The Parts of Product Management No One Warns You About
Explore the hidden side of product management. Get candid reflections from Aha! PMs and CS leaders on what the job is really like.| www.aha.io
Embed interactive prototypes into your record descriptions and notes with the AI assistant in Aha! software. Then, quickly iterate on your early concepts as you gather feedback.| Aha! Blog
Aha! joins the first wave of ChatGPT connectors from OpenAI. Connect product data directly to ChatGPT for faster, more informed product work.| Aha! Blog
Transcribe interview audio and video directly in Aha! Discovery. Save time and uncover insights faster — now with support for 100+ languages.| Aha! Blog
Turn wireframes into lightweight prototypes to quickly explain flows and get feedback — all on your whiteboard.| Aha! Blog
AI credits are now included with every paid Aha! software plan — giving your team full access to the AI assistant and easy-to-manage usage controls.| Aha! Blog
Discover nine practical public speaking tips to own the room, engage your audience, and deliver memorable presentations.| Aha! Blog
Make sure customer feedback stays focused and relevant. Control the actions portal users can take based on an idea's status — including commenting, editing, and voting.| Aha! Blog
Meet Anton, a senior software engineer on the Aha! team. He shares what he enjoys about working with Ruby on Rails and being part of a bootstrapped company.| Aha! Blog
Explore the hidden side of product management. Get candid reflections from Aha! PMs and CS leaders on what the job is really like.| www.aha.io
Connect Google Calendar to Aha! Discovery to let participants self-schedule interviews based on your availability — so you can focus on the conversation.| Aha! Blog
Create a smarter go-to-market checklist with AI. Generate personas and messaging, spot risks in your roadmap, and align teams for a more confident launch.| Aha! Blog
Use new process diagram shapes in Aha! Whiteboards to explain workflows faster and more effectively.| Aha! Blog
Track sprint progress with burnup charts in Aha! Teamwork and Aha! Develop. Understand scope changes, forecast delivery, and keep teams aligned.| Aha! Blog
Facing pushback on customer discovery? Learn five practical ways to get executive buy-in and prove that research is essential to the health of your product.| Aha! Blog
Donna Cordes shares how she helps product teams adopt new processes, stay motivated, and solve complex product challenges.| Aha! Blog
Discover what is new across Aha! software this quarter — an AI assistant that works in the context of your product data, a next-generation text editor, and powerful updates in Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Discovery, Aha! Ideas, Aha! Whiteboards, Aha! Knowledge, Aha! Teamwork, and Aha! Develop. See how to go from discovery to delivery faster.| Aha! Blog
AI can speed builds — but not replace discovery or clear requirements. Learn the pitfalls of calls to “just use AI” and rebuttals to help teams build what customers really need.| www.aha.io
User research provides the evidence you need to build a customer-driven product roadmap. Learn how to communicate clear research goals and when to involve UX researchers.| Aha! Blog
Supercharge your whiteboards with the Aha! AI assistant. Speed up everything from planning and collaboration to user flow diagrams and wireframes.| Aha! Blog
Track knowledge base usage and search trends in Aha! Knowledge. Keep your content accurate and discoverable for customers.| Aha! Blog
Product managers can use AI wireframes to clarify intent, collaborate better with UX, and cut down on rework early in product planning.| www.aha.io
We all must do what we do not enjoy at times. Writing, data analysis, conflict — you cannot avoid the gristly parts of work. Here is how to embrace them.| www.aha.io
Leaders create an environment that fosters continual improvement when they: 1. Hire for achievement. 2. Invest in training. 3. Keep raising the standard.| www.aha.io
The MVP is a curse for ambitious technology companies that want to grow. You should be thinking about what it will take for customers to love you, not tolerate you.| www.aha.io
The Aha! Framework is a flexible model for improving efficiency and increasing value delivered to customers. It seamlessly integrates strategic planning and agile delivery into a defined, proven model for product development. The aim is to deliver a Minimum Lovable Product.| www.aha.io
Agile methodologies and product development frameworks help people make informed decisions and collaborate efficiently. But process pedantry never leads to anything good. You want to find the sweet spot between "We know why we are doing this" and "We know how to do this."| www.aha.io
Manage customer feedback visually with the new Aha! Ideas board. Organize, prioritize, and promote requests with ease.| www.aha.io
Susan landed her dream job — she was a Sr. Product Manager at a fast-growing company. I knew here well. She got to work with brilliant people every day, building an amazing product. The culture was great and the team was focused on building something lasting. she was happy.| www.aha.io
You have come to expect bad service. You hate calling the bank, right? You just know you will spend a good part of your morning on hold. And you can predict with accuracy how an employee at the home improvement store will respond when you ask about a certain item: “If it’s not on the shelf, we don’t have it.”| www.aha.io
