Product Management, Design and Discovery — Projects¶

Project-based learning cements knowledge in a way that reading and exercises alone cannot. Applying PM frameworks to a real product problem forces you to confront gaps in your understanding and make decisions that tutorials never put in front of you.

How to Use This File¶

1. Choose a project at or slightly above your current level.
2. Don't use tutorials for your chosen project. Apply the frameworks you've learned directly.
3. Use a real product idea if you have one — real stakes produce real learning.
4. Document your attempt using the Project Attempt Template at the bottom.
5. When you finish, link the result in the Projects table in the topic README.

Beginner Projects¶

Focus: get comfortable with the core vocabulary and frameworks. Complete at least one before advancing past Phase 1.

B1: PM Role Mapping¶

Description: Choose a product you use daily (could be an app, website, or software tool). Write a one-page analysis that answers: Who are the users? What problem does it solve? What do you think the North Star metric is? What would you guess the PM's top priority is right now?

Concepts Reinforced: - PM role and responsibilities - User vs. customer distinction - North Star metric thinking - Discovery vs. delivery framing

Estimated Time: 2–3 hours

Starting Point: Pick any product you use regularly. Write in prose or use a structured template.

Success Criteria: - [ ] Clearly identifies at least two distinct user types with different needs - [ ] Proposes a North Star metric and justifies the choice - [ ] Identifies at least one tension the PM likely faces (e.g., enterprise vs. consumer users) - [ ] Includes one question you'd want answered by talking to users

B2: User Interview Practice¶

Description: Conduct 3 short (20-minute) user interviews about a product or problem area you're interested in. Use the interview guide from Module 02. Document your findings using Jobs-to-be-Done language.

Concepts Reinforced: - Structured user interview technique - Jobs-to-be-Done framing - Synthesizing qualitative insights

Estimated Time: 4–6 hours (including recruiting, conducting, and synthesizing)

Starting Point: Pick a problem space (e.g., "how people manage their personal finances" or "how students organize their study materials"). Recruit 3 people who fit the target profile — friends, colleagues, or community members.

Success Criteria: - [ ] All 3 interviews last ≥ 15 minutes - [ ] Interviewer asked follow-up questions rather than leading questions - [ ] Each interview is summarized with at least 3 key insights - [ ] A synthesized "job statement" is written: "[verb] [object] in [context] so that [desired outcome]"

B3: Opportunity Solution Tree Sketch¶

Description: For a product you know well, sketch an opportunity solution tree. Start from the product's business outcome (or North Star metric), branch into user opportunities, and list potential solutions under each opportunity.

Concepts Reinforced: - Opportunity solution tree structure - Distinguishing opportunities from solutions - Connecting business outcomes to user needs

Estimated Time: 2–3 hours

Starting Point: A large piece of paper, a whiteboard, or a diagramming tool. Choose a product outcome to start from.

Success Criteria: - [ ] Tree has at least one business outcome at the root - [ ] At least 3 distinct opportunity nodes (not solutions) - [ ] Each opportunity is framed as a user need or problem, not a feature request - [ ] At least 2 solutions listed under each opportunity

Intermediate Projects¶

Focus: combine multiple frameworks, handle tradeoffs, make defensible decisions. Complete at least one before completing Phase 2.

I1: Prioritization Exercise¶

Description: For a real or hypothetical product, assemble a list of 10–15 potential features or improvements. Apply RICE scoring to each. Write a one-page prioritization document that presents your ranked list and defends the top 3 priorities.

Concepts Reinforced: - RICE scoring (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) - Distinguishing input metrics from outcome metrics - Communicating prioritization decisions to stakeholders

Estimated Time: 4–6 hours

Starting Point: Choose a product you know or one from the case studies in Module 05. Invent plausible RICE inputs if you don't have real data — the exercise is in the reasoning, not the numbers.

Success Criteria: - [ ] All 10–15 items have RICE scores with explicit estimates for each dimension - [ ] Write-up explains why the top 3 items are the right focus - [ ] At least one item that "feels important" is ranked low — and the write-up explains why - [ ] The document is written as if presenting to a stakeholder who will push back

I2: Outcome-Based Roadmap¶

Description: Create a 6-month outcome-based roadmap for a product. The roadmap should have three time horizons (Now/Next/Later), use outcomes (not features) as the primary organizing concept, and include a separate version for each of two different audiences: the engineering team and the executive team.

Concepts Reinforced: - Outcome vs. output framing - Roadmap communication for different audiences - Connecting roadmap items to strategy

Estimated Time: 5–8 hours

Starting Point: Use a product from a previous exercise, or choose a well-known product. Use the roadmap templates in Module 06.

Success Criteria: - [ ] Each roadmap item is expressed as an outcome ("reduce time-to-first-value") not a feature ("redesign onboarding") - [ ] Engineering version includes technical context and dependencies - [ ] Executive version includes business impact and strategic rationale - [ ] Roadmap is defensible — you can explain why each item is in its time horizon

I3: Go-to-Market Plan for a Feature¶

Description: For a significant feature (real or hypothetical), write a complete go-to-market plan. Include: target audience, positioning statement, key messages, launch tier (soft vs. broad), instrumentation plan, and rollout strategy.

