What is Product Management?

Product management is at the intersection of tech, business, and design. A Product Manager oversees a product's development, design, marketing, and launch, including physical products, software programs, and other digital products. Product Managers bridge the communication gap between the different teams working on a product and the customer who uses it. In this overview, you’ll learn more about what product management is and how to add this collection of valuable skills to your professional toolbox.

What Can You Do with Product Management?

Product management is a combination of tech, design, and business. You’ll need creativity, technical knowledge, and leadership skills to become a Product Manager. You will need to develop skills in all three to launch a new career in product management. However, the variety of skills creates a lot of flexibility in product management. 

Coding skills are essential to an aspiring product manager. You don’t need to be an expert coder, but you will need to understand the process of building a digital product. As you probably already know, coding skills are highly desired by employers. You could even work as a coder while continuing the rest of your product management education. 

Design skills are invaluable in many industries: design, digital design, fashion design, publishing, manufacturing, software development, art, marketing, web design, and animation. Product managers must know user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Training in these includes learning programs like Adobe XD, Adobe Sketch, and Figma. 

Project management skills are required for Product Managers. Developing project management skills is great for the job market: the Project Management Institute (PMI) estimates that more than 22 million new jobs will be created for people with project management skills by 2027. Project management skills are also highly versatile since Project Managers are in demand across industries. 

How Do You Get Product Management Tools? How Much Do They Cost?

Product management requires training in three skill sets: coding, business, and design. The availability of product management tools online makes it easy to begin training in all three. 

Fundamental coding knowledge is essential for aspiring Product Managers who want to manage digital products. You’ll need to understand how digital products work to incorporate user feedback. There are many free resources available to learn to code. Many popular programming languages are open-source, meaning publicly-available code is shared for free. Some popular open-source languages include Python, JavaScript, and React. Code libraries contain reusable chunks of open-source code that beginners can use to create more complex programs. Most libraries are available for free online. 

Aspiring Product Managers will also need design skills. Product Managers serve as a translator between the development team and the user. Understanding design is critical for overseeing the creation of products. Aspiring Product Managers will need a few design applications to become familiar with, including Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD. Sketch allows you to start free, and Figma offers a free forever starter account with restrictions. Adobe offers a free trial for Sketch and a monthly subscription fee of around $10. 

Product Managers must train in project management principles, practices, and methodologies. There are no specific cost requirements for Project Managers; however, it is recommended that they be proficient in Microsoft Project and Microsoft Office, specifically Microsoft Excel. Microsoft offers access to Project through a monthly subscription plan. 

What Are the Benefits of Learning Product Management?

Product management is a creative and rewarding career path. Current Product Managers report a much higher job satisfaction rate than most careers. Product management has been ranked Top 10 on Glassdoor’s Top 50 Best Jobs list for several years. Since product management is still developing as a field, there is a lot of flexibility in this career path.

According to a study by Product Management Insider, Product Manager jobs increased by over 33% from 2017 to 2019 and have only continued to grow. A few factors driving this growth include the need for digital products and platforms, increased competition in a global market, digital transformation of industries, and data-driven business decisions. Some industries experiencing the highest growth in product management jobs include finance, ecommerce, tech, entertainment, and healthcare. For example, the adoption of streaming services has driven the need for Product Managers in the entertainment industry. Likewise, the adoption of digital tools by financial institutions has created a demand for Product Managers in the finance sector.

Product management is also a lucrative career path: according to Glassdoor, the median base annual salary for a Product Manager is around $125,000. Product Managers make more than double the average annual salary of $52,000 across all occupations. Jobs in product management are growing at a rate of five times the national average. Some companies hiring the most Product Managers include Google, Bank of America, Airbnb, Capital One, Adobe, and Visa. Some companies, such as Uber and Slack, pay Product Managers an average salary of around $200,000. 

Read more about why you should learn product management.

Product Management Careers

Product management jobs grew by around 33% from 2017 to 2019. Companies from many industries recognize the need for employees with product management skills, including tech, finance, ecommerce, and brick-and-mortar stores. Every industry's need for digital products and platforms drives the demand for Product Managers. Some companies hiring the most product management employees include Walmart, Wayfair, Home Depot, and Amazon. For example, Walmart uses Product Managers to oversee their smartphone app, online ordering, self-checkout software, digital inventory tracking, and digital supply chain management tools. 

Product management jobs are multiplying within the Finance sector. Like in other sectors, the primary reason for this growth is the need for financial institutions to develop digital products and platforms. For example, banks now offer customers digital account and finance management tools, such as smartphone apps and online banking. Some finance companies adding a significant number of Product Managers include JP Morgan Chase, Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, and Capital One. Some companies, such as MasterCard, need employees with product management skills so badly that they’ve created recruitment and training programs for Product Managers. 

The demand for digital platforms drives growth for Product Managers in other industries, including entertainment, healthcare, and the Internet of Things. For example, the explosion in streaming services from Netflix to Spotify has driven massive growth in product management jobs in the Entertainment industry. Digital appointment platforms, wearable healthcare technology, and digital recordkeeping are creating many product management jobs in healthcare. 

How to Learn Product Management

If you’ve decided to study product management, you’ll need to decide how you want to study product management: live or on-demand. Live classes, whether online or in-person, are the best option for anyone serious about a new career in product management. Live classes offer real-time interaction with your instructor and classmates, leading to higher engagement, mentorship, and networking opportunities. You’re also guaranteed to receive up-to-date information in a structured environment. Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me Tool is designed to help people find tech classes in their area, including live online product management courses. 