Agile has never been more popular — or more misunderstood. There seems to be a popular concept that planning has very little part in an Agile methodology. But being Agile is much more than being reactive. It means being proactive — having a plan, while being flexible enough to change that plan when necessary.| www.aha.io
Who is the most misunderstood in technology? I would say it is the person who plans what will be built next. This person — often called the product manager — is a puzzler to many. Just consider how many different job titles are used for people who do the work of product management: product manager, product owner, business analyst, and even program or project manager sometimes. To keep it simple — let’s refer to these folks as product managers.| www.aha.io
Features vs. benefits. Which are more important? As a product manager, you need to focus on both. Because you are responsible for making sure that the right functionality gets built and that your product delivers real value to customers. But it is easy to get so caught up in what your product can do that you lose sight of why those capabilities matter to customers.| www.aha.io
There are certain phrases that make a product manager cringe. For me, it is when customers refer to the process of submitting feedback as throwing ideas into a “black hole.” Ouch. I never want a customer to feel this way. This is one reason why our team at Aha! created a new goal this year: zero unreviewed customer ideas. Seriously.| www.aha.io
Have you heard of the Wong-Baker FACES® scale? You may not know the name but I bet you would recognize it immediately. This numerical and visual pain rating scale shows several cartoon faces in increasing amounts of pain — from smiling (zero) to crying (10). No matter how young a patient is or what language they speak, they can use the scale to communicate their current level of suffering.| www.aha.io
You are so busy that you are tired. Really tired. Seven-days-a-week, 12-hours-a-day tired. And you still have more to do, more than seems possible for just one person. But you are not the only one — this is how it always is for company founders. You are consistently on the edge of too much, but you will go until you cannot go anymore. And then you do it again the next day.| www.aha.io
You start the day off ready to cruise through your schedule and To-do list. And then… the speed bumps appear out of nowhere. Impromptu meetings. Last-minute requests. Fire drills from the sales team. If this sounds like your typical work day, I have good news for you — you are a fortunate product manager.| www.aha.io
Zero is a winning number. I aim to tick off every item on my to-do list each day. This includes reviewing product ideas as they come in. Yes, it is hard to hit that “0” consistently. But for product managers, it shows that you are being responsive and efficient. Even better, you are not missing any opportunities to delight customers.| www.aha.io
When is the last time you expressed gratitude to a co-worker? I am not talking about a quick “thanks” in an email. I am talking about taking a moment to tell them why you are grateful — for how they contribute to the team and how they make your own work better.| www.aha.io
What does it mean if someone calls you bold? It could be that your actions seem courageous. Or that you take risks and have a certain fearlessness to your character. But it does not necessarily mean you are thoughtful. Although it should. Because boldness requires listening and openness too — traits that are sorely needed today.| www.aha.io
The most common input in Aha! is text. Think about it — you use the text editor constantly. From capturing notes to adding descriptions for upcoming work, you spend a lot of time writing. But often, the message you want to share is more than just words. You want to inspire everyone by telling your story with exceptional clarity. Your goal is to inspire. So, we gave the text editor a major upgrade to help you do just that.| www.aha.io
Dozens of support articles. 58 marketing activities completed. And hundreds of screenshots. This is just a sampling of the work that went into the launch of Aha! for Marketing. Our team felt an enormous sense of accomplishment on the morning of the launch. And despite the fact that we all work remotely, folks still got together to celebrate — hopping on a video meeting to cheer as the new product went live.| www.aha.io
Something different. This is what my co-founder Dr. Chris Waters and I had in mind when we founded Aha! five years ago. We had spent nearly 20 years working in Silicon Valley and building breakthrough products at both large technology companies and smaller startups. And in plain terms — we were successful in lots of meaningful ways but we experienced a lot we did not like in the process.| www.aha.io
We are building a different kind of technology company at Aha! No venture funding, no offices, and no salespeople. A company that has been highly profitable from the start. We are proud of the value that we have created for customers and the team. And it fills us with gratitude when others recognize this as well.| www.aha.io
I recently shared some good news with you — Aha! was named Company of the Year in the Stevie Awards’ 2018 American Business Awards. I also shared that this recognition was a perfect moment for the Aha! team. It is humbling when others recognize your success. And I am excited to announce that we just won another prestigious award.| www.aha.io
