NANODEGREE PROGR AM SYLL ABUS

Product Manager

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Overview
This Nanodegree program teaches the foundational skills all product managers use in leading the development of
software products, whether they are mobile apps, desktop apps, or web platforms for consumers or enterprises.
It is ideal for beginners who want to start a career in product management, and set themselves up for success to
land and perform on the job.

I N CO L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H

Estimated Time: Prerequisites:

4 Months at No prior
10hrs/week experience

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Course 1: Product Strategy
The most effective products start with a comprehensive market-based, insight-driven strategy. Understand
the role that product managers play during product development, with a focus on activities that happen
early in the product development cycle. Learn how to identify the right problems to solve through market
research, target user definition, and market sizing. Create a compelling vision and strategy that will set up
the team to solve those problems. Understand how to communicate effectively to get people excited and
bought into your ideas.

The inception of any product that gets built starts with a vision and a
product manager that rallies stakeholders behind that vision. In this
project, you will choose to act as a product manager for one of four
top technology companies and develop a compelling pitch for the
development of a new product. You’ll be provided a business scenario
Course Project
relevant to each of the four companies and based on the provided
Pitch a Product Vision business scenario of the company you choose, you will perform
primary and secondary market research to identify target users and
size the market opportunity for a new product. Then, you will compile
your analysis into a pitch deck and present the vision of your product
to business stakeholders.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Understand what Product Management involves

Intro to Product • Describe why Product Management is important
LESSON ONE
Management • Understand the history and evolution of Product
Management

• Understand the purpose of the Product Manager role in an

organization
• Understand what a Product Manager does during the
different stages of the Product Development Cycle
• Identify key cross-functional partners and customize
The Role of a Product communications based on understanding of their key
LESSON TWO
Manager priorities
• Describe various customer discovery techniques for
gathering requirements
• Learn how to complete each component of a product
requirements document (PRD), including documenting
requirements

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 • Learn how to identify problems that are worthwhile to
solve
• Understand the market through qualitative and
quantitative research methods
• Identify your target user and build user personas based on
synthesis of research
• Calculate the total addressable market (TAM) for your
Problem
LESSON THREE product
Identification
• Calculate the return on investment (ROI) for solving a
problem
• Define hypotheses about your product that need to be
validated
• Test your hypotheses by putting them in front of users
• Understand the components required to build a business
case

• Define and craft compelling vision for a new product

• Identify strategic areas to invest in based on organizational
goals and competitive analysis
• Build a Business Model Canvas for a product opportunity
LESSON FOUR Vision & Strategy
• Understand the importance of defining a minimum viable
product (MVP)
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) that align product
strategy to organizational goals

• Understand the importance and various methods to

practice active listening
Communication • Learn how to craft and deliver compelling stories
LESSON FIVE
Skills • Apply persuasion and negotiation when communicating to
business stakeholders
• Learn how to structure and deliver strong presentations

Project: Pitch a • Develop and deliver a market-based, insight-driven pitch

LESSON SIX Product for a new product that is targeted to executive
Vision stakeholders

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Course 2: Product Design
Once the problem has been defined and a market opportunity has been identified, it is important to create
a solution that is desirable by its users. Bring an idea through concept, design, and user validation, as
well as creating a spec to handoff to engineering for development. Use design thinking methodologies to
diverge in order to explore ideas, and then ultimately focus in and converge on a single idea. Map out the
full concept through creation of a prototype that can be used to validate that you’re solving a problem for
real users.

The most desirable products have been built iteratively with the user
in mind. In this project, you will take a problem/opportunity (using
Course Project work from the previous course) through a Design Sprint. During the
Design Sprint, you will explore multiple ideas, narrow down ideas
Run a Design Sprint to the most compelling one, create a storyboard and prototype,
conduct user research, refine their ideas, and incorporate findings
into a final product spec.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Describe the purpose and process of a Design Sprint

• Identify good candidates for a Design Sprint
Intro to Design • Learn how to plan and involve necessary stakeholders in a
LESSON ONE
Sprint Design Sprint
• Differentiate between the responsibilities of the Product
Manager and Designer roles

