Product Strategy
Decision log for PMs
A decision log is the lightweight record I use to preserve important product choices and the context behind them. I write down what we decided, who decided it, when it was decided, what evidence informed it, and what assumptions or consequences still matter. The goal is not to document every preference. The goal is to stop the team from repeatedly reopening a choice without remembering why it was made. I...
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One-pager for PMs
A one-pager is the short product brief I use when a team needs a shared starting point for a problem, opportunity, decision, or proposal. Its value is not that every subject can fit neatly on one page. Its value is that the constraint forces me to say what matters now, what I know, what I do not know, and what decision I am asking people to make. I use a...
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Survey design for PMs
Survey design is the work of turning a product question into questions people can answer consistently. I use a survey when I need structured input across a defined group, a way to compare responses, or a follow-up to qualitative learning. A survey is not automatically representative, and a large response count cannot repair a confusing question or a poorly defined audience. I design for a decision, then state what the...
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Win/loss analysis for PMs
Win/loss analysis is my structured review of why a prospective customer chose us, chose another option, delayed a decision, or stopped responding. I use it to understand the product, positioning, buying process, and competitive context from the outside. It is not a search for a person to blame. It is a way to test the assumptions behind our value proposition and find questions worth investigating. A sales outcome is informative,...
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Build vs. buy for PMs
Build versus buy is a product decision about how I will obtain a capability the product needs. “Build” may mean creating and operating the capability internally. “Buy” may mean adopting a vendor, service, component, or managed workflow. A hybrid option may combine an external foundation with internal experience, data, or controls. I do not treat the choice as a contest between engineering pride and procurement speed. I compare the options...
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Problem statement for PMs
A problem statement gives me a concise, shared description of the product problem I am trying to understand. I use one before discovery, prioritization, design, or delivery when a request is moving faster than the evidence. A good statement helps the team investigate the same problem without quietly committing to a solution. I do not expect a problem statement to be perfect on the first attempt. It is a working...
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Business model canvas for PMs
A business model canvas helps me see how a product creates, delivers, and captures value. I use it when product decisions depend on more than the interface: distribution, partnerships, operations, pricing, support, data, and the costs of keeping the promise reliable. The canvas gives me a shared language for those connections. I do not use it as a claim that the business model is proven. It is a structured set...
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Lean canvas for PMs
A lean canvas gives me a compact way to make a product or business idea inspectable. I use it when a team is moving from a broad opportunity toward a set of hypotheses about customers, problems, solutions, channels, revenue, costs, key metrics, and defensibility. It is useful because it puts the assumptions in one place, not because filling every box creates a business. I treat the canvas as a snapshot...
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Value proposition canvas for product managers
A value proposition canvas helps me connect what a customer is trying to accomplish with what a product offers. I use it when a team has a promising idea, a crowded list of requests, or a message that sounds attractive but is not yet grounded in a specific customer context. The canvas gives me a disciplined way to compare customer jobs, pains, and gains with the products and services intended...
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Assumption mapping for product managers
Assumption mapping is a way I make the beliefs behind a product decision visible and decide which ones deserve attention first. I list what must be true for an idea to create value, then consider each assumption by its importance and how much evidence I have. The map helps me turn vague uncertainty into a set of questions and tests. I use it before a team commits to a solution,...
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Buy a feature for product managers
Buy a Feature is a collaborative product-research exercise I use to explore what people value when they have to make tradeoffs. I give participants a set of possible features or improvements and a limited amount of fictional currency. They can buy items alone or pool money with others, then explain why they made those choices. I treat the activity as a way to learn about priorities, language, and perceived value....
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Weighted scoring model for product managers
A weighted scoring model is a prioritization method I use when several product options need to be compared against the same criteria. I assign each criterion a weight, score every option against those criteria, and combine the results into a relative view. The model makes tradeoffs easier to inspect because I can see which assumptions and priorities drive the ranking. I do not treat the resulting order as an objective...
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