The document discusses how to build an effective product strategy. It defines product strategy as a tool that translates business goals and vision into measurable problem statements and metrics to guide product evolution. It recommends laying foundations by defining what is being built and why, identifying user lifecycles and personas, scoping priorities, and mapping user activities to identify problems. It also stresses the importance of framing problems and linking solutions to key metrics and an overarching north star metric to measure success. The document uses building a Disney theme park app as an example to illustrate these concepts.

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Understanding Product Strategy by
fmr Flipkart Sr Mgr Products

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6.
Understanding Product Strategy & how to build one
Satyesh Jha

7.
My Product Journey
• Flipkart, India’s Ecom Giant acquired by Walmart
• HolidayIQ, A Travel Content startup acquired by Lastminute.com
• Airtel, India’s Telco Giant

8.
What we’ll cover today
• What is Product Strategy
• Who is it for & Why bother with it?
• How to go about it?.....We are going to Disneyland!!

9.
What is Product Strategy?

10.
Essence of a Product Strategy
Product strategy is a tool that translates the Vision/Business Goals into discernible
and measurable problem statements married to metric/outcome that puts the
product on an ever evolving path.
Product StrategyVision Product
Roadmap

11.
What does a Product Strategy include?
• User Lifecycle
• Continuously evolving Problem Statements ( in terms of Tech, User & Market)
• Metric/Outcomes linked to Problem Statements
• Types of User Personas
• Epics that address the Problem Statements

12.
What’s not a Product Strategy?
• List of Features & Bugs
• Identification of Near Term problem areas that do not evolve
• Solutions not aligned to the Product’s Vision
• UI/UX Overhauls

13.
Who is it for & Why bother?

14.
Who is it for?
• PM Aspirants
• Entrepreneurs
• Amateur PMs
• Experienced PMs
• Product Leaders
Short Answer is Everyone!

15.
Why bother?
Building a great product strategy is the most critical step in the path towards
creating a successful product. It’s your only bet to deliver your vision successfully
Lack of a sound product strategy generally leads to:
• Constant Firefighting
• Inconsequential Delivery
• User Churn

16.
How to go about it?

17.
Laying Foundations
A great product strategy is built on the backdrop of a great vision. When looking at
building a product strategy, there are few things to keep in mind.
• What are you building?
• Why are you building?

18.
Laying Foundations
Let’s work out this section with the help of an example:
“Disney wants to provide the best in class experience to its Theme park customers”
What?
A product for Disney’s Theme Park
Why?
To improve customer experience (North Star Metric can be CSAT/NPS)

19.
User Stages/Lifecycle
Defining the user stage constraints the problem areas This helps in structuring it
better. A couple of points to keep in mind before creating stages:
• Stages should be distinguishable through defined actions
• Stages should apply to all Users

20.
User Stages/Lifecycle
Let’s look at what would be the User Stages for our problem:
Zero Prospect Booked Arrival In-Park Post-Park
No
Disneyland
intent
Disneyland
intent
Booked
Disneyland
Tickets
Arrived at
Disneyland
Entered
Disneyland
Exited
Disneyland

21.
Scoping
Even strategies need some level of prioritization. Before you proceed, it’s essential
to scope out the user stages which you’re going to prioritize using your objective
How do you do it?
• Get Data
• Estimate Impacts
• Check Existing Products
• Common Sense!!

22.
Scoping
Let’s look at how we can scope out & prioritize
No Disneyland intent
Disneyland intent
Booked Disneyland
Tickets
Arrival at Disneyland
Entered Disneyland
Exited Disneyland
• Not likely a customer experience impact area
• Omni channel customer communication exists
• Check Customer Feedback around Promotion and Targeting
• Are Booking Channels sufficient? How is the Booking
Experience?
• How are customers arriving today? How is the Commute
Experience?
• How are customers spending time? How is the Entry & In-Park
Experience?
• How is the Park Check out Experience?

23.
User Personas
User Personas divide the users into cohorts that show similar behaviour. They help
in surfacing problem statements and improvement areas.
User Personas can be created using any attribute such as
• Demographic
• Usage/Consumption Based
• Product Specific
Create Personas that are MECE, sizeable & relevant to the
product!