• Describe the Understand phase of the Design Sprint

• Describe how lightning talks, interviews, and competitive
analysis can be used as an input during the Understand
phase
LESSON TWO Understand
• Use the “How Might We” method to identify opportunities
• Utilize the “Rose Bud Thorn” method to classify things as
positive, negative, or opportunities
• Apply Affinity Mapping to identify thematic insights

• Describe the Define phase of the Design Sprint

• Define success metrics using the HEART framework
LESSON THREE Define • Explain the difference between goals, signals, and metrics
• Craft Design Principles
• Write a Future Press Release

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 • Describe the Sketch phase of the Design Sprint
• Use the Crazy 8’s method to brainstorm ideas through
sketching
LESSON FOUR Sketch • Facilitate a process for sharing and voting on sketches
within the team
• Create a more detailed, in-depth Solution Sketch that
contains at least 3 frames

• Describe the Decide phase of the Design Sprint

• Identify assumptions behind ideas and formulate questions
about them
LESSON FIVE Decide • Create a Decision Matrix to narrow down ideas to those
worth pursuing
• Represent perspectives from a wider audience using
Thinking Hats

• Describe the Prototype phase of the Design Sprint

• Create a storyboard to map out a plan for your prototype
LESSON SIX Prototype • Learn how to utilize different types of prototyping
• Create a high fidelity, interactive prototype
• Apply best practices for creating prototypes

• Describe the Validate phase of the Design Sprint

• Create plans and data collection processes for a user study
LESSON SEVEN Validate
• Run a user study and interview users
• Conduct a feasibility discussion with an engineer

• Describe benefits of iteration and identify when iteration is

appropriate
LESSON EIGHT Next Steps • Evangelize your idea across cross-functional development
teams
• Create documentation for the engineering team

• Take a problem through a design sprint to develop a

Run a Design concept, create a prototype, bring your concept through
LESSON NINE
Sprint user testing, and then prepare to handoff your concept to
the engineering team

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Course 3: Product Development
A product is only successful if it can be feasibility built according to a dedicated timeline. Learn the critical
soft skills needed to manage the development and execution phase of the product. Collaborate with
cross-functional teams and business stakeholders to guide the product development team through
planning and execution. Manage stakeholder expectations and handle risks that arise, reprioritizing
feature and sprint priorities to tackle competing requests.

Leading the development of a product so it can get shipped within

a given timeline requires an adeptness at managing priorities,
relationships and expectations. In this project, you will take the
work completed in the previous course through the execution and
Course Project development phase. First, you will compile a sprint backlog with
Manage the Product a clearly defined sprint goal that reflects the prioritized user stories
and detailed acceptance criteria. Then, you will refine the solution by
Development Process
leveraging API documentation. Then, you will create a coordination
activities map and handle competing priorities ranging from
production issues reported and resource constraints to stakeholder
feedback and requests that come up during product development.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Define social capital and describe its importance in product

management within an organization
• Become credible by knowing your company, product, and
market
• Build trust by knowing your peer and development teams
Influencing Without • Guide a team by becoming an engaging storyteller
LESSON ONE
Authority • Learn the art of saying ‘No’ in situations with competing
priorities
• Learn how to run meetings effectively
• Apply communication strategies to negotiate effectively
with stakeholders
• Understand and define a coordination activities map

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 • Understand the differences between waterfall
methodology and agile methodology in product
development
Development • Learn about Kanban and Scrum methodologies and how to
LESSON TWO Methodologies, apply them as a product manager
Processes, and Tools • Understand the purpose of a workflow management tool
and how to utilize it as a product manager
• Learn how to manage the process from development to
deployment in new feature development

• Understand the components of a user story and how to

define it
Crafting User Stories • Write detailed acceptance criteria for a user story
LESSON THREE and Non-User • Identify different types of non-user stories and how to
Requirements compile them
• Understand the contents of API documentation and how to
utilize it in product decision-making

• Understand the purpose of a product backlog and how to

manage it
• Apply a prioritization framework to organize the backlog for
Managing Backlogs sprint planning
LESSON FOUR and Stakeholder • Utilize an effective prioritization framework to evaluate a
Expectations new feature request or product initiative
• Triage bugs using severity and priority as decision-making
levers
• Learn how to maintain the feedback loop with stakeholders

• Create a coordination activities map in addition to a

Manage the
prioritized backlog and communicate decisions to various
Product
LESSON FIVE stakeholders amidst competing priorities in order to
Development
ensure product delivery in alignment to quality and
Process
deadline expectations

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Course 4: Product Launch
Once a need has been defined and a product has been designed and developed, it is time to bring that
product to the market. Learn all about the launch process and the important partners a Product Manager
will need to work with during this phase. Create a plan, identify the launch risks and figure out how to
minimize their impact on your launch. Collaborate with Marketing stakeholders to determine how to
target your customers and develop a compelling message to increase engagement in your product. Work
with Sales, Customer Support and the other teams to prepare them to interface with your customers as
the product is launched. Execute the launch and use feedback from your customers to determine the next
steps for your product.

