13 Dec 2024
|31 min
Product management tools
Discover the best product management tools across UX testing, roadmapping, surveying, interviewing, analytics, and design. Plus, we share expert tips on securing buy-in and budget.
Just like skilled artisans rely on their tools for finesse, product management tools empower product managers to transform ideas into successful products.
Consider Sarah, a product manager who was struggling to keep track of her ever-growing product backlog. She was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks, deadlines, and dependencies, and her productivity suffered. Then, she discovered a product management tool that provided a centralized platform for organizing and managing her backlog.
With this tool, Sarah could prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. She could also collaborate with her team members in real-time, ensuring that everyone was on the same page. As a result, her team's productivity skyrocketed, and she could deliver products on time and within budget.
So, how do you choose the best product management tool for your needs?
Keep reading as we uncover the most popular and effective product management tools. Most of the products mentioned here are based on a comprehensive census within the ResearchOps Community, a global group who have come together to discuss the operations and operationalization of user research and design research.
Let's get started!
Note: All prices displayed in this article are in USD.
TL;DR: A quick glance at the top product management tools
Category | Product | Key features | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|
User experience testing tools | Lyssna | • Recruit from Lyssna’s built-in research panel, with 530,000+ panelists • Card sorting • Prototype testing • Five second testing • Preference testing • First click testing • Text-based and design surveys • Schedule, record, transcribe, and store user interviews | • Free plan available • Basic plan: $75/month • Pro plan: $175/month • Enterprise plan: Custom pricing |
UserTesting | • Card sorting, tree testing, live interviews, clickstream tracking, prototype testing • Test plan builder and template gallery • Human Insight Platform with AI-powered sentiment analysis | • Pricing not publicly listed | |
Maze | • Live website testing, prototype testing, A/B tests, preference testing • Video recordings for remote tests • Participant management | • Free plan available • Paid plans: $99-$1250/month • Enterprise plans: Custom pricing | |
Roadmapping tools | Miro | • Template library • Clustering • Voting • Mind maps • Freeform drawing • Access controls • GDPR and CCPA compliance | • Free plan available • Paid plans start from $10/user/month |
Google Sheets (part of Google Workspace) | • Built-in charts • Real-time collaboration • Formulas for complex calculations | • Free for personal accounts • Google Workspace starts at $6/user/month | |
Jira Software | • Timelines • Advanced roadmaps • Scrum boards • Reports and insights • Customizable workflows • 3000+ apps and integrations available | • Free plan available (up to 10 users) • Paid plans start at $8.15/user/month | |
Customer survey and feedback tools | CoreXM by Qualtrics | • Drag-and-drop interface • Pre-built templates • Participant management • Data analysis • Integrations with CRM • Marketing automation and product analytics tools | • CoreXM available with free Qualtrics account • Pricing for paid plans upon request |
SurveyMonkey | • Template library • Multiple question types • AI-powered SurveyMonkey Genius • Target specific audiences, synthesize key insights with Sentiment Analysis | • Free plan available • Paid plans start at $25/user/month | |
Typeform | • User-friendly design • Versatile templates • Customization options • Participant management • Robust data analysis | • Free plan available • Paid plans start from $25/user/month | |
User interview recording tools | Zoom | • Zoom clips • Screen sharing • Recording • Transcription | • Free plan available • Business plan starts at $19.99/month/license (min. 10 licenses) |
Google Meet (part for Google Workspace) | • Recording • Noise cancellation • Breakout rooms, live captions | • Free for personal use • Google Workspace starts at $6/user/month | |
Microsoft Teams | • Interview recording • Integrate with Microsoft 365 applications • Chat feature | • Free version available for personal use • Teams for Business starts at $4/user/month | |
Analytics tools | Google Analytics | • Audience reports • Conversion tracking • Event tracking • Custom reports • Users flow analysis | • Free to use for everyone |
Dovetail | • Centralized customer insights • Qualitative and quantitative analysis • Annotation and insights | • $30/month (Individual) • $1800/month (Business) • Enterprise pricing varies | |
Pendo | • Usage analytics • Funnel analytics • Segmentation • Session replay | • Free for up to 500 monthly active users • Starter plan: $2,000 per quarter | |
Design and wireframing tools | Figma | • All-in-one platform • Real-time collaboration • Smart animate tool | • Free plan available • Paid plans start at $15/editor/month |
Sketch | • Layout templates • Syncs with Unsplash • Real-time collaboration • Integration with other apps | • $120/year (Individual) • $10/month (Team member) | |
InVision Freehand | • Intelligent canvas • Easy collaboration • Version control • Pre-built templates | • Free plan available • Paid plans start at $4/user/month (billed annually) | |
Collaboration tools | Notion | • Version control • Customizable templates • Feedback feature | • Free plan • Paid plans start at $10/user/month |
FigJam | • Real-time collaboration • Sticky notes • Shapes and connectors • Templates | • Free plan (up to 3 files) available • Paid plans: $3/editor/month • Enterprise: $5/editor/month (billed annually) |
Note: The pricing information is based on the provided details and may be subject to change.
