Empower Your Product Team with Effective Product Management Tools
Tags: webdev
Published: 2023-02-13 10:37:56

With years of experience building innovative products for different industries we know how to determine the best toolset for each case. And today it’s product management tools that we’re talking about.

Product management is a vital part of modern business. It manages a company’s products and services from conception to delivery. Product managers need to be able to identify customer needs, design products and services, and oversee the production process to ensure that their products meet customer expectations.

Project management tools for software development help streamline the product management process and make it easier to monitor product performance and make decisions about product development.

Product management is a complex process encompassing many skills, from identifying customer needs and setting product goals to managing teams and analysing performance. Product managers need the right tools to ensure efficient and productive workflow.

With an increasing number of tools available in the market, it can take time to choose the best one.

In this article, we provide an overview of the top 9 product management tools for 2023 and explain their key features and benefits based on our experience.

## **What are product management tools?**
Product management tools are software solutions designed to help product managers plan, develop, and launch products. These tools can provide support with a variety of tasks, from customer research and requirements to project scheduling and collaboration.

## **Product management tools can:**

- streamline the product development process, allowing product managers to quickly identify areas of improvement and make changes to the product
- help product managers stay organised and on track with their product roadmap
- ensure that their products meet customer needs and expectations
- track product performance and gain insights into end-user needs.

## **Benefits of effective product management tools**

Over the years of experience, we have seen many cases where proper product management has become the product's main advantage that help companies increase competitive advantage by allowing them to develop and launch new products and services quickly, stay ahead of their competitors, and gain a larger market share. Furthermore, product management identifies new opportunities for growth and innovation, allowing them to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive in their industry.

## **Streamlining your workflow**
Using the right product management tools helps product managers streamline their workflow and make the most of their time. Streamlined workflows are more efficient, allowing product managers to complete tasks faster, ensure quality in less time, and help focus on the most critical tasks and ensure that projects stay on track.

## **Identifying and prioritising projects**
Product management tools can help product managers identify project objectives and prioritise tasks. These tools often allow product managers to create project plans and assign tasks to team members. They can also help track progress, deadlines, and other metrics to ensure that projects stay on track.

## **Managing collaboration and communication**
Product management tools can also help product managers manage collaboration and communication. Many tools provide features for managing team discussions, sharing files, and tracking changes. This can help product managers keep everyone on the same page and ensure everyone has the information they need to contribute.

## **Gaining end-user insights**
Product management tools can help product managers gain insights into end-user needs. These tools often include features for collecting customer feedback, conducting surveys, and using analytics to gain insights into how customers use a product. This data can be used to inform product decisions and improve the customer experience and provide valuable insights into customer motivations and preferences that can be used to inform product decisions.

## **Tracking product development progress**
Best product management tools can also help product managers track product development progress. As web app development services require tracking tasks, milestones, and deadlines, product management tools can also be used to monitor the progress of individual team members, allowing product managers to ensure that everyone is on track and that tasks are being completed on time. This can make it easier to identify where issues are occurring and take corrective action if necessary.

## **Analysing product performance and metrics**
Product management tools can help product managers analyse product strategy for startups, performance and metrics. These tools often include features for generating reports and visualising data to gain insights into product usage and customer feedback. This data can be used to inform decisions about future development.

## **Integrating automation into your workflows**
Automation can streamline processes, such as creating reports or sending notifications. This can help ensure that tasks are completed quickly and accurately, allowing product managers to focus on higher-value activities.

## **Top product management tools**

**Craft.io** - product management
Among the best product lifecycle management tools with integrated practices is Craft.io. Product managers can use it to manage every aspect of the lifecycle of their digital products, from feature definition and feedback gathering to prioritisation, capacity planning, road mapping, and portfolio management.

With this technology, product teams can establish a single source of truth to manage their data to produce customised roadmaps that are constantly up-to-date, seamlessly tie strategy to features and tell enthralling product stories.

## **Advantages:**

- 14 days of trial period
- Advanced roadmap views with objectives, key performance indicators, features, and more.
- Resource management to maximise team production while avoiding overworking or double booking resources.

## **Disadvantages:**

- Issues with paper trails
- Poor usability features
- Learning curve to the system and some of its tools.

## Aha! - roadmapping
Ana! is one of the best product management software tools that PMs frequently use for planning, tracking issues, and roadmapping. The user-friendly interface of this potent toolkit makes it simple to share features and priorities amongst departments. Despite the tool's wide capability, understanding how to tailor it to your team's needs may present the largest learning curve.

## **Advantages:**

- Effective marketing planning
- Customisation
- 30 days of trial

## Disadvantages:

- Limited notes features
- No time tracker and mind map

**Trello** - collaboration
Trello is a leading product management tool that helps teams collaborate and better manage tasks. Its user-friendly design makes it easy to organise projects into cards and move them through stages accordingly. With the help of Trello, business leaders can improve team communication, track progress in real-time, optimise workloads, and set clear standards for the entire organisation. It also offers an impressive level of customisation with due dates and labels to personalise each project according to individual team members or projects. Trello ensures that all team members have access to the same information at any given time so that everyone is on the same page when planning their next moves.

## **Advantages:**

- Mobile friendly
- Kanban systems

## **Disadvantages:**

- Hard to manage big projects
- Storage limit
- 14 days trial version for a Premium subscription, absence of any trial period for Standard
- Review of iterations

## Miro - visual collaboration platforms
Miro is a terrific tool for visualising and planning projects of any size because it has an endless canvas and no restrictions on the number of boards you may create. Teams can monitor project schedules and tasks on the main dashboard and instantly change their status.