Concepts Reinforced: - GTM strategy structure - Launch tiers and progressive rollout - Positioning and messaging frameworks - Success metric definition pre-launch

Estimated Time: 5–7 hours

Success Criteria: - [ ] Positioning statement follows the [For... who... the product is a... that... unlike... our product...] framework - [ ] Launch tier is explicitly chosen and justified - [ ] At least 3 success metrics defined before launch, with targets - [ ] Rollout plan includes a clear "kill switch" — what would cause you to halt or roll back the launch

Advanced Projects¶

Focus: tackle realistic, open-ended problems. No hand-holding. Complete at least one to reach Applied Practitioner status.

A1: Full Discovery Sprint¶

Description: Conduct a week of discovery work on a real problem you care about. Conduct 5 user interviews, synthesize findings, build an opportunity solution tree, and write a problem statement + recommendation for what to build (and why not to build several alternatives you considered and rejected).

Why This Is Hard: Real discovery requires recruiting real participants, tolerating ambiguous data, making judgment calls with incomplete information, and saying no to the solutions that feel obvious before the interviews.

Concepts Reinforced: - Continuous discovery habits - User interview synthesis - Opportunity solution tree - Problem framing - Build/buy/no-build decision-making

Estimated Time: 10–15 hours

Success Criteria: - [ ] 5 user interviews conducted with documented notes - [ ] Findings synthesized into a clear opportunity landscape (not a list of feature requests) - [ ] Opportunity solution tree covers at least 4 opportunities and 2 solutions per opportunity - [ ] Write-up explicitly names 2–3 solutions considered and rejected, with reasoning - [ ] You can explain every recommendation you made

A2: Product Strategy Document¶

Description: Write a full product strategy document for a real product or your own product idea. Include: 5-year vision, 1-year strategy (how you win), 3 product bets, North Star metric, and a set of OKRs for the next quarter.

Why This Is Hard: Strategy requires making choices. A document that says "we will do everything" is not a strategy. The test is whether a reasonable person would read your strategy and say "this means they're choosing NOT to do X and Y."

Concepts Reinforced: - Product vision vs. strategy distinction - North Star metric definition - OKR construction - Strategic frameworks (Blue Ocean, Porter's 5 Forces)

Estimated Time: 8–12 hours

Success Criteria: - [ ] Vision is aspirational and time-bound (5-year horizon) - [ ] Strategy is explicit about what you are not doing - [ ] North Star metric is a user-value metric (not a revenue metric) - [ ] OKRs have measurable Key Results with specific targets and time horizons - [ ] Document can withstand a "why?" question at each claim — every assertion is supported

Expert / Capstone Projects¶

Focus: synthesize everything. Build a complete product discovery and definition package. Complete one to earn Topic Mastery status.

E1: Full Product Discovery and Definition Package¶

Description: Select a real product idea you believe is worth building. Over the course of several weeks, conduct the complete discovery-to-definition process: user research, problem framing, strategy, solution ideation, MVP definition, success metrics, OKRs, and a 6-month outcome-based roadmap.

Why This Is a Capstone: This project requires mastery of all major topic areas. You cannot complete it with gaps — they will surface quickly. Expect to revisit earlier modules during the build. The final artifact should be something you could walk into a board meeting or investor conversation with.

Core Requirements: - [ ] Uses concepts from at least 8 different modules - [ ] Includes at least 5 documented user interviews with synthesized insights - [ ] Includes a validated problem statement with opportunity sizing - [ ] Includes a product strategy document (vision, strategy, bets, North Star metric) - [ ] Includes a prioritized solution hypothesis with RICE scoring - [ ] Includes a 6-month outcome-based roadmap - [ ] Includes OKRs for the first quarter - [ ] Includes a GTM plan for the first release - [ ] Is documented clearly enough that someone else could understand and critique it - [ ] Includes a write-up explaining your major decisions and what you learned

Estimated Time: 15–25 hours

Extension Ideas (if you want more challenge): - Present the package to 3 people and incorporate their feedback into a revised version - Create a Figma prototype for the MVP and run a usability test with 3 users - Write a "press release" for the product in Amazon's Working Backwards style

[!NOTE] The final module of this topic (Module 12) is a dedicated Capstone Project module that walks you through this project with a brief, milestones, and a Help / Getting Unstuck section with staged hints. It deliberately does not hand you a finished solution. The help is there so you can get past a blocker and keep going on your own. Struggling productively is the learning here.

Project Attempt Template¶

When you attempt a project, create a folder in this topic's directory and copy this template:

# Project: {{PROJECT_NAME}}

**Difficulty:** Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced / Expert
**Started:** {{YYYY-MM-DD}}
**Completed:** {{YYYY-MM-DD}} (or "In progress")
**Time Spent:** {{HOURS}} hours

## What I Built

{{DESCRIPTION_OF_WHAT_YOU_ACTUALLY_BUILT}}

## Link / Location

{{LINK_TO_DOCUMENT_OR_FILE}}

## What I Learned

- {{LEARNING_1}}
- {{LEARNING_2}}
- {{LEARNING_3}}

## What Was Hard

{{WHAT_WAS_CHALLENGING_AND_HOW_YOU_SOLVED_IT}}

## What I'd Do Differently

{{HONEST_RETROSPECTIVE}}

## Concepts Used

- [[modules/01_introduction]] — how you used it
- [[modules/02_user-research-and-discovery]] — how you used it

## Score / Self-Assessment

On a scale of 1–5, how well do I think I executed this project? {{SCORE}}/5

Justification: {{JUSTIFICATION}}