On-demand courses are self-paced courses that students can take online, typically in the form of video lessons. There are a lot of online resources for learning product management, including free ones. These types of sources are great for total beginners who want to gain a better understanding of product management basics. However, there is no guarantee that the material will be updated. On-demand courses are great for seeing if product management is something you want to pursue. 

Product management is made of many parts, including knowledge about product development and user-driven design. Noble Desktop offers a free seminar on development and design, including User Interface (UI) Design, on their YouTube channel. Free resources like these are a great way to explore your interest in product management. 

Product management is currently ranked as a “Top 10 job in the U.S.” by Glassdoor. The average salary for a Product Manager is around $125,000 annually. Product management is also a skills-based job, meaning you can become a Product Manager without a bachelor’s degree. 

On-demand courses and resources are a great way to learn the basics of product development. If you’d like to pursue product management more seriously, you should consider enrolling in a more structured product management course. 

Read the full guide on how to learn product management.

A Brief History of Product Management

Product management started in the 1930s as an internal memo at Procter & Gamble. The memo suggested the creation of “Brand Men'' to manage their products' advertising and success. They were expected to collect sales data and customer feedback to increase product success. The goal of the “Brand Men'' was to bring the customer more directly into product design, development, marketing, and ongoing brand management. 

Product management remained marketing-based until the 1990s when software products became popular. Intuit was the first company to recognize the need for a liaison between the customer and their software development teams. In the 1990s, When Microsoft started using Product Managers for its software products, most of the other tech giants followed after them. 

A major revolution in product management happened in 2001 when 17 software engineers wrote the Agile Manifesto, which sought to establish a better software development method. Agile incorporates the role of Product Manager and the necessity of a product strategy, leading to further growth of product management roles within the tech industry and software development. 

Software development has moved beyond the tech industry, with every industry developing apps, platforms, and digital products and tools. For example, the increasing demand for streaming services, such as Netflix or Spotify, is driving an increase in product management roles within the entertainment industry. 

Comparable Fields

Product management combines tech, business, and design since a Product Manager oversees a product's development, design, marketing, and launch. There are job roles comparable to a Product Manager in each field, including Software Engineer, UX/UI Designer, and Project Manager. You might think of a Product Manager as a Software Engineer, a UX/UI Designer, and a Project Manager. 

A Software Engineer is responsible for building software using coding languages. While product management roles require coding experience, software engineering requires a much higher level of proficiency. Software Engineers are more focused on technical skills than the soft skills required of a Product Manager, such as communication and leadership. 

A UX/UI Designer works to create an ideal experience for using a product. A UX/UI designer focuses on how easy the product is to use, not on building it. If the product were a house, you might think of the Software Engineer as the architect and the UX/UI Designer as the interior decorator. A UX/UI Designer requires fewer technical skills than a Software Engineer or a Product Manager.

Learn Product Management with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Since product management is a relatively new career, there is no single path to becoming a Product Manager. To become a Product Manager, you do not typically need a bachelor’s degree. You will need a mix of the three product management core skill sets: coding, user-driven design, and project management. Bootcamps in coding, UX design, and project management are a great way to acquire the knowledge you need to become a Product Manager. 

Noble Desktop offers bootcamps in coding, design, and business live online and at its state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Since Noble Desktop offers bootcamps in all three core product management skills, it is an excellent choice for aspiring Product Managers. All of their courses have guaranteed small class sizes. Noble Desktop’s expert instructors teach a “micro-lecture” introducing a topic and then guide students through applying what they learned through hands-on, real-world projects. There is a “free retake” option on their courses, allowing students to retake the course free to refresh their knowledge or continue developing their skills. 

Noble Desktop’s Software Engineering Certificate is a great option for aspiring Product Managers who will need to understand how applications are made. This bootcamp immerses students in coding and building applications using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Python, Django, and Node.js. Expert instructors will guide students through hands-on projects to develop skills in coding the front and back ends of websites and applications. Students receive over 500 hours of live, hands-on instruction and twelve 1-on-1 mentoring sessions. Graduates earn a New York State Licensed Certificate in Software Engineering. 

Product Managers are required to put users first. Understanding user-driven design is critical for a Product Manager. Noble Desktop offers a UX & UI Design Certificate that provides comprehensive training in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Students in this project-based bootcamp master user-centered design essentials, conduct research and product testing, and digital product design. Students become experienced users of Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD. Students develop a professional portfolio and receive 1-on-1 job mentoring. Graduates earn a verifiable digital certificate which is shareable on Linkedin. 

The successful development and launch of a product is a project. Product Managers are required to have highly-developed project management skills. Noble Desktop’s Project Management Bootcamp provides comprehensive training in project management principles, practices, and methodologies. Topics covered include the “Project LifeCycle,” risk management, resource management, budgeting, and project management terminology. This boot camp includes training in project management methodologies Waterfall, Critical Path, and Agile, including Scrum, Kasan, and Extreme Programming (XP). Graduates earn a Certificate in Project Management which is shareable on Linkedin. 

Key Insights

• Product management is at the intersection of tech, design, and business.
• Aspiring Product Managers need to train in coding, user-driven design, and project management. 
• Similar careers to product management include software engineering, UX & UI design, and project management.
• Product management was originally market-driven. Product Managers are responsible for the development and reception of a product.