24.
User Personas
Let’s look at what can be the possible User Personas:
• Repeat & New Customers
• Local & Out-of-Towner
• Adults, Adults w/Kids & Adults w/Old Parents

25.
Activity Map
Activity Map comprises of all the activities that a customer does in a stage. It’s a
great way to narrow down on a problem

26.
Activity Map
Let’s come back to Disneyland
Our Persona, Adult w/Kids experiences Park this way
• Queues up at Park Gate
• Enters Park
• Figures out the rides
• Walks with Kids to the Ride
• Checks if Kid is eligible for the Ride
• Waits at the Ride Queue
• Enjoys the Ride
• Repeat
• Refreshment & Break
• Exits

27.
Identifying Problems
Endgame’s here
Objective Prioritized User Stage(s) Activity Map of Selected User Persona
The next step is now to identify Problem Statements using the Activity Map . To go
about it:
• Walk a mile in your Customer’s shoes; Dogfooding
• Do User Interviews
• Figure out the Activities that can be impacted

28.
Identifying Problems
Let’s come back to Disneyland
Our Persona, Adult w/Kids experiences Park this way
• Queues up at Park Gate
• Enters Park
• Figures out the rides
• Walks with Kids to the Ride
• Checks if Kid is eligible for the Ride
• Waits at the Ride Queue
• Enjoys the Ride
• Repeat
• Refreshment & Break
• Exits
Long Queues
Lack of Knowledge
Too much walking
Going to wrong rides
Doing all that Again!
Locating & Ordering exp.
Long Queues

29.
North Star to Success Metrics Equation
North Star Metric is the core objective of the product. Success Metrics determine
whether the product feature is working or not.
Before addressing a problem statement, ensure that your Feature Success Metric
moves the North Star metric

30.
North Star to Success Metrics Equation
In our example
Problems Possible Metrics North Star Metric
Long Queues
Lack of Knowledge
Too much walking
Going to wrong rides
Doing all that Again!
Locating & Ordering exp.
Long Queues
Average Wait Time @ Gate
Navigation Time
Navigation Time or Distance Traversed
Rides Covered/Rides Reached
Average # of Rides Covered
Turnaround Time
Average Wait Time @ Ride
CSAT

31.
Framing Problems
Looking at the Problem Areas, it’s always a good idea to frame and articulate the
problem statements

32.
Framing Problems
Framing our Problem Statements:
Disneyland wants to create a product that improves the in-park experience of customers,
especially those with kids through
• Quick & Seamless Ticket Check & Entry
• Better Ride Discovery & Relevancy
• Easy Navigation to Rides
• Reduced Wait Times at Rides
• Easy Navigation to Break Area
• Seamless Ordering & Easy Payments

33.
Solutions & Beyond!
So you got the Infinity Stones, time to snap the fingers! For each problem
statement, determine the epic/idea that solves it.

34.
Solutions & Beyond!
Let’s create an App for Disneyland which all park goers can download the day before coming to the
park. The App should have:
• QR Code based ticket which can be scanned for Quick & Seamless Ticket Check & Entry
• Catalogue of all Rides & Ride Itineraries (can be personalized) for Better Ride Discovery &
Relevancy
• Live GPS based Map for Easy Navigation to Rides & Break Areas
• Wait Time Indicator & Provision to book a Ride Slot for Reduced Wait Times at Rides
• Online Ordering & Multiple Payment Channels for Seamless Ordering & Easy Payments
Also, these problems evolve, so keep an eye out!
The Next Step is to create a Product Roadmap!

35.
Takeaways
• Product Strategy is an ever-evolving bridge that connects a Vision to a
Roadmap
• Lack of a product strategy often results in flat lining metrics and
disengaged users
• An effective Product Strategy involves problem statements that stem
from a deep understanding of the User's lifecycle, persona, and pain
points.
• Product Strategy also requires prioritization
• Understand Problems, their possible metrics and their North Star metric
connection

36. Slide 36
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