How Product Managers recognize & solve problem statement ?

PMs full time job is to identify & address key problems. They hone their ability to apply a structured approach to problem solving & break the problem into manageable chunks & address them methodically. Honestly, they bring method to the madness around them.

Examples of few problem statements:-

• How to increase conversion rate ?
• How to increase the adoption & usage of the newly launched feature ?
• Build vs Buy ?
• Why the DAU dropped today suddenly ?
• Why the payment success ratio is low in the last week ?

The above list of problem statement can be categorized into two buckets namely :-

Exploratory problems : For instance, “ How to increase adoption & usage of feature ?”. This doesn’t have a straightforward solution & requires brainstorming among the stakeholders.

Decision-making problems: For instance, “Build vs Buy”. It has a substantially clear approach & list of available solution. However, it requires a final decision to be made.

How to approach Exploratory problems ?

The simple answer is applying the structured and organised brainstorming to such problems.

As a PM, you should invite all the relevant stakeholders who can participate in brainstorming & provide various point of view towards addressing the problem. As a prerequisite to that, prepare a quick list of preliminary nos which require a deep dive so that you can kickstart the brainstorming with those analysis.

Example :- How to increase conversion rate ?

1. New vs Repeat Users : Measure what’s the difference in conversion rate & let’s say new users are converting lower then can we have the nudges or a separate curated journey for them ?
2. Steps in Order Journey : Can we reduce the no. of steps in the order journey to increase the conversion rate ?
3. Payment Options : Can we include more payment options such as Pay later / EMI to increase the conversion rate?
4. Communication : Shall we ramp up or enhance the drop off communication across channel or maybe launch across new channels.

How to approach Decision-making problems ?

The logical graduation of the exploratory problems usually takes one to decision- making stage. The scope of exploratory problem is quite vast and that’s why breaking them in digestible nugget help in swift decision- making.

PMs ability to identify the benefits & tradeoffs for a particular solution makes this process quite easy & fast.

Example : Should we build or buy a CRM tool ?

Usually the solution is structured around different parameters as mentioned below :-

1. Cost benefit analysis
2. Long term vs short term benefits
3. Ability to scale w.r.t growth
4. Learning curve
5. Ability to customize
6. Time to market

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