product-manager-toolkit

# Product Manager Toolkit

Essential tools and frameworks for modern product management, from discovery to delivery.

## Quick Start

### For Feature Prioritization
```bash
python scripts/rice_prioritizer.py sample  # Create sample CSV
python scripts/rice_prioritizer.py sample_features.csv --capacity 15
```

### For Interview Analysis
```bash
python scripts/customer_interview_analyzer.py interview_transcript.txt
```

### For PRD Creation
1. Choose template from `references/prd_templates.md`
2. Fill in sections based on discovery work
3. Review with stakeholders
4. Version control in your PM tool

## Core Workflows

### Feature Prioritization Process

1. **Gather Feature Requests**
   - Customer feedback
   - Sales requests
   - Technical debt
   - Strategic initiatives

2. **Score with RICE**
   ```bash
   # Create CSV with: name,reach,impact,confidence,effort
   python scripts/rice_prioritizer.py features.csv
   ```
   - **Reach**: Users affected per quarter
   - **Impact**: massive/high/medium/low/minimal
   - **Confidence**: high/medium/low
   - **Effort**: xl/l/m/s/xs (person-months)

3. **Analyze Portfolio**
   - Review quick wins vs big bets
   - Check effort distribution
   - Validate against strategy

4. **Generate Roadmap**
   - Quarterly capacity planning
   - Dependency mapping
   - Stakeholder alignment

### Customer Discovery Process

1. **Conduct Interviews**
   - Use semi-structured format
   - Focus on problems, not solutions
   - Record with permission

2. **Analyze Insights**
   ```bash
   python scripts/customer_interview_analyzer.py transcript.txt
   ```
   Extracts:
   - Pain points with severity
   - Feature requests with priority
   - Jobs to be done
   - Sentiment analysis
   - Key themes and quotes

3. **Synthesize Findings**
   - Group similar pain points
   - Identify patterns across interviews
   - Map to opportunity areas

4. **Validate Solutions**
   - Create solution hypotheses
   - Test with prototypes
   - Measure actual vs expected behavior

### PRD Development Process

1. **Choose Template**
   - **Standard PRD**: Complex features (6-8 weeks)
   - **One-Page PRD**: Simple features (2-4 weeks)
   - **Feature Brief**: Exploration phase (1 week)
   - **Agile Epic**: Sprint-based delivery

2. **Structure Content**
   - Problem → Solution → Success Metrics
   - Always include out-of-scope
   - Clear acceptance criteria

3. **Collaborate**
   - Engineering for feasibility
   - Design for experience
   - Sales for market validation
   - Support for operational impact

## Key Scripts

### rice_prioritizer.py
Advanced RICE framework implementation with portfolio analysis.

**Features**:
- RICE score calculation
- Portfolio balance analysis (quick wins vs big bets)
- Quarterly roadmap generation
- Team capacity planning
- Multiple output formats (text/json/csv)

**Usage Examples**:
```bash
# Basic prioritization
python scripts/rice_prioritizer.py features.csv

# With custom team capacity (person-months per quarter)
python scripts/rice_prioritizer.py features.csv --capacity 20

# Output as JSON for integration
python scripts/rice_prioritizer.py features.csv --output json
```

### customer_interview_analyzer.py
NLP-based interview analysis for extracting actionable insights.

**Capabilities**:
- Pain point extraction with severity assessment
- Feature request identification and classification
- Jobs-to-be-done pattern recognition
- Sentiment analysis
- Theme extraction
- Competitor mentions
- Key quotes identification

**Usage Examples**:
```bash
# Analyze single interview
python scripts/customer_interview_analyzer.py interview.txt

# Output as JSON for aggregation
python scripts/customer_interview_analyzer.py interview.txt json
```

## Reference Documents

### prd_templates.md
Multiple PRD formats for different contexts:

1. **Standard PRD Template**
   - Comprehensive 11-section format
   - Best for major features
   - Includes technical specs

2. **One-Page PRD**
   - Concise format for quick alignment
   - Focus on problem/solution/metrics
   - Good for smaller features

3. **Agile Epic Template**
   - Sprint-based delivery
   - User story mapping
   - Acceptance criteria focus

4. **Feature Brief**
   - Lightweight exploration
   - Hypothesis-driven
   - Pre-PRD phase

## Prioritization Frameworks

### RICE Framework
```
Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

Reach: # of users/quarter
Impact: 
  - Massive = 3x
  - High = 2x
  - Medium = 1x
  - Low = 0.5x
  - Minimal = 0.25x
Confidence:
  - High = 100%
  - Medium = 80%
  - Low = 50%
Effort: Person-months
```

### Value vs Effort Matrix
```
         Low Effort    High Effort
         
High     QUICK WINS    BIG BETS
Value    [Prioritize]   [Strategic]
         
Low      FILL-INS      TIME SINKS
Value    [Maybe]       [Avoid]
```

### MoSCoW Method
- **Must Have**: Critical for launch
- **Should Have**: Important but not critical
- **Could Have**: Nice to have
- **Won't Have**: Out of scope

## Discovery Frameworks

### Customer Interview Guide
```
1. Context Questions (5 min)
   - Role and responsibilities
   - Current workflow
   - Tools used

2. Problem Exploration (15 min)
   - Pain points
   - Frequency and impact
   - Current workarounds

3. Solution Validation (10 min)
   - Reaction to concepts
   - Value perception
   - Willingness to pay

4. Wrap-up (5 min)
   - Other thoughts
   - Referrals
   - Follow-up permission
```

### Hypothesis Template
```
We believe that [building this feature]
For [these users]
Will [achieve this outcome]
We'll know we're right when [metric]
```

### Opportunity Solution Tree
```
Outcome
├── Opportunity 1
│   ├── Solution A
│   └── Solution B
└── Opportunity 2
    ├── Solution C
    └── Solution D
```

## Metrics & Analytics

### North Star Metric Framework
1. **Identify Core Value**: What's the #1 value to users?
2. **Make it Measurable**: Quantifiable and trackable
3. **Ensure It's Actionable**: Teams can influence it
4. **Check Leading Indicator**: Predicts busin