Product Management, Design and Discovery — Learning Roadmap¶

This roadmap is your study plan. Work through the phases in order. Each phase builds directly on the previous one. Mark your current position with ← You Are Here and update it as you progress.

Prerequisites Map¶

No hard prerequisites. The following background helps but is not required:

[General business literacy]  ──┐
                                ├──► Product Management  (start here)
[Software product awareness]  ──┘

If you have neither, spend an hour reading about how a tech company's product team works before beginning Module 01.

Learning Path Visualization¶

flowchart TD
    A([Prerequisites Met]) --> B

    subgraph P1["Phase 1: Foundation  •  Weeks 1–3"]
        B["Module 01: Introduction to PM"]
        B --> C["Module 02: User Research and Discovery"]
        C --> D["Module 03: Problem Framing"]
    end

    subgraph P2["Phase 2: Core Concepts  •  Weeks 4–7"]
        E["Module 04: Product Strategy"]
        E --> F["Module 05: Prioritization"]
        F --> G["Module 06: Product Roadmaps"]
    end

    subgraph P3["Phase 3: Applied Skills  •  Weeks 8–11"]
        H["Module 07: UX Design Fundamentals"]
        H --> I["Module 08: Agile and Delivery"]
        I --> J["Module 09: Metrics and Analytics"]
        J --> K["Module 10: Go-to-Market and Launch"]
        K --> L["Module 11: Stakeholder Management"]
    end

    subgraph P4["Phase 4: Mastery  •  Weeks 12–15"]
        M["Module 12: Capstone Project"]
        M --> N["Topic Review and Weak-Spot Work"]
        N --> O(["Topic Complete ✓"])
    end

    D --> E
    G --> H
    L --> M

    style A fill:#2a9d8f,color:#fff,stroke:none
    style O fill:#2a9d8f,color:#fff,stroke:none
    style P1 fill:#edf2fb,stroke:#8d99ae
    style P2 fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#d97706
    style P3 fill:#fee2e2,stroke:#dc2626
    style P4 fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#16a34a

Phase Breakdown¶

Phase 1: Foundation¶

Goal: Understand what product management is, why it exists, and build comfort with the core vocabulary and mental models. Leave Phase 1 able to describe the PM role clearly and articulate the difference between discovery and delivery.

Phase 1 Exit Criteria:

• Can explain the PM role to a non-expert in 2 minutes without notes
• Can describe the difference between product discovery and product delivery
• Has conducted or can describe how to conduct a structured user interview
• Scored ≥ 70% on all Phase 1 module tests
• GLOSSARY.md has at least 10 entries filled in

Milestone unlocked: Foundation Built

Phase 2: Core Concepts¶

Goal: Develop fluency with the strategic and organizational tools a PM uses daily. Leave Phase 2 able to write a product strategy, prioritize a backlog, and construct a roadmap.

Phase 2 Exit Criteria:

• Can write a one-page product strategy for a real or hypothetical product
• Can apply RICE scoring to a list of features and defend the ranking
• Has produced at least one outcome-based roadmap artifact
• Scored ≥ 75% on all Phase 2 module tests
• CHEATSHEET.md has entries for RICE, ICE, OKR template, and roadmap types

Milestone unlocked: Framework Fluent

Phase 3: Applied Skills¶

Goal: Apply knowledge to realistic, cross-functional problems. Combine discovery, strategy, metrics, and delivery into a coherent PM practice. Leave Phase 3 ready to do PM work in a real environment.

Phase 3 Exit Criteria:

• Has written at least 10 well-formed user stories with acceptance criteria
• Can design a basic A/B test with correct metric selection and sample size rationale
• Has produced a GTM plan for a real or hypothetical feature launch
• Scored ≥ 80% on all Phase 3 module tests
• QUESTIONS.md open questions are mostly resolved (status 🟢)

Milestone unlocked: Applied Practitioner

Phase 4: Mastery¶

Goal: Synthesize everything. Build a complete product discovery and definition package for a real product idea. Leave Phase 4 confident enough to do PM work professionally.

Phase 4 Exit Criteria:

• Capstone project complete and documented
• Overall topic score ≥ 80%
• CHEATSHEET.md is complete and genuinely useful as a reference
• GLOSSARY.md has definitions for every term encountered throughout the topic
• At least one teaching artifact exists (blog post, slide deck, or recorded explanation)

Milestone unlocked: Topic Mastery

Time Estimates Summary¶

[!NOTE] These estimates assume roughly 4–5 focused hours per week. If you're studying part-time, the calendar weeks will stretch accordingly. Adjust the schedule to fit your life — consistency matters more than pace.

Milestone Definitions¶

Alternative Paths¶

Fast Track (If You Have Prior Product Experience)¶

If you already work in a product-adjacent role (engineer, designer, or founder who does PM informally):

Skim Module 01 → Start at Module 03 → Continue normally

Take the Module 01 test first. If you score ≥ 85%, skip to Module 03.

Deep Dive Path (Maximum Understanding)¶

For maximum depth, add these supplementary activities between phases:

• After Phase 1: Read Part 1 of Inspired by Marty Cagan (the role and the team)
• After Phase 2: Read Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres, Chapters 1–5
• After Phase 3: Read Shape Up by Ryan Singer (free online at basecamp.com/shapeup)

Project-First Path (Learn by Building)¶

If you learn best by doing rather than reading:

Module 01 → Pick a real product problem → Module 02 → Run real user interviews → Module 03 → ...

Apply each module to your chosen product problem before moving to the next module.

You Are Here¶

Current Phase: Not started

Current Module: None — begin at Module 01

Last Completed Module: None

Next Action: Open Module 01 and read the Overview section.

Update this section each time you advance to a new module or phase.