We are proud of what we have built at Aha! — and people have started to take notice. Today I am thrilled to share that we have received more recognition from our peers in the software industry.| www.aha.io
Product managers are busy people who are always on the go. Your days are packed — in and out of meetings, status updates with the team, and talking with customers. You need to be able to track progress against your product plans quickly, no matter where you are. How do we know this? We are product managers too| www.aha.io
“If only I had more hours in the day.” I bet you have wished for just this — maybe a few hours to finish up a task or 5 more minutes to proofread an email. Tempting, especially when you feel overwhelmed by multiple projects and impending deadlines. But finding more time is impossible. And time alone will certainly not make anyone more productive.| www.aha.io
I never imagined that I would talk with our company about a pandemic. But for many leaders, last week brought the unimaginable. It did for me on Wednesday, which I typically set aside for deep introspection and strategy. I spent that afternoon going through my own assumptions about the potential impact of coronavirus on the world, our company, our customers, and our team. Those reflections were the basis for a heartfelt conversation with the entire Aha! team last Friday.| www.aha.io
What do dates, dependencies, and blockers have in common? Big projects. I am talking about product releases, software rollouts, and marketing launches — major cross-functional efforts. Many of you rely on the Gantt chart in Aha! to coordinate all the details. And over the last few months, we have been working on our own big project.| www.aha.io
If you are a product manager, you know how challenging it is to get leadership buy-in for a big new investment. But to build what customers really need, you must be able to show the executive team that your vision is sound. This is where a business case comes in — it is an argument for why your organization should take action, based on research and insight.| www.aha.io
Everyone loves a good story, right? And if you are a marketer, you are telling meaningful stories every day — whether you realize it or not. The messaging you write, the advertisements you create, and the content you publish. But like any good storyteller, you need to understand what will appeal to your audience.| www.aha.io
Are you a strategic product manager? Find out which 3 traits all strategic product leaders have and how to embrace strategy to build great products.| www.aha.io
You rely heavily on other teams for product success. That is the story of being a product manager. So naturally, it makes your job a lot tougher when other teams are not supportive. Criticizing the roadmap. Trash-talking product decisions behind your back. Pushing different messages and functionality when meeting with customers. And it often seems to come from one group more than others — the sales team.| www.aha.io
Black accents or aluminum? That was the last industrial design decision we had to make when nearing the launch of our Movband 3 fitness activity tracker. Our design team was split for months, but now we needed to make the call quickly.| www.aha.io
Can product managers predict the future? When it comes to customers, I often argue that the answer is “yes.” This is because product managers are skilled at anticipating what is up ahead — the problems that customers will face and the solutions they need. But seeing this does not require a crystal ball.| www.aha.io
Difficult work is often the most rewarding. This is especially true for those in leadership roles. I am incredibly proud of our software and the high-growth business we built at Aha! — but I am even more proud of the leaders we have helped grow. I am amazed at how we have grown our leadership team entirely from within the company.| www.aha.io
A goal-first mindset is key to success. Learn how to use our product roadmapping tool as a framework for setting goals and sharing your product strategy.| www.aha.io
Increase conversions. Decrease acquisition cost. This is the constant push-pull for marketing teams. How do you grow the number of people who engage with your ads, while simultaneously lowering the money you spend to do so? And how do you optimize to ensure those folks turn into real paying customers? These are not easy questions. And the problem is that you are too busy buried in the day-to-day tactical work to deeply ponder the answers.| www.aha.io
“But why?” You have probably heard this question countless times if you are a parent. Children have a seemingly insatiable curiosity to learn the reasons and causes for things. This yearning tends to diminish as we get older. But knowing “why” is important for people of all ages and it is critical in business. I am going to focus on why it matters to product and marketing teams at fast-moving technology companies.| www.aha.io
Are product roadmaps and marketing roadmaps the same? Follow this breakdown to learn the differences between product roadmaps and marketing roadmaps.| www.aha.io
“Why are we building this?” This is a painful question for product managers. Maybe you have mumbled it when sales pushed through a new feature to close a deal. Or when leadership decided to pivot plans based on one big, angry customer. The reason for your “what are we even doing” inner monologue — there is no clear vision for what you should and should not invest in.| www.aha.io
