Article archives

Here you can find links to all the articles published on this website.

You can also view the PRODUCTHEAD newsletter archive.

  • 51: Assemble the right product team

    51: Assemble the right product team

    Government digital teams have a way to ensure their digital services and products are created in the right way.

  • Getting better at public speaking

    Getting better at public speaking

    I’m currently working to improve my public speaking, and I recently gave a talk on Digital Justice at Product Management Festival in Zurich.

  • 6 simple rules of product management

    6 simple rules of product management

    6 simple rules of product management to introduce everyone else in the organisation to the concept.

  • 50: A novice’s introduction to service design for product managers

    50: A novice’s introduction to service design for product managers

    I’m no expert on service design, but it’s an area I’m curious to learn more about. This is a novice’s introduction to service design for product managers.

  • 49: How to prioritise your product portfolio

    49: How to prioritise your product portfolio

    If you were to inherit a large product portfolio, some of which hadn’t been updated in years, how would you prioritise which ones to work on? This article explains how.

  • 48: Mac or PC? You don’t have to pick a side

    48: Mac or PC? You don’t have to pick a side

    Remember how jarring change can be for people and actively work to soften the impact for them.

  • Interview with Wade Danielson of The Entrepreneurs Library

    I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Wade Danielson, founder and host of the Entrepreneurs Library. Take a listen or read the full transcript.

  • I’m about to launch a website. Any advice?

    I’m about to launch a website. Any advice?

    “I’m about to launch a website selling scotch whisky. Can you offer any advice?”

  • Becoming a product manager at Ministry of Justice Digital

    Becoming a product manager at Ministry of Justice Digital

    Fancy a job as a product manager? Do you see yourself working in a hot start-up with a small, tight-knit team of specialists? I’ll bet you never considered the Ministry of Justice as an option. You’re missing a trick – let me explain why.

  • Want a free copy of The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management?

    Want a free copy of The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management?

    After my general giddiness the other week, I can reassure everyone that I have regained a modicum of the reserve for which Brits are better known :-) Get articles when they’re published My articles get published irregularly (erratically, some might … Want a free copy of The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management? Read More »

  • What’s it like working as a product manager at a startup?

    What’s it like working as a product manager at a startup?

    “Could give me some insight into your day-to-day duties and what the role might entail when working as a product manager at a startup?”

  • The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management – a best seller and selling out fast!

    The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management – a best seller and selling out fast!

    The day after its launch, The Practitioner’s Guide to Product Management became a best seller.

  • The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management – out tomorrow

    The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management – out tomorrow

    As you may be aware, I’ve written a book called The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management. It’s really a collection of stories from my own experience and others’ about how NOT to manage products. So if you just follow my Golden Rule (to ignore or do the opposite of everything I suggest), then you’ll be…

  • 47: How I learned to stop hating job interviews

    47: How I learned to stop hating job interviews

    I’ve never enjoyed job interviews. The inane questions annoy me most.

  • 46: How to qualify yourself for a product management job

    46: How to qualify yourself for a product management job

    What do you need to learn if you want to qualify for a job as a product manager?

  • 45: Three ways you’re DEFINITELY doing MVPs wrong

    45: Three ways you’re DEFINITELY doing MVPs wrong

    If one were to heft a half-brick down Old Street in London, there would be high probability of hitting someone currently engaged in building a minimum viable product (MVP) of some sort or another. There’s also almost as high a probability that they’re doing it wrong. Allow me to explain.

  • Analytics and decision-making on Mind the Product

    Analytics and decision-making on Mind the Product

    If you’d have told me that August’s ProductTank London on analytics and decision-making would be one of the most risqué to-date, I’d have struggled to believe you. Take a look at the recap I wrote over on Mind the Product’s blog.

  • Should the product manager and product owner be the same person?

    Should the product manager and product owner be the same person?

    I recently read the question on the difference between the product manager and product owner on Quora and ended up sharing my opinion – at length. So I’ve decided to publish it here for posterity. Needless to say, there are other answers and other opinions, all equally valid.

  • 44: A good picture can save 1,000 words

    44: A good picture can save 1,000 words

    For those of us who are artistically challenged (read: crap at drawing), it can be daunting to contemplate the use of pictures over text to make a point. I’m a perfect case in point.

