After trialling ProdPad for a few days I had a feeling it didn't change much since I used it seven years ago. It is still a clever product management tool for early-stage startups or small teams who need to figure out their initial offering. ProdPad is big on product discovery, offering folks some of the best ways to formulate and communicate their product vision and accumulate the right evidence. Another thing that ProdPad does right is roadmapping. I think it's a good thing there's only one type of roadmap available in ProdPad (Now/Next/Later) as it teaches teams working on it to expect surprises and stay agile. Where ProdPad users might find limitations is in the product delivery domain. The tool has limited options to visualise your development process, report on status or plan resources. Therefore, I'd say ProdPad is a good entry-level PM tool that could be successfully used as a complementary to your product delivery software. For product managers, ProdPad offers simplicity and support to figure out the most important - your product vision and strategy.

1. PRODPAD -
PRODUCT
MANAGENT TOOL
REVIEW
WWW.TEST-N-TELL.COM

2. WWW.TEST-N-TELL.COM
PRODUCT VISION, STRATEGY
AND GOALS
PRODUCT DISCOVERY
PRIORITISATION
PLANNING
PRODUCT DELIVERY
ROADMAP
INTEGRATIONS
SPECIAL SAUCE
THIS REVIEW WILL BE STRUCTURED ACCORDING TO THE
MOST IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES PRODUCT MANAGERS AND
THEIR LEADERS ARE DOING TO CREATE DELIGHTFUL
PRODUCTS AND BRING SUCCESS TO THEIR BUSINESSES.

3. PRODUCT VISION AND STRATEGY ARE STILL AT THE HEART OF PRODPAD. AS
A PRODUCT LEADER, YOU CAN DEFINE YOUR VISION ON A PRODUCT
CANVAS (BUILT-IN TO PRODPAD) AS WELL AS DEFINE YOUR OKRS.
Product vision, strategy and goals

4. IN PRODPAD YOU'LL FIND TWO MAJOR SECTIONS FOR PRODUCT DISCOVERY
- "FEEDBACK" AND "IDEAS". AS THE NAMES SUGGEST, THE FIRST IS THE PLACE
WHERE YOU CAN ACCUMULATE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRODUCT FEEDBACK
YOU RECEIVE. YOU CAN FILTER FEEDBACK BY A PARTY THAT HAS GIVEN IT,
OR BY A COMPANY (FOR B2B FOLKS). EVERY BIT OF FEEDBACK CAN BE
TAGGED, YOU CAN ADD ATTACHMENTS AND VOTE FOR THE FEEDBACK TO
GET MORE RECOGNITION.
Product discovery

5. THE MAIN WAY TO PRIORITISE IDEAS IN PRODPAD IS EFFORT/VALUE. IT'S A
VERY SIMPLE METHOD AND IF YOU USE IT - PRODPAD DOES A GOOD JOB TO
VISUALISE THE RESULTS ON A CHART MAKING PRIORITISATION DECISIONS
EASIER AND MORE VISUAL.
Prioritisation

6. IN PRODPAD YOU CAN PLAN YOUR WORK WITH A ROADMAP VIEW. YOU
CAN CREATE MULTIPLE VIEWS FOR PRIORITISATION, VISUALISATION AND
COMMUNICATION. THERE IS A SPECIAL COLUMN FOR ROADMAP
CANDIDATES, THOSE ARE IDEAS YOU'RE NOT YET SURE ABOUT THAT MIGHT
REQUIRE ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY.
Planning

7. WHILE TRIALLING PRODPAD I HAD AN IMPRESSION IT IS NOT BIG ON
PRODUCT DELIVERY DESPITE HAVING INTEGRATIONS TO SDLC TOOLS LIKE
JIRA AND DEVOPS. I DIDN'T SEE ANY SECTIONS OR FEATURES TO TRACK THE
PROGRESS OF YOUR WORK ITEMS OR RELEASES. I GUESS PMS ARE EXPECTED
TO UPDATE THOSE MANUALLY IN PRODPAD TO REFLECT THE CHANGES ON
THE ROADMAP.
Product delivery

