How would a Product Manager build a house?

Photo by Daniel McCullough on Unsplash

Someone recently asked me — “how would I build a house?” Naturally, I thought — I’m a product manager. How would I build a house?

“How would I build a house?”

Step 1: The Persona

First things first, we need to understand who we are building the house is for. Here is a series of questions to ask:

1. Is it for a family? Or for a group of friends?
2. How many people are going to be in the home?
3. Are there any kids?
4. If so, what are their interests?
5. Do either of the parents work from home?
6. Does the family like to grill/cook?
7. Are there any family members that like to visit?
8. Do either of the parents have any specific needs?

So, let’s make some assumptions to the questions above:

1. There are 2 kids — a girl and a boy with different interests
2. One parent works from home
3. Family loves to grill
4. Yes, grandparents love to visit every few months
5. Father has always wanted a man cave for him and his wife to play video games in every now and then

Step 2: The Needs

Now that we know who’s going to be living there, we have a rough idea of what the house needs:

1. a master bedroom room for the parents
2. a bedroom each for the kids
3. at least 1 extra bedroom for grandparents to visit
4. a backyard with a grill
5. can settle for an in-home grill also
6. an office for the parent that works from home
7. a family/bonus room
8. a man cave for the father
9. a kitchen
10. 2–3 bathrooms
11. closets for each room

Step 3: The Pitch

Now that we have the needs, it’s time to pitch it to the family, get buy-in and cost estimate. Once the family is on board, this is what they could have decided on:

1. a room for the parents
2. a room each for the kids
3. need 2 extra rooms
4. a backyard with a grill (can settle for an in-home grill also)
5. an office for the parent that works from home
6. a family/bonus room
7. a man cave for the father
8. a kitchen
9. 2–3 bathrooms
10. closets for each room

It likely may not be to different since you’ve tailored it to the family.

Step 4: The Design

Now it’s time to draft a blueprint with the architect. You will likely need a few layouts because you want to give the family a few options to choose from.

Step 5: The Buy-In

Once the layouts are done, we engage the family again to select one. There will be some refinements that need to be made in this phase.

Step 6. The Build & Demos

Once you have sign-off, it’s time to estimate the cost and time of the house. How many weeks (sprints will this take) and who can do this?

Since we want to avoid any “big reveal” moments — we need to continuously at every X week iteration, bring the family into the home to see if things are progressing the way they should. If there are any changes that need to be made, let’s make them now rather than later when it is more difficult.

Step 7: The Final Walkthrough

In the final walkthrough, there should be no “big reveal.” At this point, you’ll see the customer happy, excited and asking “When can I move in?”

Step 8: The Postmortem

Now it’s time to get full feedback from the family. What they like and what they don’t like? How the process went?

Step 9: Iteration

Now it’s time to ask — what now? Is the family content? Do they want any more refinements? Should we meet up in 3 months to a year time to address any additional needs you have?

As a product manager, maintaining high customer success is key. So this is how I would build a house.

How would you build a house?