There are many different ways of doing product management. We all know that. One might say that there are many ways as product managers out there, and this is often the case. After all, we are all different and we have different approaches to different situations. Some PMs are more technical. Others focus on the business side of things.

产品管理有许多不同的方法。 我们都知道。 也许有人会说，作为产品经理，有很多方法，通常就是这种情况。 毕竟，我们都是不同的，对于不同的情况我们有不同的方法。 一些PM更具技术性。 其他人则专注于事物的业务方面。

Different types of products will require PMs with different skill sets. However, in my opinion, there is one key aspect that is not quite covered by the available literature. And we are not talking about the market of the industry, but if the product was formulated internally or externally.

不同类型的产品将需要具有不同技能的P​​M。 但是，我认为，有一个关键方面尚未被现有文献所涵盖。 我们谈论的不是行业市场， 而是产品是内部制定还是外部制定。

What do I mean by that?

那是什么意思

Well, are you building a product for yourself (your company) or an external client? This is going to determine if your practice is product-based or project-based. And believe me, they are different. Very different.

那么，您是在为自己(您的公司)还是外部客户开发产品？ 这将确定您的实践是基于产品还是基于项目。 相信我，他们是不同的。 非常不一样。

基于项目的产品管理 (Project-based product management)

Let’s start with the “project-based” way of doing product management. As you probably have guessed, they revolve around a project. A PM working in a software factory would be the perfect example of this.

让我们从进行产品管理的“基于项目”的方法开始。 您可能已经猜到了，它们围绕着一个项目。 在软件工厂工作的PM就是一个很好的例子。

Usually, the product manager has an external client that requires a digital product (although it could be any type of product) and hires the software factory to build that product for them. The job is to understand the client’s pain points and through an elicitation process come up with a series of requirements that will guide the development.

通常，产品经理有一个需要数字产品的外部客户(尽管它可以是任何类型的产品)，并雇用软件工厂为其构建产品。 工作是了解客户的痛点，并通过启发过程提出一系列指导开发的要求。

It could be the case that the primary user of the product is not your client, but your client’s employees or customers. In this case, product managers will be required to meet the client’s demands, factoring in the needs of the end-user.

产品的主要用户可能不是您的客户，而是客户的雇员或客户。 在这种情况下，将需要产品经理来满足客户的需求，并考虑到最终用户的需求。

For instance, creating an “ordering” app for a restaurant (the classic software product management example). The restaurant owner might have numerous requirements concerning the payment methods and the ordering process. But how the customers, or end-users in this scenario, interact with the app should be taken into consideration too.

例如，为餐厅创建一个“订购”应用程序(经典软件产品管理示例)。 餐馆老板可能对付款方式和订购过程有很多要求。 但是，在这种情况下，客户或最终用户与应用程序交互的方式也应予以考虑。

The team has complete ownership of the “how”, but has to agree with the clients on the “when” and adjust the “what” (scope) accordingly. This is not to be mistaken for project management. Product people focus on adding value. In this case, it isn’t about doing what the client wants, but working on solutions that cover what the client actually needs to achieve his or her goals.

团队拥有“ 方式 ”的完全所有权，但必须与客户就“何时”达成一致，并相应地调整“什么” (范围)。 这绝对不能误认为是项目管理。 产品人员专注于增加价值。 在这种情况下，这不是要做客户想要的事情，而是要研究解决方案，以涵盖客户实现其目标的实际需求。

I don’t want to get into too many details, the key point here is that, in the stakeholder/end-user continuum, project-based practices tend to focus on the stakeholders’ satisfaction.

我不想涉及太多细节，关键是在利益相关者/最终用户的连续性中， 基于项目的实践往往关注利益相关者的满意度。

A product manager’ success will be determined by how well met were the client’s needs and how well managed were his expectations. This doesn’t mean that the end-user doesn’t matter. On the contrary, they play a very important role towards solving the client’s problem and have to be taken into account to figure out the best way to add value.