User experience testing tools
Ezgi Demirayak, a Senior Technical Product Manager at Apple, believes that one of the crucial responsibilities of a product manager is to provide a delightful user experience.
"The first step to achieve this is to ensure your users are able to perform the tasks that they want (and you wish them to) easily even when they use your product for the first time...So how can you understand if your product is able to achieve this? By conducting usability tests regularly."
Usability testing can help you identify areas of confusion and friction and make data-driven decisions about improving your product's user experience.
To get started, check out the following top user experience testing tools.
Lyssna
Best for: Usability testing and user interviews at any stage of the design and development process
At Lyssna, we help you run usability tests and conduct user interviews with ease – from beginning to end of the design process. From recruiting participants with various demographics to unearthing insights from your results, Lyssna helps you run usability tests more efficiently and get results quickly.
One helpful feature is that you can choose from over 690,000 research participants and target tests or recruit for your user interviews by specific demographics. You can even get feedback from people in more than 100 countries. Alternatively, you can recruit as many research participants as you like from your own pool of users.
From interaction flows to UI elements like navigation menus, get the data you need to refine your designs and create a better user experience with Lyssna.
Helpful features for product managers
Research panel: Get on-demand access to 690,000+ panelists. Target over 395 demographics or attributes from 124 countries, with fast turnaround times. Organize and schedule your moderated interviews in one place. You can also recruit from your own network at no extra cost.
Screeners: Need to recruit from a specific audience for targeted research? Ask screener questions to find the right people for your study.
Card sorting: See how users organize content and get insights into how to structure your information architecture.
Prototype testing: Get early-stage feedback or have participants complete specific actions. Lyssna integrates with Figma to evaluate prototypes at any stage of your product design and development.
Five second testing: Gather insights about your users' initial reactions and what stands out in your design with quick and easy tests.
Preference testing: Test out different designs or concept variations to find out which is more effective.
First click testing: Find out if a user's first click on your app or website is where they're supposed to be.
Surveys: Conduct design surveys and text-based surveys to gather in-depth insights.
User interviews: Schedule, recruit, and conduct user interviews in Lyssna, with the ability to store and auto-transcribe interviews.
Recordings: Record audio, screen, webcam, or a combo of all three to capture users’ think-aloud moments during unmoderated testing.
We have a bunch of product-focused usability testing templates you can use and adapt, from assessing your website conversions to evaluating product features, and more.
Pricing
Free plan: Include up to three collaborators and get unlimited self-recruited responses for tests and surveys up to 2 minutes long.
Basic plan: $75 per month gets you up to 10 collaborators, unlimited viewers, unlimited responses, unlimited active tests, and CSV export functionality.
Pro plan: $175 per month gets you everything in the Basic plan, plus up to 15 collaborators, custom branding, test logic, and team permissions.
Enterprise plan: Tailored pricing for enterprise-level companies includes all the features of the Pro plan, along with unlimited collaborators, security audits, single sign-on (SSO), and Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML).
Panel responses are priced separately for all plans. You can pay to recruit from the panel as you go or purchase bulk panel credits at a discount to use as you need.
Level up your PM toolkit
See why product managers trust Lyssna for user testing across their product lifecycle. Start running insightful usability tests in minutes with our free plan.
UserTesting
Best for: Moderated usability tests
UserTesting lets you and your team see, hear, and talk to testers and customers while interacting with your product, website, app, or process.
