distinguishing 'Must-haves' from 'Could-haves'. Facebook prioritizes features that increase user engagement, which in turn drives ad revenue. The RICE score (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) is another great tool, used by companies like Dropbox to evaluate and prioritize product initiatives based on their potential impact and required resources. The Kano Model, which classifies features based on customer satisfaction, can be observed in Apple products where both basic (expected) and delight (unexpected) features are balanced.

For each feature, perform a cost-benefit analysis. Calculate the possible return on investment (ROI) vs the development and implementation costs. This aids in the identification of high-impact, low-effort things that can yield quick wins. Assess the impact of each feature or requirement against the effort required for implementation.

Establish open communication from the outset. Involve stakeholders in the decision-making process, and clearly outline the trade-offs between business goals and user needs. This early engagement fosters understanding and buy-in, reducing resistance to necessary compromises.

Prioritizing user needs is key, as meeting these needs drives business value. However, not all user needs hold the same importance for business objectives. Product managers should focus on identifying and addressing those user needs that most significantly align with and contribute to the business's goals. Developing a deep understanding of how user value translates into business benefits is essential for effective product strategy and decision-making.

The issue is that most of the time the business is unaware of the customer's needs and at the same time expects that the needs of the business and the things that are expressed should be done. But the issue is that as a product manager, we are aware of the customer's needs, but we get involved in solving business problems and have to ignore the customer. An experienced product manager, in my opinion, first fully understands the needs of the business and the stakeholders and tries to translate the customer's needs according to the business needs and its goals. Do not forget that in the negotiation, until the parties in the negotiation understand how it will benefit them, they will not accept your offer.

Communicating trade-offs effectively is a critical aspect of product management. In balancing business and user needs, you'll often encounter conflicting priorities, be it in terms of time, cost, quality, or scope. Transparency in these situations is key to maintaining trust and collaboration.

You have to be smart in making decisions. You shall communicate effectively but in an approach searching for common ground for the success. Making product management is a journey full of negotiations during which you have to convince, influence and making deals with all stakeholders. Here I used to keep taking my own time and think 5 whys to understand the real value of each stakeholder.

Continuous Discovery: People change, needs change, and what once served may no longer be applicable. Being attentive to changes is essential for the success of your product. A tip: have a few personas as testers for your product. Gather feedback, conduct usability tests, and always stay close, keeping your customer at the center of the solution.

Achieving the right balance often involves a process of experimentation and iteration. Product managers should be willing to test hypotheses, gather feedback, and iterate on the product based on both user and business outcomes. This agile approach allows for adjustments that can better align the product with evolving needs on both fronts.

Experimentation and iteration are integral to the dynamic process of balancing business and user needs in product management. This ongoing cycle involves testing assumptions, learning from outcomes, and making necessary adjustments to the product. Start by setting up experiments to test specific hypotheses about your product. These could range from feature effectiveness to user engagement strategies. Use a structured approach like A/B testing or user testing sessions to gather data on how real users interact with your product and respond to different elements.

Hypotheses is a key word here and keep testing it is crucial to the success. Generally you build the business case based on a lot of assumptions translated to hypotheses. You start from that and keep an eye to keep validate and most important to fine tune and/or modify the hypothetical statement as new inputs arise. So feedback is important to ensure you do not miss the way to your target.

PMs working with assertive business leadership sometimes overlook their iterative goals. Instead of counting a 2-4 sprint large MVP as an iteration with large metrics that are slow to move, focus on smaller indication metrics that move quickly, such as checking engagement with a fake button or early sign-ups. Challenge stakeholders to keep tasks small, trust your instincts, and use data and experiments for validation. Failing fast only works if you reduce the cost of failure by actually being fast.

Taking responsibilities for your product is important. It is also important to be ethical and in total adherence to the laws and regulations that rules your product market domain as well as the target audience. Once you put all these in place, user's have trust in your product and would want to remain loyal to your product as they feel safe using it.

No one to achieve success without values. You have to walk the talk in your actions. Do not ever compromise for any short wins. Be strategic in your thinking. Add value to the community. Values, Ethics, Integrity are the fuel for your success. Safety, quality and environmental friendly products are part of the values that you have to commit to it. You cannot succeed without values. Remember this fact when you are about to make any decision.

Balancing business and user needs must be done ethically and responsibly. Product managers should consider the potential impact of their decisions on users and the wider community. Ethical considerations should guide choices to ensure that the product is not only successful commercially but also respects user privacy, inclusivity, and other ethical standards.

In addition to what's been discussed, consider incorporating a cross-functional collaboration approach. Foster open communication between product managers, developers, designers, and other stakeholders. Encourage collaborative problem-solving sessions that bring diverse perspectives to the table. This inclusive approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of both business and user needs, facilitating the creation of well-balanced and user-centric products.

In addition to the core principles mentioned, product managers should also consider the competitive landscape, industry trends, and emerging technologies. Staying abreast of these factors enables product managers to proactively address changing business and user requirements. Additionally, fostering a culture of continuous learning within the product team ensures that everyone remains adaptable and responsive to evolving needs.

A key aspect that often product managers missed is user experience and usability. Yes you can understand the problem, yes you can tie to value among other things mentioned but if the product is cumbersome people will struggle with it and look somewhere else. Another aspect is pricing models, tier definitions, SLAs, add-ons identification, among other items will make the product support better a customer journey. Finally, consideration on how to use product to collect metadata information to understand better your customers. There are strategies that can be used to do this.

Define your Personas and match your business needs with your primary and secondary personas if they don't match then go back to Step1.

Weave a "Customer Crown" into decision-making, ensuring that user needs are a regal priority in the product development kingdom. Juggle the "Innovation Trifecta" by harmonizing business goals, user needs, and technological feasibility, creating a balanced product strategy circus. Dance the "Stakeholder Waltz" gracefully, involving key players in regular conversations to synchronize business objectives with user-centric design. Navigate the "Feedback Fusion" waters, blending customer input with business insights to craft a product symphony that resonates with both audiences harmoniously.