  • 39-43: Four more things I’ve learned about product management

    39-43: Four more things I’ve learned about product management

    A post in which Jock starts to think he’s Gwyneth Paltrow.

  • 38: Product managers learn by doing

    38: Product managers learn by doing

    You can learn all the theory you like, but at some point you just have to stop thinking about what the answer might be and dive in to find out. Product managers learn by doing.

  • 37: Unexpected delights – a geek’s guide to the Kano model

    37: Unexpected delights – a geek’s guide to the Kano model

    This is the story of why I’m going to be disappointed with 99% of all airlines for the foreseeable future. A guide to the Kano model.

  • Back(log) to the Future – story arcs, roadmaps and product themes

    Back(log) to the Future – story arcs, roadmaps and product themes

    Last time I published an article explaining why I thought roadmaps were a little like DVD box sets. DonorDrive product manager Kasey Marcum (@kaseymarcum) asked in the comments: “Always enjoy your posts, Jock! I really love the high level idea of this. What does this actually look like in the wild?” Imagine your roadmap and…

  • 36: Product roadmaps are like DVD box sets

    36: Product roadmaps are like DVD box sets

    Curating the product roadmap is one of the most typical responsibilities of a product manager. But have you ever thought about why you bother with them in the first place and how you could make them more effective?

  • 35: Product management skills to pay the bills

    35: Product management skills to pay the bills

    So you want to become a product manager? Good for you! But how do you know you’re ready to move into a product management job? Here are some suggestions to start you on the right track.

  • Happy Christmas + where I’ve been hiding

    Happy Christmas + where I’ve been hiding

    To all the readers of this humble product management blog: may I wish you all a happy Christmas and all the very best for 2014! Thank you for reading, commenting and sharing the various articles I’ve written in 2013; I’m … Happy Christmas + where I’ve been hiding Read More »

  • 34: Pick your battles

    34: Pick your battles

    Recently Unilever challenged Procter & Gamble to prove their advertising claim that P&G’s Fairy brand of washing-up liquid lasted twice as long as Unilever’s Persil brand. The result that followed provides a great lesson for deciding how to pick your battles.

  • Cycles within cycles

    Cycles within cycles

    This week, we’ve been looking at two different lifecycles: the product lifecycle and the development lifecycle – cycles within cycles!

  • Needs, features and benefits

    Needs, features and benefits

    One of the challenges of being a product manager is that it’s sometimes difficult to read between the lines of what your (potential) customers want in order to determine what they actually need. This article explains how to identify and differentiate between needs, features and benefits.

  • Blast from the past

    Blast from the past

    Three years ago today I published my first article on I Manage Products.  While a fair amount’s changed since then, I’d like to think that some things remain the same. My writing style, for one, hasn’t really improved in three … Blast from the past Read More »

  • 33: The “Field Of Dreams” is fiction

    33: The “Field Of Dreams” is fiction

    This is not “Field Of Dreams” and you’re not Kevin Costner. If you build it, the users will not come – unless they have a strong motivation to do so.

  • Win-win-win with Wigwamm – an interview with Rayhan Rafiq Omar

    Win-win-win with Wigwamm – an interview with Rayhan Rafiq Omar

    A London startup is attempting to disrupt the local property rentals market in a way that benefits tenants, landlords and property agents equally – a win-win-win scenario, you might say. Jock Busuttil finds out more from the man in the Wigwamm, Rayhan Rafiq Omar.

  • 32: Be flexible

    32: Be flexible

    I’ve just kicked off another project through my firm, Product People Limited. With the inevitable flurry of project start-up activity, a couple of basic tasks have reminded me how important it is for product managers to be flexible, whenever possible.

  • 31: Learn to enjoy networking

    31: Learn to enjoy networking

    Business networking used to hold about as much appeal for me as speed-dating with alligators. It was only later that I came to tolerate it, even enjoy it, but only after I learned to think about it differently. If the prospect of a room of people at an event fills you with dread, read on,…

  • What you should expect when recruiting a product manager

    What you should expect when recruiting a product manager

    After my slightly frivolous post last time, I wanted to follow up with a more practical article intended for people wanting to hire a product manager and, by the same token, those of you wanting to step into that role.