8. THE "ROADMAP" SCREEN IN PRODPAD IS SPLIT INTO THREE MAJOR VIEWS:
CANDIDATES, ROADMAP AND COMPLETED. THOSE VIEWS ALLOW YOU TO
STRUCTURE THE IDEAS AND COMMUNICATE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF
DETAILS TO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS AND CUSTOMERS. ADDITIONALLY, YOU
CAN GROUP ITEMS ON THE ROADMAP BASED ON AN OBJECTIVE WHICH
MAKES IT EASIER TO FOCUS YOUR TEAM'S EFFORTS.
Roadmap

9. PRODPAD OFFERS INTEGRATIONS WITH SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR TOOLS
FOR PRODUCT DISCOVERY AND DELIVERY. HOWEVER, WHEN IT COMES TO
THE DISCOVERY I EXPECTED TO SEE MORE CHOICES. I WASN'T ABLE TO
CHECK HOW THE INTEGRATIONS ARE WORKING, ESPECIALLY THE ONES FOR
SDLC TOOLS. I VAGUELY REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY IT WAS MAINLY ONE-
WAY SYNC OF IDEAS FROM PRODPAD TO JIRA BUT GUESS IT HAS IMPROVED
SINCE THEN.
Integrations

10. THE FOCUS ON PRODUCT VISION AND STRATEGY IS WHAT MAKES PRODPAD
DIFFERENT TO ALL OTHER PM TOOLS OUT THERE. IN ADDITION TO THE
VISION CANVAS AND OKRS, PRODPAD OFFERS POWERFUL DISCOVERY
FEATURES THAT PROMOTE EVIDENCE-BASED PLANNING. PLUS, A CUSTOMER
PORTAL WILL ENABLE YOU TO INCLUDE YOUR STAKEHOLDERS AND
CUSTOMERS IN YOUR DISCOVERY PROCESS, INCREASING THE QUALITY OF
THE END RESULT.
Special sauce

11. WWW.TEST-N-TELL.COM
PRODPAD IS A GOOD ENTRY-LEVEL PM
TOOL THAT COULD BE SUCCESSFULLY USED
AS A COMPLEMENTARY TO YOUR PRODUCT
DELIVERY SOFTWARE. FOR PRODUCT
MANAGERS, PRODPAD OFFERS SIMPLICITY
AND SUPPORT TO FIGURE OUT THE MOST
IMPORTANT - YOUR PRODUCT VISION AND
STRATEGY. PRODPAD IS BIG ON PRODUCT
DISCOVERY, OFFERING FOLKS SOME OF THE
BEST WAYS TO FORMULATE AND
COMMUNICATE THEIR PRODUCT VISION
AND ACCUMULATE THE RIGHT EVIDENCE. I
THINK IT'S A GOOD THING THERE'S ONLY
ONE TYPE OF ROADMAP AVAILABLE IN
PRODPAD (NOW/NEXT/LATER) AS IT
TEACHES TEAMS WORKING ON IT TO
EXPECT SURPRISES AND STAY AGILE.
CONCLUSION

12. WWW.TEST-N-TELL.COM
SIMPLE TO SETUP AND USE
VISION CANVAS BUILT-INTO
SOPHISTICATED PRODUCT
DISCOVERY TOOLS ("IDEAS"
AND "FEEDBACK")
OKRS INTEGRATED INTO
EVERY PART OF THE TOOL
SIMPLE YET SUFFICIENT
NOW/NEXT/LATER ROADMAP
PROS CONS
NO WAY TO TRACK DELIVERY
OR PLAN RESOURCES
PRIORITISATION OPTIONS ARE
LIMITED (ONLY VALUE/EFFORT)
LIMITED OPTIONS FOR LARGE
TEAMS AND PORTFOLIOS

13. CREATE PRODUCTS
CUSTOMERS LOVE
GET IN TOUCH TO DISCUSS
EFFECTIVE PRODUCT OPERATIONS
PREPARED BY DANIIL LANOVYI
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