Differentiating Roles in Product Development
Cagan outlines the distinct roles within a modern software product organization, emphasizing the importance of clear responsibilities. He explains that the product manager is responsible for assessing product opportunities and defining the product, while the user experience designer focuses on making the product usable and valuable. Project managers handle scheduling and tracking, and engineers build the product. This clear delineation helps avoid confusion and ensures that each aspect of product development is handled by specialists, leading to better outcomes. For instance, he notes, 'The job of the product manager is to discover a product that is valuable, usable, and feasible.'