{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Government Product Managers Play a Key Role in UX |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Government Product Managers Play a Key Role in UX",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/11/27/government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Government Product Managers Play a Key Role in UX","summary" : "Government product managers sit at the intersection of three circles—business, design and technology. We play a key role in user experience (UX), because we are tasked with understanding users to build a product that is desirable and viable. This product could be a paper or online form, a website or a mobile app. Product management","date" : "2015-11-27T11:00:19-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"ktrebon" : "Karen Trebon"},"topics" : {
        
            "design" : "Design",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management",
            "research" : "Research",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-11-27-government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/11/2015-11-27-government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/11/2015-11-27-government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/11/2015-11-27-government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux.md","slug" : "government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/11/27/government-product-managers-play-a-key-role-in-ux/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eGovernment product managers sit at the intersection of three circles—business, design and technology. We play a key role in \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/communities/user-experience/\"\u003euser experience (UX)\u003c/a\u003e, because we are tasked with understanding users to build a product that is desirable and viable. This product could be a paper or online form, a website or a mobile app.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/11/600-x-400-Three-gear-to-place-concepts-with-clipping-path-NUMAX3D-iStock-Thinkstock-187787658.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Three intersecting gears.\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003eNUMAX3D/iStock/Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eProduct management is different from project management. Product managers are the defenders and voice of the product’s customers, while a project manager is more concerned with balancing costs, scope, and schedule issues.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI recently completed a Product Development and Management class. Here are half a dozen things I learned and you need to know if you are a beginner to product management and its role in \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/topics/user-experience/\"\u003eUX\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct managers understand user needs through interviews.\u003c/strong\u003e For example, if the product is a website redesign, ask who will be using the new site? How and where do they access it now? Does the existing site meet their needs, in at least some ways? In what ways does it not? Interview questions should be open-ended as much as possible.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIdentifying user needs is important, but equally important is a product manager’s ability to translate those into features.\u003c/strong\u003e Products are made up of little features, and product managers use user stories as they work with developers to build features. A \u003ca href=\"https://help.rallydev.com/writing-great-user-story\"\u003euser story\u003c/a\u003e is a sentence that describes the need and the benefit. It can generally be completed in one sprint and takes this form: As a, \u003ccode\u003eI want ___\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eso I can___\u003c/code\u003e. Notice that it doesn’t say HOW to build the feature. The developers may have a better idea than you, so let them be creative. Product managers work with developers to prioritize stories and features.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA product manager can’t be afraid to ask “why?”\u003c/strong\u003e If the product users are asking for a feature, ask why it is needed. Is it a “must have” item? Is it low in complexity? Or is it a complex, “nice to have?” Asking why will help you prioritize what features to build first and which ones to build later.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA product manager will likely work with users to develop personas.\u003c/strong\u003e A persona represents a group of users—their goals, needs, behaviors and pain points. It’s a good idea to print out personas and hang them in your office, so you keep your users in mind as you build and develop your product.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/11/250-x-333-Agile-Governance-Sprint.jpg\" align=\"right\" alt=\"Small groups of people work at tables with notepads and laptops on an agile government sprint.\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAgile software development values product managers who collaborate with customers throughout the lifecycle, not just when you are researching and conceiving the product.\u003c/strong\u003e In agile, product managers go through many discover, design, develop, test cycles with customers.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAs you are developing the product, you can continue to collaborate with users in many ways.\u003c/strong\u003e For example, you can show them wireframes (or rough drafts) of new websites or pages and see what they think. \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/04/25/storyboarding-is-key-to-successful-storytelling/\"\u003eStoryboards\u003c/a\u003e show how one page on a website flows to others. See if your storyboards make sense to your future users.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral federal agencies have product managers or teams (IRS, OPM for USAJOBS.gov). Some agencies, like Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB), have a user experience (UX) department. Tell us what you have at the agency where you work!\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}