UserTesting offers a helpful tool called the Human Insight Platform, which provides first-person accounts and a personalized experience for gathering feedback. The platform includes real-time or pre-recorded participant videos and generates data visualizations using AI-powered sentiment analysis to identify insights and pinpoint significant moments.
Helpful features for product managers
Card sorting, tree testing, live interviews, clickstream tracking, and prototype testing.
Test plan builder and template gallery. Whether you want to construct a test using the drag-and-drop UI or choose a pre-made one, UserTesting allows you to create tests for various use cases.
Human insights platform and machine learning generated insights. Get important information like transcriptions, analytics, and highlight reels through machine learning.
Pricing
UserTesting's pricing model is based on the number of seats and testing credits, although they don't publicly list their pricing. According to user reports, a single seat can cost between $1500 and $2500, and each credit can cost between $8 and $10.
To run an unmoderated test for one panel participant, you need 10 credits. For a moderated test with one panel participant, which lasts 60 minutes, you need 30 credits.
Further reading: Best 8 UserTesting alternatives
Maze
Best for: Running unmoderated usability tests on autopilot
Maze makes it easy for teams to run unmoderated usability tests and gather feedback through its live website testing feature, even after you launch your product.
One of Maze’s key features is its integration with popular prototyping tools. The user testing tool also makes it simple to share results, with reports accessible to teammates through a single link you can share.
Helpful features for product managers
Live website testing, prototype testing, concept validation.
A/B tests and preference testing.
Video recordings for remote tests that visualize participants’ movements and behaviors. Participant management allows you to reach out to a tailored database of testers for your future campaigns.
Pricing
The free plan allows you to review up to 300 responses per year.
Paid plans start at $99/month and go up to $1250/month. Enterprise plans with custom pricing are also available.
Further reading: Top 8 Maze alternatives
Roadmapping tools
According to Luke Galliwade, Principal Product Manager at ustwo, product management is built around two components: a value-based product strategy and a clear, goal-based roadmap.
A product roadmap is like a map for your product development journey. It helps you visualize your goals, identify the steps you need to take, and stay on track.
Here are some of the top roadmapping tools that product designers swear by.
Miro
Best for: Mapping product workflows
Miro is a versatile virtual whiteboard and collaboration platform that empowers teams to brainstorm, plan, and innovate.
Aside from its infinite canvas that provides a blank slate for design teams working together, Miro is also popular for its vast library of templates, including those for product roadmaps. Its built-in timers and voting tools also help keep your brainstorming sessions focused and productive.
Helpful features for product managers
Template library: Access a variety of templates for different business functions and industries.
Clustering: Group and organize ideas visually.
Voting: Gather input and prioritize ideas.
Timer: Keep brainstorming sessions focused and productive.
Mind maps: Visualize connections and relationships between ideas.
Freeform drawing: Sketch out ideas and concepts freely.
Access controls: Manage user permissions and ensure data security.GDPR and CCPA compliance: Adhere to data privacy regulations.
Pricing
A free plan is available and paid plans start from $10 per user per month (or $8 per user per month for annual billing).
Google Sheets
Best for: Team collaboration within Google Workspace
Google Sheets (part of Google Workspace) is a powerful spreadsheet application that you can use for various tasks, including product roadmapping. As a cloud-based tool, it's accessible from any device with an internet connection. This makes it easy for product managers to collaborate with their teams on roadmaps, even in different locations.
Helpful features for product managers
Built-in charts and graphs for data visualization.
Conditional formatting can be used to highlight important information.
Real-time collaboration allows multiple users to edit a spreadsheet at the same time.
Built-in formulas and functions can be used for complex calculations.
Sharing and permission controls enable easy sharing of information with team members.
Pricing
Google Sheets is free for personal accounts. For Business accounts, Google Sheets is part of Google Workspace, which starts at $6 per user per month. Enterprise accounts need to contact support for pricing.
Jira
Best for: Agile product teams
Jira empowers product managers to transform their vision into tangible deliverables. Plan and track project progress with timelines, visualize dependencies across multiple projects using Advanced Roadmaps, and connect with thousands of integrations for seamless workflow management.
Helpful features for product managers
Timelines: Keep teams and stakeholders synced with timelines for predictable releases, pivoting with agility, and big-picture alignment.
