3 Things To Do When You Want To Self-upgrade During Summer

Q: I'm an engineering student with the summers off. What can I do in 3 months to learn more about product management?

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1. Understand what a PM does

The first step is to see if product management is something you'll like.

Are you comfortable communicating ideas? Do you like writing? A lot?

How are you with research? Are you curious about technology and how people use it?

Are you good at dealing with ambiguity when problem statements are not clear and confusing?

Do you like to design? Are you good with numbers?

To find out more about a PM, I'd suggest you:

• Read "Inspired" by Marty Cagan.
• Go through section 1 of the Product Management Bootstrapper ebook I shared a while go.
• Watch Product School videos on YouTube.

2. Pick up skills

Read online articles (or refer to the bootstrapper ebook) on how to:

• Write a user story
• Wireframe in Figma

Practice by opening an app like Netflix and writing a user story to describe the experience of a feature e.g. Search a movie title.

Then, try to create a wireframe for that experience using Figma (or any other wireframing app).

It doesn't have to be perfect. Practice.

3. Build a project

Ask your friends and family about challenges that might be solvable by technology e.g. Mom wishes she could save and share YouTube links for her favorite recipes.

Ex: back in 2006, I found out my best friend often struggled to remember who he lent out his DVDs to. He had a huge collection.

• If they don't inspire you, think about something simple you'd like to solve. Don't think big, think very small
• Create a couple of user stories and wireframe (the new skills you picked up)
• Sign up for Appgyver (free tool)
• Watch tutorials on the tool and attempt to model your app on it

It will take time, effort and trial but that's OK. If it gets difficult, cut down on scope.

• Publish the app you made and share it with a few people.

If you fail with Appgyver, don't sweat it. Publish the prototype online.

Get feedback of people. See what makes sense. Did they get what you were building?

• Go back to your app and try to improve it based on what people say.

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Above all, have fun with it!

Product management is about creating things of value to solve real problems.

And that value needs to come from the heart.