PRO DUCT

1
MA N AGEM ENT
Online Certificate Program

OVERVIEW
Product management is among today’s most desirable skill sets, often serving as a
direct path into executive leadership in organizations and making or breaking success
for entrepreneurs. In this program, you will develop the product mindset needed to
bring viable products to market. The courses are designed to give product managers a
deeper understanding of what it takes to bring a product from idea, to launch, to future
iteration. You will begin by defining the problem a product will solve as you map the
customer’s journey and articulate user personas. You’ll have the opportunity to learn
important facets of product roadmapping decisions and prototyping through a number
of product management activities, including how to partner with designers to create
codeless prototypes. The focus then moves to measuring progress against objectives
and presenting product learnings to stakeholders. You will apply these skills to build
and launch into production, ensuring end-product success as you bring your product
to market.

COURSES COURSE LENGTH FORMAT

6 2 weeks 100% online

COURSES
• Developing a Product Hypothesis and User Personas
• Product Vision and Goals
• Product Roadmapping
• Product Prototyping
• Product Analytics and Iteration
• Product Engineering and Execution

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7 COURSES

2 INSIDE the PROGRAM

100% ONLINE

KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Manage a product development team • Manage a product life cycle
• Identify and target customer needs to
inform product design
• Develop user stories using a variety of
tools
• Identify and select appropriate
development methodologies (waterfall,
agile, lean, etc.)
• Create a product roadmap
• Perform market research to develop a
product business case
• Design and develop a product

WHO SHOULD ENROLL

• Product management professionals with • Data analysts
<5 years experience • Engineers and developers
• Entrepreneurs and small business • Operations managers
owners • Designers
• Business analysts • People interested in transitioning to the
• Product marketing managers tech industry

WHAT YOU’LL EARN

• Product Management Certificate from Cornell Tech
• 60 Professional Development Hours (6 CEUs)

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3
COURSE
DESCRIPTIONS
100% ONLINE

DEVELOPING A PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS AND USER PERSONAS

Developing and launching new products involves more than a great idea. In today’s
fast-paced digital economy, understanding your target customers and their specific
needs is essential to launching and managing successful products. In startups and
established companies alike, the product manager serves as a key player in taking
a product from idea to launch to success. To bring viable products to market, a
successful product manager needs to balance creative inspiration with a disciplined
approach, and it is with this approach that we frame this first course.

This course seeks to answer the question “Who is my customer?” You will explore
how to develop a product by first defining the problem your product addresses. To do
this, Keith Cowing will share his deep knowledge in product management to help you
map your customer’s journey and articulate user personas. Once you understand and
articulate target personas, you will have a much clearer picture of the real problem
your product is trying to solve, paving the way for a strong product strategy.

PRODUCT VISION AND GOALS

Have you ever thought about why some products succeed and some fail? A product
manager is responsible for the product’s success. This all begins with setting a vision
for the future where your stakeholders visualize how your product will improve your
customers’ lives. From there, you can begin to break down the specific goals you need
to accomplish to make this future a reality. That helps you set the vision and articulate
what a winning product looks like.

Visualizing and drawing the business is an important step in the process. In this
course, you will learn how to break your business down into pieces so that you can
carefully develop a winning strategy and focus on what matters. Keith Cowing will help
you visualize and draw the business, then identify the objectives and key results you
will rally the team to achieve.

Developing a Product Hypothesis and User Personas is required to be completed prior

to starting this course.

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4
COURSE
DESCRIPTIONS
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PRODUCT ROADMAPPING

You have defined clear goals and started to define a vision for your product. The
product manager now moves to answer a key question, “What do we build?” A product
manager needs to define a framework for prioritization; source ideas from relevant
customers, team members, and stakeholders; and make sound decisions. Then a
product manager can pull it together into a roadmap that defines what the team will
build and when.

In this course, you will learn the art of developing a compelling roadmap, which will
keep the team focused and align your stakeholders around the support you need. Keith
Cowing will guide you through the nuances of product management, help you define
a framework for feature prioritization, and walk you through key factors you need
to consider. He will also demonstrate how to skillfully navigate the organization and
present the roadmap to your team.

Developing a Product Hypothesis and User Personas and Product Vision and Goals are
required to be completed prior to starting this course.

PRODUCT PROTOTYPING

Now that you have built a compelling roadmap and told the story to generate support,
it’s time to design your product. This course addresses the question, “What should the
product look like?”

In this course, you will learn how to prototype, either by yourself or in partnership
with a product designer. What is meant by “codeless?” It means you will simulate
the product experience just well enough to get valuable feedback from potential
customers. You will also learn strategies for partnering effectively with design teams.
This will enable you to develop informed opinions about what the product should look
like and write a Product Requirements Document (PRD), unlocking the engineering
team. This is an exciting moment when you prepare to pivot from analysis and

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COURSE
DESCRIPTIONS
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planning to designing and building.

Developing a Product Hypothesis and User Personas, Product Vision and Goals, and
Product Roadmapping are required to be completed prior to starting this course.

PRODUCT ANALYTICS AND ITERATION

Once a codeless prototype is built, the product manager needs the ability to assess
the product and identify changes to the product roadmap that will fuel success. This
is a key area in the product management process, as you want to know how people
actually use the product. It’s about learning what is working and what is not working,
articulating the underlying reasons, and knowing if and when to change direction.

In this course, you will learn how to measure progress, validate or update product
hypotheses, and present product learnings. Keith Cowing will share that through data
and testing. You will gain the tools to make informed decisions. As you consider the
culture of your company, a common thread throughout your career, you will present
your product learnings and a case to approve or potentially change the course of your
product roadmap.

Developing a Product Hypothesis and User Personas, Product Vision and Goals,
Product Roadmapping, and Product Prototyping are required to be completed prior to
starting this course.

PRODUCT ENGINEERING AND EXECUTION

You made it this far learning what worked and what didn’t work, and presented
product learnings to your team. The case was made to approve or potentially change
the course of your product roadmap. The product manager now moves from analyzing
to actually building, to bring the product to launch.

In this course, you will learn to guide the engineering team on a day-to-day basis to

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work on the right things to produce results and ensure a successful product. You will
move fast to plan a sprint, write a user story/ticket, and work with engineering teams
and debug. This is the product manager’s mission. Are you ready?

Developing a Product Hypothesis and User Personas, Product Vision and Goals,
Product Roadmapping, Product Prototyping, and Product Analytics and Iteration are
required to be completed prior to starting this course.

Visit ecornell.cornell.edu