What is behind a successful product launch on the market?

Detail One of the things we deal with in innovation management is the identification and development of new products, services and/or business models. Customer demands are increasing daily, trends are becoming a reality and companies are faced with the daunting challenge of creating great new products. But how do you develop qualitative and sustainable products that customers ultimately want? Product management plays a central role in this in every company. A deeper insight into this is provided by Bernadette von Wittern, formerly a product manager in medical technology, now the owner of PRODUCT LOUNGE, a community for the education and training of product managers with a focus on technological and complex products.

What does product management mean to you?

Bernadette von Wittern: For me, product management is a form of organization in a company. The world is becoming more and more complex, customer requirements come from different countries and markets are becoming more diverse and varied. In addition, we have technical complexity to manage. At the same time, product life cycles are becoming shorter and shorter and resources are also not infinitely available, so it is also always about the subject of sustainability and the sensible use of resources. These are challenges that a company must be able to deal with.
In smaller companies, certainly in start-ups , it's usually the job of management. But now, when a small company evolves into a mid-sized company, management can no longer do it alone. It's just way too big and complex. This is exactly what product management is suited for as an organizational form. It introduces an additional management level that brings together all the threads of development, innovation, marketing, sales and service. With this management task, the product managers are responsible for the success of the project. In other words, they are responsible not only for new products, but also for existing ones, and they also bring customer centricity into the equation, because they are, so to speak, the ear to the market.
In summary, it can be said that product management represents a link between the customer and development, as well as the various corporate divisions, in order to ultimately bring a product successfully to market. But there is also a third dimension. Because it's not just the technology or the engineering on the one hand and the customer or the market on the other that counts, but also the business aspect. Because the products must also lead to sustainable business success.

What is important in the role of a product manager ?

Bernadette von Wittern: My favorite definition is: product management is what a product manager does. Accordingly, the scope of tasks can be very diverse, but the key success factor for good product management is a clear understanding of roles and tasks. To this end, product management must know exactly what its task actually is within the company. In addition, the other company departments must also understand the product management's field of work.
The product manager brings the important customer centricity, i.e. the mindset of the clientele, to the table. Thus, product development is not only about the technology, functions and features, but equally about the added value and benefits for the customers. This also allows him to identify more business potential and bring it in so that the products generate good business.

How do you get customer centricity into product development as an SME?

Bernadette von Wittern: Indeed, by introducing product management. There are different development models, approaches and agility in product development - that is, agile models, they have already taken up the banner of bringing customer centricity anyway. But it's not possible for every company to work agilely or according to a Scrum model. Nor does it have to be. Scrum, after all, has a product owner role, which is not much different than a product manager. And from a product management perspective, it doesn't matter in which model the development department works. It's not about the method itself, it's the mindset behind it that counts. The important thing is to have the function that continuously brings in the customer's point of view.
Continuous collaboration with customers and users at the beginning of a product development serves as the basis for defining the requirements, but is also indispensable throughout the entire development process. During the development phase, (detailed) questions arise again and again, such as: Where exactly does the button have to go? Where should the holder be placed? And this is where the product manager is needed, who works continuously with the customers and therefore provides suitable answers to these questions, in order to ultimately have a product that really meets the need or the requirements.

A lot is changing right now: the time-to-market is shortening for many products, there are new job descriptions, such as data scientist or UX designer, and we are increasingly working in ecosystems. Where do you see the importance of product management in all of this? What does a company have to pay attention to in the next few years if it wants to establish something?

Bernadette von Wittern: When everything becomes more complex, product management becomes even more important. The new additional roles in the company all have their own knowledge and information for the respective specialty. And this must converge in a corporate strategy and consequently in the product strategy - which is what product management ensures. It is an interface function, or rather the word "seam" is more appropriate, because it is about connecting something. And if we stay with the image "seam", then product management is the thread, so to speak.

Do you have an example from your time as a product manager or also as the owner of PRODUCT LOUNGE that illustrates how essential product management is?

Bernadette von Wittern: There was a company that invented a certain technology and was actually also a pioneer in the field and thus known worldwide. For this technology there was another, new application possibility, whereupon a product was developed. However, the customer needs were disregarded and the product was developed purely driven by technology. It had neither a beautiful design nor was it user-friendly. The competitor with the better overall package then prevailed on the market. This would not have happened with product management. If someone had brought in the customer perspective and also analyzed the customer's business case, the product would not have been a failure.

In conclusion, do you have any tips that you would like to pass on as a message?

Bernadette von Wittern: When introducing product management into an existing organization, you have to consider the clear understanding of roles and tasks and also that tasks are reorganized. In addition, it is a kind of continuous run, so you have to start again and again and work on the role understanding. Product management has the leadership role and must bring together the three areas of technology, business and customer and not just be fixated on the technology of the product. Part of the continuous run is that the work is never done, because product management is not a project. Product management is something that involves continuous work with the customer. For this reason, I also recommend that you spend at least 20 to 30 percent of your working time as a product manager with the customer to really get a deep understanding of their needs.

The interview was conducted by Dr. Tanja Jovanovic, Head of Technology and Innovation Management at Bayern Innovativ GmbH.