A product finally realizes its impact once it is delivered to customers.

In this project, you will take the product you have developed in the
earlier courses and bring it to market. First, you will create a
pre-launch process, including identification of launch risks and
Course Project mitigations, to enable launch. Then, you will develop a marketing
Deliver a Product to and pricing strategy to communicate the value proposition of your
Market product to customers. Then, you will write a user guide and other
create other communications collateral to prepare the Sales and
Customer Support teams to evangelize the product. Finally, you
will use customer feedback to design an A/B test for a new product
feature.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Develop a step-by-step product launch process

• Understand the importance of scaling
LESSON ONE Set Up the Process • Create a scaling plan
• Identify risks in a product launch and create a plan to
mitigate them

• Understand the roles of the Product Manager and Product

Marketing Manager and how they collaborate with each
other
LESSON TWO Marketing Strategy • Research competitors to formulate product positioning
• Learn how to collaborate with Marketing to develop a
marketing message, acquisition channel strategy and a
pricing strategy for a product

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 • Understand the other teams and stakeholders that need
to be brought into the process as it gets closer to product
Prepare Your Partner launch
LESSON THREE
Teams for Launch • Prepare Sales and Customer Support with appropriate
communications collateral for a product launch
• Create a User Guide to educate users

• Develop a product rollout timeline

• Learn how to execute the launch of a product to include
Launch and Post-
announcement to internal stakeholders
LESSON FOUR Launch
• Use customer feedback to determine priorities for the next
Feedback
iteration of a product
• Create an A/B test to test a new feature for a product

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Our Classroom Experience
REAL-WORLD PROJECTS
Build your skills through industry-relevant projects. Get
personalized feedback from our network of 900+ project
reviewers. Our simple interface makes it easy to submit
your projects as often as you need and receive unlimited
feedback on your work.

KNOWLEDGE
Find answers to your questions with Knowledge, our
proprietary wiki. Search questions asked by other students,
connect with technical mentors, and discover in real-time
how to solve the challenges that you encounter.

STUDENT HUB
Leverage the power of community through a simple, yet
powerful chat interface built within the classroom. Use
Student Hub to connect with fellow students in your
program as you support and learn from each other.

WORKSPACES
See your code in action. Check the output and quality of
your code by running them on workspaces that are a part
of our classroom.

QUIZZES
Check your understanding of concepts learned in the
program by answering simple and auto-graded quizzes.
Easily go back to the lessons to brush up on concepts
anytime you get an answer wrong.

CUSTOM STUDY PLANS

Preschedule your study times and save them to your
personal calendar to create a custom study plan. Program
regular reminders to keep track of your progress toward
your goals and completion of your program.

PROGRESS TRACKER
Stay on track to complete your Nanodegree program with
useful milestone reminders.

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Learn with the Best

Anastasia Root Alex King

P R O D U C T M A N A G E R AT G O O G L E P R O D U C T M A N AG E R AT U B E R
Anastasia is a Growth Product Manager Alex is passionate about simplifying
at Google, leading growth for the Google complex user problems. He leads Rider
iOS Search app. Prior to Google, Anastasia Experience for JUMP Bikes & Scooters, and
has worked on products in Real Estate, previously Setup Experiences for smart
FinTech, dating, navigation, and enterprise home devices like Google Wifi, Google
software. Home, and Chromecast.

Yuva Murugan
P R O D U C T CO N S U LTA N T

Yuva has led SaaS products across vari-

ous-stage startups and Fortune 10 compa-
nies. She is dedicated to evolving a com-
pany’s vision into a product with a strong
market fit, while creating delightful user
experiences.