Advanced Roadmaps: Capture all work items in the plan, no matter how big or small they are.
Scrum boards: Break complex projects into manageable pieces of work and ship faster.
Reports and insights: Make data-driven decisions with agile reports and dashboards.
Customizable workflows: Stay up-to-date on project progress with customizable workflows and dashboards showing project metrics.
Integrations: 3000+ apps and integrations available.
Pricing
Paid plans start at $8.15/user/month, and a 7-day free trial is available.
A Free plan lets you try Jira Software for up to 10 users with 2GB of storage.
Customer survey and feedback tools
Collecting user feedback through surveys doesn't just help design teams understand what users like and dislike about their products or services. They can also validate your assumptions and help your team make informed decisions about future product developments.
Once you've nailed down what kind of feedback you're looking for, here are the top customer survey and feedback tools to consider.
Qualtrics
Best for: Teams looking for an all-purpose product survey tool
CoreXM by Qualtrics is widely used for designing surveys and running UX and market research studies.
You can choose from a wide range of survey flows and question types. You can also download and use free survey templates for various applications, like quick polls, website suggestion boxes, and employee engagement surveys.
Helpful features for product managers
Customizations: Drag-and-drop interface, pre-built templates, and the ability to customize the look and feel of your survey.
Participant management: Manage your survey participants, including sending out invitations, tracking responses, and segmenting participants based on their demographics or other characteristics.
Data analysis: Real-time reporting, cross-tabulation, and text analysis.
Integrations: Qualtrics integrates with various other tools, such as CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, and product analytics tools.
Pricing
You can use CoreXM with a free Qualtrics account, or integrate it with other Qualtrics features as part of a paid plan. You need to request a demo to learn more about pricing.
SurveyMonkey
Best for: Basic, straightforward surveys
SurveyMonkey is also a top choice among product managers looking for easy ways to create and distribute surveys, collect responses, and analyze data.
The tool also offers a wide range of question types, including multiple-choice, open-ended, rating scale, and matrix questions. This allows you to create surveys that are tailored to your specific needs.
Helpful features for product managers
A library of pre-built surveys you can customize to your needs. This can save you time and effort when creating surveys. These templates can be used to collect feedback on product concepts, features, pricing, and more.
Multiple question types for whatever you want to know.
AI-powered SurveyMonkey Genius will help you create high-quality surveys with confidence.
Target specific audiences and segment customers based on their demographics, purchase history, or other factors.
Synthesize key insights from text responses with Sentiment Analysis.
Pricing
You can create and distribute surveys with up to 10 questions and 100 responses for free. Paid plans start at $25 per user per month (starting at three users).
Typeform
Ideal for: Intuitive survey solutions
Typeform, a top-tier product in the realm of survey tools, offers an intuitive platform for crafting engaging surveys and conducting market research with a focus on user experience.
Helpful features for product managers
User-friendly design: Benefit from a sleek and user-friendly interface.
Versatile templates: Choose from a diverse range of pre-built templates tailored for different applications, including product feedback collection, customer satisfaction assessments, and usability testing.
Customization options: Tailor the appearance of your surveys to align with your brand, so you can create a cohesive and professional look and feel.
Participant interaction: Seamlessly manage participants by sending invitations, tracking responses, and segmenting based on demographics or specific characteristics.
Robust data analysis: Leverage real-time reporting, cross-tabulation, and text analysis tools to derive actionable insights from your survey data.
Pricing
Explore Typeform with a free account, or delve into advanced features with a paid plan. Paid plans start form $25/month for one user.
User interview recording tools
Using the right user interview tool can save you hours of tedious tasks like finding and screening participants, scheduling calls, and taking notes, so you can focus on what's important: putting your user insights into action.
Here are the top user interview recording tools used by product managers.
Zoom
Best for: Recording interviews
With Zoom, you can conduct remote user interviews, run user tests, and give demos and presentations to stakeholders and potential customers. You can also collaborate on a whiteboard from your desktop or room, and easily share it with other team members.
Helpful features for product managers
Zoom clips: Capture your video and screen content, share it with others, and get feedback.
Screen sharing: Share product or prototype in real-time.
Recording: Review interviews later and take notes.
Transcription: Automatic transcription service to save time and effort
Pricing
Free plan available. Zoom Business starts at $19.99 per month, per license, with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 99 licenses.
