Abstract:

The role of Product Manager is considered one of the most in-demand and prestigious worldwide. A LinkedIn report ranked Product Manager and Product Owner among the top 15 most sought-after professions, with demand rising by about 30% in the past year. What makes this role so attractive? What exactly does a product manager do – and how does one become one?

Students of Industrial Engineering and Management gain a solid foundation of skills: analytical thinking, process management, communication, basics of marketing and programming, and systems-level perspective. Yet, to succeed as a product manager, additional advanced tools are required.

In this comprehensive academic course, we will uncover the profession’s core and answer key questions:

Why is the product manager’s role so critical in organizations?

How is a product built – from strategy, market and user research, to specification, design, prioritization, and development?

What are the differences between B2B and B2C, software and hardware, and how do they impact product management?

What are KPIs, MVPs, personas, customer journeys, wireframes, and prototypes – and how are they used effectively?

How do we measure success, why do products fail, and how can product managers address challenges such as product–market fit and growth?

Throughout the course, we will also integrate GenAI tools, demonstrating how to select the right tool, apply it effectively, and critically assess its outputs.

Abstract:

The role of a product manager is one of the highly desired ones in the high-tech industry. In a research conducted by LinkedIn, the ‘product manager’ and ‘product owner’ roles were ranked high in the top 15 most wanted occupations, with a 30% rise in demand for product managers year over year.

What is this halo that surrounds this role, what exactly does a product manager do, and how to become one?

In this very thorough academic course the students will learn why everyone want to become product managers, what it means to be one, and why this role is so crucial. What are the required skills and traits,

what are the tools and models, software packages, systems and practices that the PM uses. We will review the wide range of responsibilities and identify the difference between an inbound and outbound product manager.

At the end of the course one will be able to explain and practice all the following steps and tools that the PM uses throughout the product life cycle, from inception through design, build, test, launch, maintain and end-of-life:

Market research, user research, KPIs, Product backlog, epics and stories, prioritization models, testing and validation, MVP, usage scenarios, persona, customer journey, wireframe, prototype, growth, user testing, product market fit, user feedback, SaaS metrics, build-measure-learn, 5-why, design, usability, user experience, growth hacking, localization, legal and regulation, marketing and product marketing,

product launch, measuring success.

We will review many real-world products and analyze product management decision making and obstacles handling.