Product Management

Want to be the “CEO” of the digital product, but unsure which types of skillsets you may need? This course is for you.

Product management drives the implementation of business models in startups and digital enterprises. Learn about the key decisions, underlying tradeoffs, and implementation decisions needed for each phase of the product life and master business and organizational logic to ensure product success in the marketplace.

In this course, part of the Digital Product Management MicroMasters program, you will be introduced to frameworks for decision-making based on both economic and organizational considerations. These frameworks inform a rising product manager on how to:

(i) understand customer co-creation, needs and become “a champion” for user centric development in the digital technologies.

(ii) set up and manage specific work flows (e.g. either lean, agile or stage gate development tasks) that result in timely launch and upgrades of products.

(iii) take a data and metrics driven approach to make product life cycle decisions including pricing, versioning, maintenance, helpdesks and end of life.

(iv) shape the direction of the product based on experimentation and system design thinking by learning from product roadmaps, competitive considerations, and allied evolution of demand in digital markets.

_Caveat: _This is not a course on software development or architecture or on product marketing. The role of a product manager is to work with these functions effectively, such that the interests of a product (e.g. its profitability) and its customers are best served. Thus, the perspectives and skills covered in this course are integrative, and allied with decision-making, in their orientation.

What you'll learn

• Product line planning and road mapping alternatives
• Idea generation, customer need assessment, co-creation,  definition and validation of minimal viable product (MVP) and allied set up of requirement documents
• Alternative approaches for lean, agile and waterfall development, along with the tools for assessing task, project and business risks (and risk mitigation strategies) at scrums or at stage gates.
• How to launch a product and create a go to market strategy to champion your product
• Performance Management: Ownership of product related profit (or loss) over various life cycle stages; how to track and optimize system performance metrics while  marshalling of social media and third party data towards performance optimization

Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain ($200 USD)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who can take this course? Unfortunately, learners from one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine.  While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations.  EdX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

Nitin R. Joglekar

Associate Professor of Operations and Technology ManagementBoston University

Varun Nagaraj

Questrom Digital Learning and Innovation FellowBoston University

To participate in this training, you can Enroll