GoogleMeet
Best for: User-friendly recording features
Google Meet is a user-friendly video conferencing platform that offers high-quality audio and video, screen sharing, and recording features. It’s an ideal tool for product teams to conduct interviews and capture feedback.
This user interview recording tool also enables screen sharing, which you can use to share your product or prototype in real-time and gather feedback from participants.
Helpful features for product managers
Recording: When you need to capture user feedback or product demos for later review or sharing.
Noise cancellation: Helpful when you’re working in noisy environments.
Breakout rooms: A useful feature when you want to conduct focus groups or user testing sessions.
Live captions: Google Meet has a live captioning feature that can provide real-time subtitles for meetings.
Integrations: Google Meet is integrated with other Google Workspace tools, such as Google Drive and Google Calendar.
Pricing
Anyone with a Google Account can create a free video meeting with up to 100 participants for 60 minutes.
For additional features like international dial-in numbers, meeting recording, live streaming, and administrative controls, you need to subscribe to Google Workspace, which starts at $6 per user per month.
Microsoft Teams
Best for: Recording interviews for existing Microsoft 365 users
As a product manager conducting interviews, Microsoft Teams can be a valuable tool, especially in remote or distributed work settings. It provides a robust video conferencing platform for face-to-face interactions, making virtual interviews possible.
One of the key benefits of using Microsoft Teams for interviews is the ability to record them. This feature allows you to review and analyze sessions later, share them with team members, or revisit specific details during decision-making.
Helpful features for product managers
Get things done in one place and seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft 365 applications for easy storage and sharing of interview recordings.
Use the chat feature for quick documentation and sharing relevant links.
Schedule interviews and send calendar invites using Teams' integration with Outlook and other calendar applications.
Benefit from Teams' accessibility features for a more inclusive interview process.
Pricing
The free version is only available for personal use. Microsoft Teams for Business starts at $4 per user per month.
Analytics tools
Product analytics is a must for product managers who want to make data-driven decisions about development. By tracking user behavior and engagement metrics, you can identify areas where the product works well and can be improved.
You can also use product analytics to measure the impact of changes to the product and ensure that you build a product that people love to use.
Here are the top product analytics tools commonly used by product managers.
Google Analtyics
Best for: Teams looking for a free analytics tool
Google Analytics is a favorite among product managers because it's flexible and easy to use. It provides real-time insights into website and mobile app activity, with conversion attribution and A/B testing tools.
With Google Analytics, you can identify your top traffic sources, understand why users are abandoning your site, and identify trends in user behavior.
Helpful features for product managers
Audience reports: Detailed audience reports, including demographics, interests, and user behavior.
Conversion tracking: Measure the success of specific goals, such as product sign-ups or purchases.
Event tracking: Track specific interactions users have with a website or app, such as clicks on buttons, downloads, or video views. This feature helps you understand user engagement and identify areas for improvement in the product.
Custom reports and dashboards: Create custom reports and dashboards in Google Analytics to focus on the specific metrics and KPIs that matter most to your product.
Users Flow Analysis: Visualize users' path through a website or app.
Pricing
Google Analytics is free to use for everyone.
Dovetail
Best for: Qualitative and quantitative analysis
Dovetail is a customer insights platform that helps product managers to understand their users and make data-driven decisions. It does this by collecting and analyzing customer feedback from a variety of sources, such as surveys, interviews, and customer support tickets.
Helpful features for product managers
Centralized customer insights: Having customer feedback in one place makes it easy to access and analyze.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis: Dovetail provides both qualitative and quantitative analysis of customer feedback, giving you a holistic understanding of your users.
Annotation and insights: Highlight key findings, themes, and patterns by annotating and tagging interviews and research notes to highlight key findings, themes, and patterns. Qualitative data can also be categorized and coded to identify common trends and insights.
Pricing
Dovetail pricing starts at $30/month, while business accounts are at $1800/month. Enterprise accounts are priced based on requirements.
Pendo
Best for: Reviewing and managing customer requests
Pendo is a product analytics tool that helps product managers track product usage and gain both quantitative and qualitative insights into customer sentiment.
Their product roadmap module lets you easily visualize your product strategy and create plans based on features, timelines, and customer segments. You can also collect, manage, and prioritize feature requests from your customers.
