Hey, happy Monday!
In this Note we talk about data and how two completely different teams use it to succeed.
Data + Creativity
At 6:30 p.m. today, May 30 (lock your calendar to Google Calendar / Apple Cal / Outlook) we will meet with Andrea Scotti Calderini, CEO of Freeda Media & Platform.
Its content design teams use data to generate winning and viral campaigns.
Thanks to the Freeda Platform, which collects, analyzes and organizes large amounts of data points, creatives no longer rely solely on their intuition but, by understanding the algorithm, are able to produce content optimized for engagement on each platform.
Andrea will show us the platform to which only those working in brands such as Goovi, KFC, Jeep, Golden Goose, Giorgio Armani, Prada, 1895 by Lavazza, Lemonsoda (to name a few) have access.
In fact, for them, in 2021 alone, Freeda created 306 branded content campaigns on the three countries.
Don’t miss it and bring whoever you want. Click here to invite a friend with Whatsapp
Data + Priority
Continue the series of guest interviews at Product Management Day 22 to be held in Rome on June 25. If you haven’t done so yet, get your ticket here with the discount offered by STRTGY (both to attend the event in person and online)
This week it is the turn of Federica Marian, product manager at Da Vinci. Her team uses data to prioritize product developments.
In the interview you will find out about how she went from bioengineering to product management, what methodologies and tools she uses every day, and a wonderful book written by Andrew Chen, an investor and partner at Andreessen Horowitz (the celebrated Silicon Valley investment fund).
OKR
All this without giving spoilers about his talk that he will bring to the Rome event at which I hope to meet you because the whole team from STRTGY will be there along with the Get Connected Atlassian and Gtmhub team. Stop by our booths to learn more about OKRs for product teams (and beyond), talk about the methodology in detail, but most importantly to pre-order a copy of the book Make Progress with OKRs so you’ll be the first to get it when it comes off the printer! Whoo!
ALWAYS MAKE PROGRESS
-Antonio
● PRODUCTS / Data and Priorities.
From bioengineering to product management
A: Hi Federica, introduce yourself to those who read us.
Federica: I am the product manager of Da Vinci, a start-up product led company.
I oversee the organization and coordination among our three teams: design, development, and marketing growth.
I am in charge of sprint planning for the design & operations and development teams together with the company’s CTO.
I organize both short- and long-term prioritization of all features: I collect feedback coming from users and marketing and talk directly with ambassador users to understand their needs. Together with my manager – project manager and CIO of the company – we review the business plan and define the direction of activities.
A: What does Da Vinci deal with?
Federica: Da Vinci is a start-up in the field of Telemedicine: our goal is to bring innovation to community medicine.
The company mission is to make care more accessible to patients. Initially the business was focused on offering paid psychology and medicine consultations online. Now we work directly with primary care physicians because this figure is the gatekeeper of Italian health care. We all have a general practitioner with whom we are in contact and, as patients, we have difficulty communicating with him. Our goal is to make the dialogue between the GP and the patient easier.
The tools that primary care physicians use are quite outdated, and we would like to bring innovation to this area by making a productivity tool that is not just a simple medical record or communication tool, but something that allows for more effective and efficient 360-degree work management.
A: What is the path that led you to become a product manager?
Federica: I majored in bioinformation engineering-I wanted to be a data scientist.
When I interviewed at Da Vinci, I fell in love with the project and the company, revolutionized my goals and welcomed the opportunity.
I joined the company in a Data Analytics role and followed a gradual path becoming first Product Owner and finally Product Manager.
A: What is your definition of a product manager and why is it important for companies?
Federica: I think a good product manager has to become one with his product and think as if it were the product itself, wondering how it can really be useful to users.
It is a figure who plays a role as a glue between the various teams and coordinates all activities dedicated to product definition.
He or she is responsible for having a cross-functional presence in all areas of the business. This is not just a practical role: a good product manager possesses excellent of excellent listening skills and empathy toward both users and management teams. His or her skills are useful in perceiving business areas that need attention by focusing on three elements:
- The type of product to be made,
- values of the company,
- users’ needs.
Setting priorities
A:. What techniques do you use to set priorities?
Federica: We compare ourselves on a regular basis, evaluate requests and score each one to define its priority using RICE.
There are two main flows that lead us to product definition: the one related to user requests and the one that gathers design ideas from the marketing and operations teams. In our start-up we use lean production methodologies, relying on ShortcutedExcel.
One of the most important tasks of the product manager is to prioritize the company’s choices and plan for product evolution: he or she must act as a filter and carefully evaluate requests to choose which ones to prioritize.
A: How does contact with users take place?
Federica: Organizing several workshops with power users to understand their needs, map the needs and optimize the product.
The operations team works closely with users by acting as support for the resolution of all problems: it collects feedback in a structured way and then passes it on to the product manager.
A: Your talk will discuss project management in healthcare, the importance of process prioritization and listening to patients and users. Who is your talk dedicated to?
Federica: I will mainly target young product managers who are newly working in the start-up world.
My goal is to share practical advice to enable them to better navigate the early stage of their careers.
The topics I will cover in the talk will also be useful to people who are transitioning from a previous role to a future role as a product manager or those who work closely with this figure.
Assigning priorities is the most difficult and crucial task of a product manager, a skill that can only be learned in the field.
A: What resources do you recommend to explore the topic of prioritization and product management as you understand it?
Federica: A very useful resource for project managers is the book The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen.
It is dedicated to start-ups that need to optimize the launch and scalability of new products. I recommend reading it; it is enlightening.
