15+ Apps and Tools I Use as a PO at SFL
When was the last time you heard about a newly-released app? I bet that was not long ago considering the current progress of things in the tech world. Every single day, over 6K Android apps are released in the world. Kickstarter and Product Hunt just boil with thousands of the coolest innovations. And, of course, this has its pros for us, Product Owners too since many of these apps help make our lives carefree.
Here is my list of superstar apps and tools. Let’s get started with the most usual ones.
For agility and issue tracking
At SFL, we use Atlassian products quite extensively. Jira — for issue tracking, Confluence — for planning, tech specs and documentation, Bamboo — for CI/CD (Continuous integration and continuous delivery) procedures, etc.
I personally quite like the improvements they have made to Confluence in Cloud. Some features, such as collaborative editing have improved so dramatically that we have completely given up using Dropbox Paper or Google Docs. I still cannot get used to Cloud Jira’s new navigation, though.
For sketching and mockups
Having used proto.io, Balsamic, and Axure, we are now giving draw.io a try. That’s one of those lovely tools with which you become an advanced user 7 minutes after using the app.
Yet my favorite sketching tool remains the huge wall of our Yerevan meeting room. A simple pen or a pencil paired with a piece of paper can be the ultimate sketching materials too. This probably has something to do with my childhood hobby of drawing all over the walls and important documents, including my parent’s passports :)
Generally, drawing is the most effortless method of visualizing the mess that’s in our heads sometimes and communicating it to the team. But when you need an up-to-date digital something, you have to choose. Overall, I’m quite happy working with Balsamic, so probably I would think twice before deciding which one to choose for my next low-fidelity prototype: draw.io or Balsamic.
proto.io’s definitely best for a fancier experience. And I quite enjoy doing mobile mockups with it.
When it comes to User Experience design, draw.io is the absolute winner for identifying user flows and user journeys, while InVision is our only choice for prototyping.
For team communication
Slack brings the team into one room when it comes to communication while emails mark essential milestones or agreements. Skype has given its way to appear.in for group video calls.
For analytics and BI
Depending on the product, we use different analytics tools at SFL. Those are tools like Mixpanel, Hotjar, Branch Metrics, Google Analytics etc. I personally go with Google Analytics + Tag Manager, and Periscope Data.
For roadmapping
There are hundreds of product roadmapping tools out there. And I have tried out a bunch. Getting tired of that scavenger hunt, I have eventually created my own template which I keep for each project in Confluence.
OK, let’s leave the regular PO-ish stuff aside and see what other tools a PO can use on a day to day basis. To me, these apps are not directly related to my work, yet they are so important that I wouldn’t imagine my workday without them. Here is a glimpse of a few free treasures.
Feedly
There is no other way to stay posted with the recent news, trends, fresh articles and tech advancements without this RSS feed. You only add the websites you want to follow, classify them by themes and then scroll through the feed for 15 minutes every morning or evening.
You can also save articles for reading later. Customizing it with my existing subscriptions took about 10 minutes. Unsubscribing from my old newsletters is still in progress, yet I already feel the ease of not having to scroll through hundreds of email notifications daily.
When something grabs my attention to an extent that I want to keep it with me a little longer or even classify it under a related topic, a simple “Add to pocket” button with the relevant tag is all I need.
OneTab
This is for those multiple tabs you fear losing more than your friends. If you have these, OneTab would sort them into a URL you can later open from anywhere :)
The Great Suspender
Another tool for the lovers of multiple tabs. If you don’t want Google Chrome to suck all the life out of your PC’s memory, install the Great Suspender and live happily ever after.
Krisp
A tool-tribute to all the OS X users out there who make a lot of calls to/from noisy places. Although they have launched very recently, I already cannot imagine having an international video call without this magic tool. Krisp has made our daily meetings much more pleasant by allowing us to speak and listen without background noise.
Breathe
If you own an Apple Watch, don’t underestimate the power of these notifications that remind you to breathe for a minute once in a while. It allows you to relax and do nothing for a minute while giving you a little vibration on your wrist and letting you sync your breath with it.
A real tension-reliever!
Trust me, your lungs and nerve cells will thank you, as will your teammates.
Spotify
I don’t think there’s anything new to say about this app, other than having a subscription with Spotify is a no-brainer. Music is the only way to help get hold of your messy thoughts. And Spotify’s heavenly music discovery algorithms have made me fall in love with it. So, Apple Music still has ages of work to get my attention. For an Apple Zombie like me, this is huge!
Trello
Yeah, like many of you out there, if I don’t take notes, I will forget things. If I don’t open and close tasks, I will not feel fulfilled. Thus although we track the development progress in Jira, I still have my tiny little Trello board only for the dear me.
In fact, this topic is so hot, that quite recently we had a product meetup to go over such apps and share insights.
Smarter Gmail:
Boomerang for Gmail — Notifications manager
Unroll me — Manage subscriptions etc in your mailboxNotetaking:
Paper by WeTransfer — iOS app for note takingPaste — Easy presentations tool
Keybase — Git + Slack with a blockchain verificationTrello extensions:
Elegantt — Gantt chart
Label Titles — Displays label titles
Card Numbers — Assigns a unique number to your cards
Slim Lists — Fits the columns on your screen
Planway calendar power up — Cards sorted on calendarAlternative to Trello: TODOistChrome extensions:
Facebook Newsfeed Eradicator — Use Facebook without spending time on the endless newsfeed Block Site — Blocks sites between a specified time-frame
Speed-Dial — Select big bookmarks as your homepage
Grammarly — Grammar checks
GivingAssistant — Cashback on most purchases
Honey — Cashback and statistics
CamelCamelCamel.com — Price change history
TunnelBear — VPN connectorNews generators:
Zest
Muz.li
Hope these tools will help you enjoy your work as I do mine.
And what tools do you use?
About this author:
Diana Melkumyan is an Agile Product Owner at SFL who is passionate about UI/UX design. Diana is looking for a Project Manager for her team. Read the job description and apply here.