Helpful features for product managers
Usage analytics: Get detailed insights into how users are using your product, such as which features they’re using, how long they’re spending on each feature, and where they’re dropping off.
Funnel analytics: Identify where users drop off and make changes to improve the conversion rate.
Segmentation: Pendo allows you to segment your users based on various criteria, such as their demographics, behavior, and product usage. You can use this to create more targeted marketing campaigns and develop products and features that are more likely to be successful.
Session replay: Understand user actions through video playbacks.
Pricing
Pendo has a free account if your website has 500 monthly active users. They don't put their pricing on their website, but a Reddit post shared that their starter plan is $2,000 per quarter for 2000 monthly active users.
Design and wireframing tools
During the design and wireframing stage, a product team usually works on the low-fidelity visual representations or prototypes of a product's user interface (UI) to gather feedback and iterate on the design. This stage is usually done after the product requirements have been defined and just before product development.
Many tools are available for design and wireframing, but the following design software stands out among product designers.
Figma
Best for: Design teams looking for a robust set of features
Figma is a cloud-based design tool that helps designers streamline the design process, from creating wireframes and mockups to prototyping and testing. Its strengths are real-time collaboration, an extensive plugin ecosystem, cross-platform accessibility, and a thriving community of designers.
Helpful features for product designers
Smart Animate tool to illustrate advanced transitions.
All-in-one platform allows seamless switching between design and prototype with real-time editing.
Collaborate with comments in your prototype for organized and efficient teamwork.
Extensive plugin ecosystem: Access Figma's extensive plugin ecosystem to automate tasks and cater to specific design needs.
Pricing
The Free plan is for individuals or small teams and allows up to 2 editors. Paid plans start at $15 per editor per month ($12.80 per editor per year).
Sketch
Best for: Detailed, vector-based design (MacOS only)
Sketch is the go-to vector design tool for many MacOS users because of its simpler and more intuitive interface. With Sketch, you can create wireframes, modern UI, and icon vector designs on a pixel-based canvas.
When you download Sketch to your Mac, you'll see it doesn't have built-in UI components. However, a vast online community of designers has created and shared many free wireframe design kits. With a single click to download, you'll have access to a wealth of buttons, icons, and other design elements that can be used inside your Sketch file.
Helpful features for product managers
Layout templates for Android and iOS app icons.
Syncs with Unsplash to let you quickly search and use royalty-free photos for your designs without leaving the app.
Option to choose a random photo as a placeholder to keep the design process flowing.
Real-time collaboration in shared workspaces directly from your desktop app.
Collaborators' color-coded cursors and names are shown as they work, letting you easily keep track of who's doing what on the canvas.
Follow mode if you want to observe the design process without participating yourself.
Pricing
For individual users, Sketch offers a yearly subscription for $120. Once your annual plan expires, you can still use the software, but you'll no longer receive updates.
For team members, Sketch offers a monthly subscription for $10 per editor. This subscription includes access to Sketch Cloud, which allows team members to collaborate on projects in real-time.
InVision
Best for: Enterprise design teams
InVision is a design platform for collaboration, allowing designers to create, share, and comment on designs using their web-based whiteboard tool, Freehand.
The design tool allows users to import existing designs and quickly turn them into interactive prototypes. This is especially useful for designers who want to create low or medium-fidelity prototypes with basic animations in the early stages of a project.
This cloud-based program is trusted by many Fortune 100 companies, such as Spotify, Amazon, HBO, and Netflix, making it an excellent option for design professionals or those looking to work at a large company.
Helpful features for product managers
Intelligent canvas: Create smart objects that contain your data and can interact with other objects on the canvas. This makes it possible to create more realistic and engaging prototypes. Plus, collecting and analyzing data on how users interact with prototypes is easier.
Easy collaboration: Collect and manage feedback efficiently to iterate on designs effectively.
Version control: Keep track of design iterations and changes to maintain a clear version history.
Pre-built templates: Over 200 purpose-built templates to help you easily address any business process.
Pricing
The free plan allows users to create and collaborate on unlimited projects with up to three editable freehands. Paid plans start at $4 per active user per month with unlimited freehands.
Quick note: As of November 7, 2023, Freehand is now part of Miro.
