Individual Reflection

Before taking this course, I had a vague understanding of what product management was, but I had no real experience. In this course, we covered everything from the fundamentals of product management to different methods and tools used in the field. By the end of this course, I feel like I have a clear idea of what a product manager does and the different paths I could take in this field.

I especially appreciated the entrepreneurial approach during class and was very thankful for my groupmates, as each of them had different strengths that I could learn from. Overall, I felt that I learned a lot in this course and would recommend it to others who are looking for a career change or want to learn more about product management.

My biggest takeaway from this course was that many things I thought I knew about product management were actually misconceptions. The biggest example of this was a misconception I had that “product managers” only work on software-related products, when in fact there are actually many different products that fall under this umbrella. For example, I distinctly recall when during class, Christina announced that our project did not have to relate to software.

One slight improvement for the class would be to show students some examples of the types of products that are commonly managed by product managers. Most of the lectures during class were focused on the frameworks used in product management, and although there were many guest lecturers, I felt at times that there was a disparity between the classroom activities and real-world PM settings.

Also, one of the core reasons for taking this class had been to learn how to write a PRD, which ended up not being the case (although I do appreciate the teaching team’s empathy towards the students and how they actively used the feedback to modify the class).

Going forward, I feel confident that I have become a well-prepared product manager and will continue to learn more about the field. This course has inspired me to look into some certification programs in the future and am looking forward to taking on new challenges in my career. I would like to thank the class instructors and TAs for their great teachings and guidance. Lastly, I would like to thank my cohort mates for their encouraging words and support throughout our time together.