产品经理的成功将取决于客户需求的满足程度和期望的管理程度。 这并不意味着最终用户没有关系。 相反，它们对于解决客户的问题起着非常重要的作用，因此必须加以考虑以找出增加价值的最佳方法。

基于产品的产品管理 (Product-based product management)

On the other hand, we have what I would call “a product-based product management practice” (I know, kinda redundant, but bear with me). In this case, the practice is focused on the product itself, its cycle, and its sustainability in the long run. This is the case of product managers working in companies that own the product. For example, most of the product people working at FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) like companies.

另一方面，我们有所谓的“基于产品的产品管理实践” (我知道，这有点多余，但请耐心等待)。 在这种情况下，实践的重点是产品本身，产品周期以及长期的可持续性。 在拥有产品的公司中工作的产品经理就是这种情况。 例如，在FANG工作的大多数产品人员(Facebook，Amazon，Netflix和Google)都喜欢公司。

What are the differences?

有什么区别？

For starters, the requirement elicitation process is completely different. Since you don’t have “a client” but thousands and thousands of users, the approach of discovering the pain points requires different skills and tools. Identifying the opportunities that add value requires a blend of quantitative and qualitative research and analysis.

对于初学者来说，需求启发过程是完全不同的。 由于您没有“客户”，而是成千上万的用户，因此发现痛点的方法需要不同的技能和工具。 识别增值机会需要将定量和定性研究与分析相结合。

“You have to become obsessed with the user”. Well, not actually to THAT extent, but product managers need to fully understand his user and guide the development based on how the team can deliver the most value to it, fast.

“您必须沉迷于用户”。 嗯，实际上并没有达到那种程度，但是产品经理需要充分了解他的用户并根据团队如何快速为其带来最大价值来指导开发。

Also, the way of measuring how well the product development is going is different in this case. User satisfaction, user retention, and new sign-ups are a few of the metrics that help product people to identify the right path into building a great product.

同样，在这种情况下，衡量产品开发进展情况的方式也有所不同。 用户满意度，用户保留率和新注册人数是帮助产品开发人员确定构建优质产品的正确途径的一些指标。

Moreover, how the product is going to be released or the “release plan” is different. Releases and deadlines are defined internally. This means that the “when” is ultimately decided by the product team based on the input provided by stakeholders. The concept of “time to market” is key here. This is why it is encouraged to release soon and often.

此外，产品将如何发布或“发布计划”是不同的。 发布和截止日期在内部定义。 这意味着“何时”最终由产品团队根据利益相关者提供的输入来决定。 “上市时间”的概念在这里至关重要。 这就是为什么鼓励它尽快且经常发布。

However, I don’t want to get carried away. Going back to the stakeholder/end-user continuum, product-based practices tend to focus on the end user’s satisfaction.

但是，我不想被迷住。 回到利益相关者/最终用户的连续体 ， 基于产品的实践倾向于将重点放在最终用户的满意度上。

In this case, a product manager’ success will be determined by how well the product does with the users. Great products are loved by their users and are sustainable from an economic point of view.

在这种情况下，产品经理的成功将取决于产品在用户中的表现。 优质的产品受到其用户的喜爱，并且从经济角度来看是可持续的。

这对产品经理意味着什么？ (What does all of this mean for Product Managers?)

A lot. Since both types of practices approach the management of the product from different angles, product managers have to have appropriate skills and tools for each case. Moreover, the “rhythm” and the tasks performed will often be different.

很多。 由于两种类型的实践都从不同的角度对产品进行管理，因此产品经理必须针对每种情况具有适当的技能和工具。 此外， “节奏”和执行的任务通常会有所不同。

This isn’t your typical “one size fits them all” and I believe that is important to know this beforehand to have the right mindset and start (or at least try to start) with the right foot.

这不是您通常的“一种尺寸能适合所有人” ，我认为事先了解正确的心态并以右脚开始(或至少尝试开始)很重要。

By no means I’m saying that product managers with years of experiences building project-based products cannot excel at a product-based practice, or vice-versa. Ultimately, the goal is the same: add value and build actually useful products. However, as well as there are differences associated with the industry, who you’re building the product for is a very important factor to be aware of.

我绝不是说具有多年构建基于项目的产品经验的产品经理不能擅长基于产品的实践，反之亦然。 最终， 目标是相同的：增加价值并构建实际有用的产品。 但是，与行业相关的还有差异，要为谁制造产品是要意识到的一个非常重要的因素。