There are loads of great books out their for product managers, some very tactical and some thought provoking. Here’s a list of my favourites that I come back to again and again.
No affiliate links as I don’t know how to do that.
Badass: Making User’s Awesome
Kathy Sierra
Kathy Sierra’s beautiful book reminds us all that ‘Customer’s don’t buy your product, they want a better version of themselves’. If you are involved in the creation of any kind of product this is a reminder that your users and customers are trying to get shit done, and your product is there to help them be better at that. Full of thought provoking advice on how to structure the user’s journey to help them become better at the work they are trying to do.
Watch Kathy speak at Mind the Product if need you convincing before buying.
User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product
Jeff Patton
Masquerading as a book about a specific technique (which it is) Jeff Patton shows us how to work through the messy business of synthesising all the suggestions, ambitions, ideas and feedback that come together to make or develop a product and to bring focus back to helping the user achieve their goals.
User story mapping might just be the best book I’ve read for helping to make plans more clear, gain consensus and shared understanding between development teams and customers, and to unambiguously show what is in the next release and why.
Watch Jeff on Youtube to see him teach this technique in a class setting
Running Lean Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works
Ash Maurya
If you read the Lean Startup and were after some guidance on how to apply those principles in a more structured way than throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks, then this book is for you.
Ash Maurya’s Running Lean outlines an excellent framework for identifying and testing the biggest assumptions and risks hiding in your plans, and working to eliminate them or learn from them.
He proposes a process to identify a problem worth solving and to collaborate closely with customers as you iterate towards a solution that meets their needs. His lean canvas, based on the excellent Business Model Canvas provides an alternative way to quickly summarise a product plan and to work to identify the riskiest areas that needs addressing first.
Hooked – How to build habit forming products
Nir Eyal
Nir Eyal’s Hooked describes a model by which products become habits and proposes a process to make a product more habit forming.
You could argue that habit forming products are something that maybe we should be striving to avoid creating, but nonetheless this is an eye opening look at how some of the most popular apps of recent times have worked their way into our consciousness, and what keeps users coming back.
Crossing the Chasm – Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
Geoffrey Moore
Any oldie but a goodie, in Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moore teaches that the thing that made a product appeal to those early adopters is not necessarily going to help get more mainstream adoption.
He outlines a strategy to focus on a specific market and to become the defacto tool in that market before attempting to cross the chasm to more mainstream users in the same industry.
Required reading if you are aiming to build a product to serve a broad user base.
Turn the ship around! A true story of turning followers into leaders
David Marquet
Not about product management itself, but an excellent parable about leading a team to get the benefit of their collective knowledge and abilities. David Marquet was assigned the unenviable post of commanding the worst performing nuclear submarine in the US Navy. The story of how he lead his crew to become a team of leaders, not followers is accompanied by guidance on how to apply his principles to other organisations and teams.
Bonus Points
Confession, I have not yet got to these two, they’re on my reading list since so many people recommend them
Escaping the build trap
Melissa Perri
Having seen her talk at Agile on the Beach I know that Melissa has some great insights into how to focus your product management efforts on achieving great outcomes for customers, rather than focussing on shipping features.
Inspired – How to create tech products that people love
Marty Cagan
Given that Marty is referred to by many as the most influential person in the product space, I should have read his book by now. Frequently recommended by Product Managers everywhere so join me in adding it to your reading list
What have I missed, and which books have you added to your reading list recently?