Collaboration tools
Collaboration tools allow you to share ideas, gather feedback, make informed decisions, and build strong relationships with other team members and stakeholders.
Here are the top collaboration tools for product managers.
Notion
Best for: Teams looking for a collaboration tool and a centralized hub
Product managers love Notion because it offers a centralized hub for project information and real-time synchronization. This centralized workspace eliminates switching between multiple tools and applications, saving time and improving efficiency.
With task management tools, you can organize, assign, and track tasks effectively, making sure everyone knows their responsibilities and deadlines. In some cases, Notion acts as a product backlog management tool.
Helpful features for product managers
Notion's version control feature allows you to track changes and revert to previous versions, maintaining transparency and accountability.
Develop custom systems based on what you need, from cross-functional feature requests to prioritizing user feedback.
Customizable templates and workflows: Notion offers a vast library of templates and workflows specifically designed for product managers, including product roadmaps, user research plans, product launch checklists, and more. These templates can be easily customized to fit the specific needs of each product team.
Gather feedback and suggestions directly on project documents using the commenting and feedback feature, leading to informed decision-making.
Pricing
Notion offers a free plan for individuals. Paid plans start at $10 per user per month.
FigJam
Best for: Collaboration for teams who already use Figma
FigJam is a collaborative whiteboard tool that’s specifically designed for product managers. It offers a variety of features that make it an ideal tool for brainstorming, mapping out user flows, and creating product roadmaps.
Helpful features for product managers
Real-time collaboration: Multiple team members can work on FigJam files simultaneously in real time. This makes it easy to share ideas, get feedback, and make changes on the fly.
Sticky notes: Sticky notes are a versatile tool that can be used for capturing ideas, jotting down questions, and making notes on user personas.
Shapes and connectors: A wide variety of shapes and connectors can be used to create diagrams, flowcharts, and other visual representations of product ideas.
Templates: There’s a library of templates designed for product managers, such as user journey maps, product roadmaps, and sprint planning boards.
Integration with Figma: Integrates seamlessly with Figma, making it easy to import and export Figma files.
Pricing
FigJam has a free plan for up to 3 files. For unlimited FigJam files, you pay $3 per editor/month (billed annually). Enterprise accounts cost $5 per editor/month (billed annually).
How to get buy-in and budget approval for product management tools
When seeking buy-in for product management tools, you need to present a compelling narrative highlighting the tangible benefits these tools bring to the organization. Here are some practical tips to achieve this:
1. Highlight your pain points
Begin by identifying the current challenges faced by the product team and stakeholders. This could include inefficiencies in communication, roadmapping, or prioritization. In addition, clearly articulate how the proposed tools will address these pain points and streamline processes.
2. Demonstrate value
Quantify the benefits of the tools by linking them to specific business objectives. For instance, illustrate how improved collaboration can lead to reduced time to market or how a centralized roadmapping tool can enhance collaboration and alignment.
3. Involve key stakeholders
Engage with decision-makers early on in the process. Understand their priorities and concerns, and tailor your message to their needs. This fosters a sense of ownership and increases the likelihood of adoption.
4. Provide a pilot program
Offer a trial period to showcase the tools' capabilities and allow users to experience the benefits firsthand. A more hands-on approach to these tools can alleviate skepticism and build confidence in the investment.
5. Champion the tools
Product managers like you play a crucial role in advocating for tools. You should be well-versed in their functionalities and prepared to address any questions or concerns.
6. Foster a culture of continuous improvement
Encourage feedback from users and incorporate it into future tool enhancements. This shows that you and your team are committed to providing value and encourages continued adoption.
Lyssna is the ultimate tool for product managers
Lysnna's suite of tools is designed to help you make the most of your user research data and make informed decisions by providing targeted user feedback.
As Alan Denis, Product Design Manager at YNAB, shares, "It wasn’t a big sell to move to Lyssna's paid account due to the speed at which you can put together a test, quickly get feedback, and recruit good participants. It just makes monetary sense. It's so cheap and the feedback is valuable.”
With Lysnna, you can test product concepts, conduct UX competitive analysis, optimize user journeys and workflows, and improve user engagement. Plus, uncover in-depth insights from surveys and user interviews, and get feedback from the right people.
Integrate product testing into your workflow
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