  • Product managers make GREAT dinner guests

    Product managers make GREAT dinner guests

    Now that I’ve started up a product management consultancy, I’ve found myself having to explain a bit more often than before what a product manager actually is. There are, of course, eminently more articulate and relevant descriptions available of what being a product manager means. But as it’s a Monday, and we’re all need more…

  • Don’t look back in anger – 2012 round-up

    2012 was a real roller-coaster ride for me, both personally and professionally. Surprisingly (to me), it was only my first full year of blogging – I only started I Manage Products back in February 2011. But 2012 was the year I decided to step things up a little: yes, I procured a domain name. That…

  • My new favourite things

    My new favourite things

    Over the last few weeks I’ve mostly been investigating the variety of tools available to help product managers at different stages of their product’s lifecycle. For me, the emphasis has been on speed and ease of use because my project is short-lived and I want to show some results.

  • 30: Reserve time for housekeeping

    30: Reserve time for housekeeping

    Like doing the washing-up, vacuuming under the sofa or cleaning your windows, housekeeping tasks with your product can get neglected because they’re tedious, not as interesting as new features and so on. However, if you’ve ever found yourself eating breakfast cereal out of an oven tray with a serving spoon because every single item of…

  • How to price throughout the product lifecycle

    How to price throughout the product lifecycle

    Price is absolutely critical to the success of your product.

  • 29: Never commit to written word something you’ll be ashamed of later

    29: Never commit to written word something you’ll be ashamed of later

    You know how sometimes you read an email that incenses you so much that you have to craft a long, occasionally sarcastic, cutting BUT ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED reply explaining precisely why you think that person is a complete and utter d**k. Hmmm? Here’s why it may not be a great idea to send it.

  • 28: What’s the big idea?

    28: What’s the big idea?

    I always used to think that I needed to have that one BIG IDEA to change the world before starting my own company. Turns out I couldn’t be further from the truth.

  • The 8 traits of a successful web API

    The 8 traits of a successful web API

    I’ve been talking to web developers, engineers and product people about APIs. After all, they’re the ones using them. From our discussions, it’s clear that the best web APIs share some common traits. Would you like to know what’s going to make yours more successful?

  • Why sales needs to align with product management to win more business

    Why sales needs to align with product management to win more business

    Despite relying on each other for the success of their products, the Sales and Product teams often have a jarring relationship. This is far from ideal. By looking at where things go wrong we can identify a better way of working with each other. The prizes on offer: shorter sales cycles, more easily achieved targets…

  • Introducing Product People — interim product management, coaching, training and content creation

    Introducing Product People — interim product management, coaching, training and content creation

    I’m extremely excited to announce my new company, Product People. Our aim is to be that extra pair of hands to help you when you’re busy by providing product management, mentoring and copywriting services.

  • 27: Don’t be scared of angry customers

    At some point in your product career, you’re going to piss someone off. It will be unavoidable. Hopefully it will not have been the result of, say, supergluing a pound coin to the desktop of your alpha sales guy. It might be a customer who’s annoyed with you, perhaps because of an otherwise well-intentioned change…

  • 26: The customer is king

    26: The customer is king

    By failing to grasp the demographics of their customer base, Demon Internet appears to have scored a convincing customer service own-goal with their email upgrade.

  • 25: “Don’t let roUtINe draw U IN to danger!”

    25: “Don’t let roUtINe draw U IN to danger!”

    One of the easiest traps for a product manager to fall into is unquestioning routine or habit. I learned about this most through my time at university training to fly with the Royal Air Force. Let me explain how it applies.

  • Facebook is like the drinking game “I Have Never…”

    Facebook is like the drinking game “I Have Never…”

    Last night at ProductTank I was chatting to some other delegates. We came to the realisation that Facebook was essentially playing an elaborate version of the drinking game of “I Have Never…”. All is explained after the break.

  • 24: Variety is the spice of life

    24: Variety is the spice of life

    Sometimes when I’m stuck doing the same thing at work I joke that the repetition is causing my brain to harden. Turns out this isn’t so far from the truth. Here’s why it’s important to keep challenging yourself and learning new things.

  • 23: Too much choice can be overwhelming

    23: Too much choice can be overwhelming

    As the Olympics approached, I was salivating greedily about the twenty-four live streams of coverage the BBC would be providing. As I’m not on cable or satellite, this ended up being just three. You’d think I would be disappointed but I’m not – this is going to improve my enjoyment immeasurably as a result. Here’s…