The Best Product Manager Tools
Being able to use the right tool is important for any job, and especially for Product Managers (PMs). Sometimes we can’t change the software the organization is using, but often we can influence this process and introduce better tools.
I’m going to share an overall list of tools PMs use on a daily/weekly basis. These tools vary widely because of the nature of the PM job, which typically requires you to be a generalist.
The tools range from code repositories to roadmap creation to user research and email marketing. I’m sharing the tools I have experience with, but I’m happy to hear your thoughts and test new tools too!
Scheduling
Scheduling is an important part of the job and makes our lives easier. Besides using Google Calendar, I recommend testing another tool to automate the scheduling process when working with stakeholders outside your organization. I really like Calendly and Doodle for that use.
Calendly
Doodle
Google Calendar
Code Editor
Having a coding editor installed on your computer can be super handy when you need to test your application. My favorite ones are Brackets and Sublime Text, but you can also use Notepad++.
Brackets
Sublime Text
Notepad++
Code Editor
Having a coding editor installed on your computer can be super handy when you need to test your application. My favorite ones are Brackets and Sublime Text, but you can also use Notepad++.
Brackets
Sublime Text
Notepad++
Survey
For creating a web-based survey, the three tools I like the most are Google Forms, Type Form, and Survey Monkey. If you can’t invest in a paid software, I recommend Google Forms, and if you have a little bit more budget you should consider Type Form and Survey Monkey since their pre-formatted questions can save you a lot of time.
Google Forms
Type Form
Survey Monkey
Project Management
I have tested a bunch of different softwares over time, and my favorite of all times is definitely Trello because I love to work with Kanban. I’m super happy with Asana and Wrike too, and I love that they have the Kanban and timeline modes.
Trello
Asana
Wrike
Road Map & Timelines
If you create road maps and timelines often, I highly encourage you to invest in a software like Smartsheet or Monday.com. If not, you can use Google Docs/Sheets, or you can look for road map and timeline templates online or build your own.
Smartsheet
Monday.com
Google Docs/Sheets
Team Communication
Even if you don’t have many team members working remotely or even at all, it’s 2019, so we don’t have to rely on email for team communications. My favorite team communication tools of all time are Slack, Google Hangouts, and Zoom for video conferences.
Slack
Zoom
Google Hangouts
File storage
I’m a Google Drive fan, so I use Google Docs, Sheets, and Presentation. I love how easy it is to collaborate using these tools and not have to worry about version control. I also like Dropbox and Box for file storage and team collaboration. Remember, it’s important to make sure the team is backing up all the information they’re producing.
Google Drive
Dropbox
Box
Wireframing & Diagramming
Wireframing and diagramming are other tools PMs use a lot. It’s really easy to create journey maps using these kinds of tools, and it will look nice in your presentations. My favorite wireframing and diagramming tools of all times are LucidChart, Balsamiq, and Creately. For more information, you can check this post in which I wrote more about the options in the market!
LucidChart
Balsamiq
Creately
Tracking Tool
JIRA in my opinion is the best bug/issue tracking tool in the market right now. You can also use Trello and Google Sheets for tracking, and they’re free.
JIRA
Trello
Google Sheets
Source-code Repository
Github is super well known, and Source Forge is super famous among the open-source community. I have more experience using Bitbucket and Github, and the good news is that Bitbucket is free.
Bitbucket
Github
Source Forge
Analytics
Let’s analyze some data. Of course, I’d recommend Google Analytics that is free. Amplitude has a behavioral analytics platform, they use first-party behavioral data to power targeted campaigns. Pendo is a tool for product and journey analytics by user and also by account.
Google Analytics
Pendo
Amplitude
User Research
Enjoy HQ is a user research repository to store insights in a centralized, organized way. Validately is a tool used during user testing that makes it easier to talk with users. And Figma is design tool that enables UX Designers to create prototypes that make it easier (and faster) for the users to test your MVP during the onsite research.
Enjoy HQ
Validately
Figma
Apps for Recording during User Interviews
One of my favorite things about Zoom is that it allows you to record your meetings. GoToMeeting and Otter are a little bit better in this sense because they record and transcribe your meetings. Isn’t that wonderful?
Zoom
GoToMeeting
Otter
Email Marketing
You may be responsible for defining or reviewing the content of email marketing or you may be responsible for coding it. Mailchimp is an awesome tool for email marketing, and Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce are good options for marketing automation.
Mailchimp
Oracle Eloqua
Salesforce
What’s your favorite tool? And the most used?
Additional Resources
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