Tell me if this sounds familiar. After a strategic planning session, the marketing team agrees on a high-level roadmap for the next quarter. You are excited to get to work. But then one teammate learns about a new ad platform. And another just got back from a conference and wants to start a company podcast. Everyone is going in a different direction. Suddenly, your solid plan feels more like a franken-plan.| www.aha.io
“Vision.” What does this word mean to you? I define it as knowing what you want to accomplish and where you want to go. In business, it can be difficult to determine what your vision is and then commit to it. Of course, this is a lot easier if you are the CEO of a company. Everyone looks to you to set the strategy and wants to know how they can help make the company a success.| www.aha.io
Powerful people do not work well together. At least, that is what one study suggests. Researchers concluded that when working in a group, powerful people underperform and fight over status and decision-making authority. To which I say: If key leaders cannot cooperate, how can they expect the broader team to create anything meaningful together?| www.aha.io
Product managers are the navigation system of a company. Think about it like GPS. When you enter an address into GPS, you get the final destination — as well as a list of the turns you need to make in order to get there. Product managers essentially do the same thing for an organization.| www.aha.io
Putting strategy into action can be difficult. That is because too many teams jump straight to the “how” before they agree on the “why” and the “what.” Typically this leap happens because there is a lack of clarity and transparency across the organization, especially as it relates to strategy. And inevitably, poor planning tools are in the mix. But the move-first mentality is unfortunately all too common.| www.aha.io
Have you ever given a roadmap presentation that felt more like an interrogation? Learn how to effectively present your product roadmap to the executive team.| www.aha.io
People love sharing their opinions. Customers and teammates are usually willing to tell you what they think you should do with your product if you ask. This is a good problem to have. The hard part is deciding which of those ideas will have the biggest impact.| www.aha.io
Lightweight business plans are not just for startups. These tools can be just as valuable for product managers at big companies with established products. Because even if you are not capturing plans to develop and build your company’s first offering, you still need to make a business case for the opportunity you are pursuing.| www.aha.io
Get an inside look at how we approach product discovery on the Aha! team — with real examples and practical tips you can use to improve your customer research process right now.| www.aha.io
Discover the new AI assistant in Aha! software — purpose-built to help product teams move faster from discovery to delivery.| www.aha.io
Add customizable interview tags to transcripts in Aha! Discovery to better organize customer feedback and label the findings that are most important for your team.| www.aha.io
The best customer interviews feel less like information-gathering and more like joint investigation. Use this list of 20 thoughtful prompts to uncover tangible insights and guide product discovery.| www.aha.io
Interviews involve actively seeking new insights. Feedback comes to you. Both are essential for channeling the voice of the customer into product decisions — here's how.| www.aha.io
Keep all of your research materials together in Aha! Discovery. Store notes, surveys, and documents alongside customer interviews so your observations are easily accessible.| www.aha.io
You can follow every step of the product discovery process and still miss what matters. This post breaks down the subtle ways teams weaken discovery and offers practical advice to make sure your learning drives product decisions.| www.aha.io
Bring UX and research teammates into Aha! Discovery to collaborate on customer research, analyze interviews with AI, and connect insights directly to your product roadmap.| www.aha.io
I remember the first time a customer yelled at me. I was a senior product manager and the company was working on a new network optimization device — one we promised would save costs and reduce network congestion. Unfortunately, we hit a couple of roadblocks in the process. The first was that we delivered the product months late. The second (and worst) was that it crashed the customer’s test network.| www.aha.io
Have you ever worked with a "Believable Brad?" This type of product manager sounds convincing — they know all the right things to say about customers and share impressive anecdotes from a few sales and support calls they attend as a silent observer. But when you ask for deeper detail or the why behind their answers ... they get flustered. Believable Brad does not like to share specifics. The reason is simple. They do not really know what customers feel and think — they only have a superf...| www.aha.io
T-R-M. You will hear these three letters often at Aha! — with teammates exclaiming things like, “Melissa showed some next-level TRM today, showing the customer new functionality that they needed before they even asked for it.” Or “I reported a bug to the engineering team and it was fixed within 10 minutes. Serious TRM!” So, what is TRM? It stands for The Responsive Method. It is the engine that powers us.| www.aha.io
