Appendix

The index helps to find material on the work situation. Start with the decision you need to make now, and then move on to neighboring topics if you find an addiction.

We need to figure out what to build.

• Product Discovery Review - How to reduce uncertainty to expensive development.
• Problem framing and assumptions - to formulate a problem and highlight risky assumptions.
• Research Methods – Choose an interview, observation, survey, data analysis or experiment.
• /handbook/discovery/interviews/: Recover past behavior without leading questions.
• [/handbook/discovery/synthesis/] – Turn notes into testable conclusions.
• Opportunity Solution Tree - link outcome, capabilities, solutions and tests.
• Usability Testing – Check the passage of a particular scenario.
• Competitive Analysis – Compare user alternatives, not feature lists.

We need to pick a direction.

• Product Strategy Review – Collect a coherent set of choices and rejections.
• Vision, Mission, Strategy – to separate the future horizon and the current path.
• JTBD and Value Suggestion – Describe the client’s progress and the basis of choice.
• Segmentation and Positioning – Choose an audience and a competitive frame.
• North Star Metric – Determine the overall value signal.
• OKR - to change direction into a measurable change.
• Outcome-roadmap - show bets without false accuracy of plans.
• Pricing & Packaging - link tariffs to segments and units of value.
• [/handbook/strategy/unit-economics/] – To test the financial viability of the solution.
• Portfolio and bets - allocate resources between liabilities and bets.

Changes must be made to users

• Product Delivery Review – Go from a proven hypothesis to an effect.
• PRD and requirements - save the context and boundaries of the solution.
• User Stories and Acceptance Criteria - Describe the behavior and conditions being tested.
• RICE, ICE, and WSJF - make prioritization assumptions visible.
• Scrum, Kanban, and Dual-track - adjust the flow to the nature of the work.
• /handbook/delivery/dependencies/: Assign owners and backup scenarios.
• /handbook/delivery/quality-techdebt/ translates technical risk into product language.
• /handbook/delivery/releases/: Limit the radius of risk and prepare the rollout.
• SLO and Incidents – agree on the reliability of key scenarios.

We need to understand the data.

• [/handbook/metrics/metric-system/] — Link value, business and managed inputs.
• North Star and input metrics - decompose the total result.
• Funnels, cohorts and retention – localize the loss by stage and time.
• A/A- and A/B-tests - design a causal test.
• Interpretation Errors (/handbook/metrics/common-pitfalls/) – Check the sample, definitions, and alternative explanations.
• Dashboards and Rhythm - link metrics to decisions and owners.
• SQL for Product – check out a simple analytical question.

We need to find a growth limit.

• Product Growth Review – Diagnose activation, retention and monetization systems.
• Onboarding and activation - shorten the path to the first useful result.
• Retention and lifecycle - operate at a natural rate of value acquisition.
• Growth loops and channels - distinguish audience flow from repeatable loop.
• Referral and virality - embed an invitation into a useful script.
• Monetization Models – Select incentives and unit of payment.
• Pricing experiments - Check the price for long-term effects.
• Experiments and guardrails - predetermine the solution and the boundaries of harm.

We need to improve the way the team works.

• Product-Design-Tech – distribute leadership by solution type.
• Ownership and RACI - clarify responsibility and participation.
• /handbook/teams/rituals/: To leave meetings that produce decisions.
• /handbook/teams/risk-management/: Early Signals and Mitigation.
• Product, Support, and CS – turn calls into contextual signals.
• Stakeholder management - Manage dependencies and expectations.
• Sales, Product and Tech Conflicts – Translate positions into general facts and trade-offs.
• Exec update and QBR shorten the path from fact to solution.

We need to develop the product function.

• Types of product roles and areas of responsibility.
• Skills Map and Roads of Development.
• Hiring, leveling and performance coaching.
• Organizational Design and Portfolio Planning.
• Product Ops and Management Standards.
• Maturity Model - Select the following organizational improvement.

We need to quickly understand a specific situation.

• Retention falls
• I need to activate
• Difficult Risk Release
• Team does not trust data
• Disruption of Quarter Targets
• Too many stakeholders
• Select Next Big Bet

For the finished working document, open templates, and for pre-launch checklist checklists (/handbook/appendix/checklists/).