What is a theme in product management?
A theme in product management refers to a product’s primary goal/objective. In other words, it is the value clients or stakeholders get from a product. It is also why customers buy a product or investors put their money in the business.
Themes are developed from strategic plans and are at the top of a product’s roadmap. A roadmap is a product’s vision or direction over time. Themes can also be viewed as the specific value it adds to a user’s experience. They can consist of several features that blend to fulfill the primary goal.
Why Does a Team Need a Product Theme?
Having a product theme is crucial for any team. Here are two main reasons.
Helps a Team Understand a Product Better
A product theme is an essential tool that helps a team better understand a product. With this understanding, the team can boost a product’s face and selling power, thus increasing sales from existing buyers and helping in reaching more prospects.
Helps a Team Achieve Goals Easily
A product theme is geared towards a specific goal. When the team has the theme, they can match a product’s features to the plans. For example, if the theme is to increase customer engagement, the team can identify a product’s characteristics that help in the arrangements.
An Example of a Theme in Action
During Instagram’s early years, the founders decided to use themes to help in the organization and growth of the company. The themes also enabled them to remain focused on their goals. One goal was to be the fastest photo-sharing software and platform. Secondly, it aimed to provide users with high-quality photos.
After identifying these two themes, the company removed anything that didn’t align with the themes. Further, it resolved to remain focused and accurate to the themes. After dedicating itself to the themes, today, Instagram has become the world’s top social media platform. Their success is attributed to their resolve to stay true to their themes.
Where Do You Need a Theme in Product Management?
One of the major areas requiring themes is building a product that solves specific problems in people. Products developed for such purposes need to have themes so that the goals are not lost on the way.
The themes will help you stay focused on the product’s goal and push the product to the market as per its purpose. Such will help you not veer from the pursuit of product creation.
Despite the importance of a product theme, its actual realization is not easy. As per the Instagram example, implementation requires dedication and persistence. Further, a business needs to have a system that helps track progress and performance. Tracking helps a company determine the progress and, if there is no progress, what are the issues. With the challenges identified, a company can now develop mechanisms to address the problems and get back on the road to achieving the product goals.
Product themes are an integral part of a company that has to achieve product goals. It sets a clear path and enables a company to stick to the plan until success. Additionally, having a tracking mechanism can help measure progress and areas needing restructuring.
