Jock Busuttil's Blog: I Manage Products, page 40

50: A novice’s introduction to service design for product managers

I’m no expert on service design, but it’s an area I’m curious to learn more about. This is a novice’s introduction to service design for product managers.

The way I understand service design so far is that it looks at the bigger picture – the interaction between multiple products and services, online and offline, physical and digital – with the aim of helping the user to achieve their goal.

London’s Oyster card

If you’ve ever travelled in London, you’ve probably heard of the Oyster card. It’...

49: How to prioritise your product portfolio

I’m writing about 100 things I’ve learned about product management.

If you were to inherit a portfolio of ninety legacy products, some of which hadn’t been updated in years, with varying numbers of users relying on them, what would you decide to do with them? And how would you prioritise which ones to work on?

Those were the questions posing the Tactical Products team, one of several teams I helped out at Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Digital while I was there as interim head of product. The tea...

48: Mac or PC? You don’t have to pick a side

I’m writing about 100 things I’ve learned about product management.

If you lived in the UK or US at the time, you may remember the Apple adverts from a years ago gently mocking their competitor, Microsoft:

I’ve learned that it’s perfectly fine not to pick a side.

Back in late October 2014, I joined Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Digital as their head of product. First thing on day one, they handed me a svelte MacBook Air. My own ThinkPad, which until that point I had considered rather pleasing,...

Making myself redundant

I’ve recently been working for MOJ Digital at the Ministry of Justice as their interim head of product. They asked me to join as a professional coach and mentor to the team of product managers building digital services there. It soon became clear that there was plenty more I could do to help.

Whenever I work with a client, there’s often some aspect of hiring involved. Sometimes I’m helping an organisation to find their first product manager. Their challenge is often that it’s difficult for t...

Interview with Wade Danielson of The Entrepreneurs Library

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Wade Danielson, founder and host of the Entrepreneurs Library. Take a listen below:

If you’re interested in reading the book for yourself, you can grab a copy over on Amazon.

Q&A: “I’m about to launch a website. Any advice?”

Here’s another question I was asked recently:

“I’m about to launch a website selling scotch whisky. Can you offer any advice?”

Hi there,

The main piece of advice I can offer is to put yourself in the shoes of the people who are (or will be) visiting your website.

Who are they and what do they need?
Are they looking for a gift for someone they know is a whisky-lover but don’t know where to start?
Are they whisky experts who are looking for something interesting that they’ve not come across before?
Ar...

Becoming a product manager at MOJ Digital

This article was originally published on MOJ Digital’s blog in January 2015.

Fancy a job as a product manager? Do you see yourself working in a hot start-up with a small, tight-knit team of specialists?

I’ll bet you never considered the Ministry of Justice as an option. You’re missing a trick – let me explain why.

Ministry of all the talents

I sometimes describe MOJ Digital to my friends as GDS-flavoured: cast in the mould of the Government Digital Service, yet with its own distinct identity (cre...

Want a free copy of ‘The Practitioner’s Guide …’?

After my general giddiness the other week, I can reassure everyone that I have regained a modicum of the reserve for which Brits are better known :-)

Look what turned up in the post! Idiot to the left had to be returned to sender, however. http://t.co/NgZWUbEaAS pic.twitter.com/ITmj86qnUR

— Jock Busuttil (@jockbu) December 31, 2014

If you’d like the chance to get hold of a free copy of The Practitioner’s Guide to Product Management, the publisher Piatkus is running a giveaway, so pop on over for...

Q&A: “What’s it like working as a product manager at a startup?”

I was recently asked a question – here’s the answer I gave:

“I have just been offered an awesome job as a product manager for a startup and although I studied UX design, I think it could be for me. Just wondering whether you could give me some insight into your day-to-day duties and what the role might entail when working on a product for a startup?”

Hello and well done on your job offer!

You pose a very good question, let me see if I can answer it coherently.

Being a product manager in a startup...

The Practitioner’s Guide… a best seller and selling out fast!

Wow. And furthermore, gosh.

I wasn’t expecting that.

The day after its launch, The Practitioner’s Guide to Product Management was:

ranked at #1 on Amazon in Quality Assurance & Total Quality Management
#1 in Production & Quality Control
#1 in Balanced Scorecard
ranked at #2,800 in all paperbacks
and quickly burned through its available stock (more copies are now available)

Sure, the high rankings were only for a couple of hours, but I’ll take that :-)

Thank you to everyone who’s bought, reviewed and t...