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All Our Nanodegree Programs Include:

EXPERIENCED PROJECT REVIEWERS

REVIEWER SERVICES

• Personalized feedback & line by line code reviews

• 1600+ Reviewers with a 4.85/5 average rating
• 3 hour average project review turnaround time
• Unlimited submissions and feedback loops
• Practical tips and industry best practices
• Additional suggested resources to improve

TECHNICAL MENTOR SUPPORT

MENTORSHIP SERVICES

• Questions answered quickly by our team of

technical mentors
• 1000+ Mentors with a 4.7/5 average rating
• Support for all your technical questions

PERSONAL CAREER SERVICES

C AREER SUPPORT

• Resume support
• Github portfolio review
• LinkedIn profile optimization

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Frequently Asked Questions
PROGR AM OVERVIE W

WHY SHOULD I ENROLL?

Product Managers are highly coveted roles in both large enterprises and startups.
It’s a role that commands considerable influence, and involves working closely
with many cross-functional teams to develop new products and features from
scratch, and bring them to market.

This program is designed for students who want to assume key leadership
roles in product development in their company. You will learn how to define
product strategy and KPIs based on market analysis, pitch a product vision to
get stakeholder buy-in, and design a user-centered prototype that adheres to
engineering constraints. Then, you will develop an execution timeline that handles
competing priorities, communicate a product roadmap that builds consensus
amongst internal stakeholders, and create a comprehensive go-to-market plan
based on product KPIs. Finally, once launching a product into the market, you’ll
learn how to build tests to enhance product features based on market data.

WHAT JOBS WILL THIS PROGRAM PREPARE ME FOR?

This program will equip you with the foundational skills to assume entry-level
product manager roles. You’ll learn directly from experienced Product Managers
at Uber and Google, who have constructed this Nanodegree program to equip you
with the most in-demand and relevant industry skills.

HOW DO I KNOW IF THIS PROGRAM IS RIGHT FOR ME?

This program is intended for anyone who wants to be equipped to become a
Product Manager. If you want to learn the core skill set required in all Product
Manager roles, which is the foundation for more specialized roles like Growth
Product Manager, Data Product Manager, AI Product Manager, and more, this
program is for you.

WHY SHOULD YOU WANT TO BECOME A PRODUCT MANAGER?

Product Manager is a top 5 job on LinkedIn’s Most Promising Jobs for 2019, and
one of the most coveted roles in large tech enterprises, as well as entrepreneurial
startups. Glassdoor lists Product Manager in the Top 4 in their list for the Best 50
Best Jobs in America for 2020.

With a starting base salary of $125,000, Product Management roles in the US

have grown an astounding 32% over just a two year period, from August 2017 to
June 2019, higher than software engineering job growth (21%) and overall US job
growth (6%) during that same time span.

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FAQs Continued
ENROLLMENT AND ADMISSION

DO I NEED TO APPLY? WHAT ARE THE ADMISSION CRITERIA?

No. This Nanodegree program accepts all applicants regardless of experience
and specific background.

WHAT ARE THE PREREQUISITES FOR ENROLLMENT?

No prior experience with Product Management is required. You will need to be
comfortable with basic computer skills, such as managing files, using third-party
online programs, and navigating the Internet through an online browser.

TUITION AND TERM OF PROGR AM

HOW IS THIS NANODEGREE PROGRAM STRUCTURED?

The Product Manager Nanodegree program is comprised of content and
curriculum to support four projects. Once you subscribe to a Nanodegree
program, you will have access to the content and services for the length of time
specified by your subscription. We estimate that students can complete the
program in four (4) months, working 10 hours per week.

Each project will be reviewed by the Udacity reviewer network. Feedback will be
provided and if you do not pass the project, you will be asked to resubmit the
project until it passes.

HOW LONG IS THIS NANODEGREE PROGRAM?

Access to this Nanodegree program runs for the length of time specified in
the payment card above. If you do not graduate within that time period, you
will continue learning with month to month payments. See the Terms of Use
and FAQs for other policies regarding the terms of access to our Nanodegree
programs.

SOF T WARE AND HARDWARE

WHAT SOFTWARE AND VERSIONS WILL I NEED IN THIS PROGRAM?

You will need to use Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint, and Google Docs
or Microsoft Word, access to a video camera (phone or computer camera work
well), as well as access to the internet and a 64-bit computer.

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