## General Purpose Product Management Cycle Cheatsheet This cheatsheet provides a high-level overview of a typical product management cycle. Remember, you can adapt this process to fit the specific needs of your team and project. **1. Define & Plan:** - **Set cadence:** Establish a regular release cycle (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly). - **Assign ownership:** Designate a product lead to manage the cycle and champion the product. - **Identify KPIs:** Define key metrics to track progress (e.g., user acquisition, engagement, retention). **2. Gather & Refine:** - **Brainstorming:** Conduct regular sessions to gather ideas from all stakeholders (employees, customers). - **Categorize & Estimate:** Group ideas by type (feature, bug fix, test) and difficulty (easy, medium, hard) with the team's input. **3. Prioritize & Focus:** - **Prioritize ruthlessly:** Start with the most critical (often "hardest") tasks to ensure delivering value even with limited time. - **Spec it out:** Collaboratively define detailed specifications for each prioritized feature, including functionalities and ownership. **4. Build & Test:** - **Minimize distractions:** Once specs are finalized, avoid introducing major changes to the plan and focus on execution. - **Test comprehensively:** Utilize a combination of existing and new test cases to ensure the new version functions as intended. **5. Iterate & Reflect:** - **Review & learn:** Analyze gathered data and user feedback to identify areas for improvement. - **Feedback loop:** Use learnings to inform future iterations and refine the product development cycle. **Additional Tips:** - **Communication is key:** Ensure clear and consistent communication across all stakeholders throughout the cycle. - **Embrace flexibility:** Adapt to changing needs and priorities as you gather new information. - **Celebrate progress:** Recognize and appreciate team achievements along the way. **Remember:** This is a general framework. - Tailor it to your specific product and team needs. - Experiment and iterate to find the process that works best for you.