In 2018 Aha! surpassed over 5,000 paying customers with an annual revenue of $40 million. Learn how we do it with a fully remote global team.| www.aha.io
Strategy is not optional. I wrote this just a few weeks ago in a blog post about recent world events. The context was how to make clear decisions when the future is cloudy. I explained how I approach rationale evaluation of the unknown while acknowledging that it is not possible to predict the future. But while longer-term strategic thinking is important in challenging times, having a plan and taking action is mandatory.| www.aha.io
"We already promised we could make it happen." Most product managers have heard some version of this from the VP of sales before. Pressure to land new accounts can lead to reckless promises that rain down on the product team. At the end of the quarter — when the scramble to close deals is on — the abuse can feel like a downpour.| www.aha.io
Rave reviews are unusual. For good reason. This kind of adulation is only reserved for the truly outstanding. Even artists who refine their craft for years may not be recognized for their genius during their lifetime — if ever. Product builders can find a lesson here. Complaints come fast and easy. Adoration, not so much.| www.aha.io
Roadmaps are beautiful. But a roadmap is still just a visualization. Learn why you need to have a vision and strategy behind the plan.| www.aha.io
Extreme openness. This was the original intention of the open-office design. Breaking down walls would also break down barriers — everyone could exchange ideas throughout the day. The organization would realize a hyper-state of transparency where the best ideas would always win. But I bet you have experienced a different reality with this floorplan.| www.aha.io
Aha! CEO Brian de Haaff breaks down the differences between business roadmaps and product roadmaps — including where the two harmonize.| www.aha.io
AI tools are everywhere in product management — helping with everything from summarizing customer feedback to writing release notes. But how do you know if AI is actually improving your work? Here is a practical take on how to use it without outsourcing your thinking.| www.aha.io
AI is rewriting the rules of software development. Learn how product teams must adapt and why strategic decision-making matters more than ever.| www.aha.io
Discover the best tools for managing product ideas — from capturing feedback to prioritizing insights and aligning with strategy. Find the right idea management software for your team.| www.aha.io
Scroll through the review sites and you will see them. You might even recognize the names. There are the ones who loudly complain. And the ones who happily profess their love for your product. Product managers should love them both equally.| www.aha.io
"What do you mean no salespeople?" When people find out that Aha! does not have a sales team, they are sometimes shocked — but always curious. The questions continue. "How do you manage to make money? Is Customer Success simply sales under another name? How do you convince product management experts to do this work?" The truth is that we do things differently at Aha! and we are proud of it.| www.aha.io
Have you heard of cognitive dissonance theory? In psychology, it refers to the tension that results when you attempt to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time. We all balance ideas that are often quite different. This is especially true for product managers and product marketing managers. Building and launching brilliant products requires that you can understand and harmonize an internal focus (the build) with an external focus (the launch).| www.aha.io
Learn how product teams estimate the value of new functionality, track progress through the product development engine, and measure the actual worth in production.| www.aha.io
Product teams need a better way to estimate the value of new functionality upfront and then track progress through the product development process. Today we are introducing a new approach to measuring product value.| www.aha.io
Ideas can drown you. Suggestions come from teammates and sometimes directly from customers. And you have your own running list of what to do next. Taken in aggregate, you might think this bounty represents real opportunity to innovate. There is plenty to choose from — even if it is scattered in spreadsheets and emails. But the number of ideas can be overwhelming and innovation requires more than just capturing feedback.| www.aha.io
Product development is more than how something gets built. It encompasses everything from capturing a raw concept to understanding why customers love (or do not love) what is delivered.| www.aha.io
Customer feedback matters to everything we build. Take a closer look at three customer ideas that became product features in Aha! software.| www.aha.io
Keep your community engaged and close the feedback loop with enhanced weekly digest emails. Share updates on idea status, administrator responses, and new comments — all in one streamlined update.| www.aha.io
What is the Minimum Tolerable Process? Many product managers are bogged down in too much process or spinning out from too little. At Aha! we think it is time to approach workflow the same way we do product development: by focusing on what is most essential.| www.aha.io
