In the previous post on product management, we took a high level look at the role that product managers play and the value that they provide. In this post, we go into a bit more detail, but from the point of view of companies that outsource the building of digital products (including websites, iPhone apps etc.) to digital agencies. In many (although not all) of these cases, there is no designated product manager (at either the client or the agency) and as a result, the effectiveness, popularity and commercial success of the digital product will suffer. By looking into the kind these issues in more detail, we hope to explain in more detail what it is that makes product management so critical, and also to provide an approach for companies engaging with digital agencies to avoid these pitfalls.

A typical scenario

A company that makes the vast majority of its money offline wants to do something online.  Maybe they’re a retailer looking to start selling online, or a magazine publisher wanting to make their content available online.  The client, unfamiliar with online, approaches a digital agency to help them.  Because the client is unfamiliar with online technology, they look for a digital agency that has done similar websites for similar clients.  The digital agency sits down with the client and run a series of requirements gathering workshops to understand what the client wants.  They put together long requirements specification and work with the client on a graphic treatment for the site.  On the basis of the images of these visuals, and the requirements specification, the agency builds the client its website.
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