Users can easily follow progress over time with Gantt charts, which offer an interactive timeline view of all tasks inside each project. Among product management roadmap tools, Miro enables to visualise product data with interactive graphs and obtain insights into the performance of their items using the tool's powerful analytics tools and keep track of all the tasks required for effective product development, from setting goals and performing user research to designing user interfaces and testing prototypes.

## **Advantages:**

- Excellent user experience
- Agile workflows
- Centralised communication
- Free subscription for standard enterprise plan but limited usage, and Full is unlimited and paid

## **Disadvantages:**

- Distribution of whiteboard in cross-account collaboration.

## Jira - software development management
Jira is one of the leading software product management tools today. From planning software development to undertaking customer service enquiries, Jira has advanced capabilities to handle almost any project easily. Its customisable user interface makes it easy for teams of all sizes to collaborate while ensuring maximum efficiency and accuracy.

With Jira's advanced reporting features, users can easily track project progress and optimise performance going forward. Engineers can work more productively by including information like pertinent software documentation in Jira cards. App developers can view project information including requirement documents, roadmaps, and process documentation in one location in addition to the task.

## **Advantages:**

- Kanban board
- Agile project management
- Reports and insights
- Integrations
- DevOps visibility
- 7-day free trial for Standard and Premium versions

## Disadvantages:

- Challenging setup
- Lack of communication features.

## ProductPlan - product roadmapping
Using a straightforward drag-and-drop editor, ProductPlan enables team collaboration on live roadmaps. You can change how your timelines, lists, tables, and portfolio layouts look and provide links to editable roadmaps to your stakeholders using ProductPlan, making it simple for them to examine your data without paying for the tool's use.

## **Advantages:**

- Organised workflow
- Simple user interface
- Integration with Jira
- Excellent roadmapping and visualisation
- 14 days of trial

## **Disadvantages:**

- Lack of tutorials
- Absence of workflow management and rollback feature

**Product Analytics: Types, Benefits and Use Cases**

## Productboard - product management
Productboard is a tool for product management that places a greater emphasis on consumer insights and strategy. The built-in customer focus in Productboard makes it a beneficial tool because keeping the customer in mind is a core competency of a product manager. It makes it easier for teams to work on a roadmap, prioritise features based on customer demands, and better understand customers through insights.

## **Advantages:**

- Progress tracking
- Roadmap management
- Gathering of insights
- 15 days of trial

## **Disadvantages:**

- Absence of integrations
- Lack of export features

## Wrike - all-in-one product management
Wrike aids in the organisation and communication of teams working under product managers. With the help of this all-inclusive solution, product managers can manage every aspect of workflow in one location, from planning to execution.

These include budget tracking, resource allocation, project timelines, and task tracking. Users can effortlessly manage several projects at once, guarantee that work is done on schedule and within their intended budget, and see from above how much work each team member has contributed, how tasks are allocated, and who is in charge of what.

## **Advantages:**

- Tracking
- Organisation
- Transparency
- Collaboration with external partners
- 14 days of trial period

## **Disadvantages:**

Absence of integrations with other platforms
Lack of “How to-” videos for easier implementation
Monday.com - project management
Monday.com is a practical, highly scalable, and adaptable product management system that enables teams to work together on management, backlogs, roadmaps, iterations, sprints, and automation. Its usability makes adoption simple for any team member.

From weekly iterations to broad product roadmaps, Monday.com assists teams in defining clear ownership, tracking and analysing their work, managing sprints, and collaborating. It offers task dependencies, milestones, Gantt and Kanban views, and project analysis.

## **Advantages:**

- 24/7 support, webinars on how to use the platform
- Autosaving
- Integrations with other platforms
- Coordination and organisation
- Time management
- 14 days of trial for any subscription

## **Disadvantages:**

Using these product management tools can help streamline your business operations and improve efficiency. By automating mundane tasks, you can free up time to focus on more critical tasks and make better decisions. Additionally, these tools can help you gain valuable insights into customer behaviour and market trends, allowing you to make more informed decisions and optimise your product offerings.

## **How to choose the right product management tool for your business?**

To choose the right tool for specific needs you need to ask yourself the right questions. We've shared our list, that helps us to find the most efficient tool for every project. Check them out.

## **What do I want to achieve with this tool?**
Not all tools are created equal, so take the time to evaluate each tool’s features to ensure that it meets your needs. At this point the hardest is to eliminate great tools, that just not right for you.

Does this tool provide integrations with other systems?
Product managers should access the data they need in one place. These include project planning capabilities such as task tracking, customer feedback loops, analytics capabilities, integration options with other software programs, and scalability options.

## **What is the level of support offered by the product management tool? Do the tool offer encryption and other security measures to protect your data?**
Look for tools that offer secure data storage, encryption, and access control features to ensure that only authorised users can access the data. Additionally, look for tools that offer automated backups and disaster recovery options to ensure your data is safe and secure.

## **Does the tool offer customer service and technical support? Are tutorials and other resources available to help you get the most out of the tool?**
Consider the customer support offered by the product management tool. Access to customer support can be invaluable when troubleshooting and resolving any issues.

Does the tool provide a trial version before subscription?
Check out what it offers to take advantage of a free trial before committing. This way, you can test the features and determine whether or not it fits their needs. Additionally, if the pricing plans are flexible and diverse, customers can find the best work for them.

## **Is the tool easy to use and maintain?**
Look for an intuitive and easy tool so your team can quickly learn how to use it and start managing your products efficiently. Consider the implementation process when selecting a product management tool. Understanding the timeline for implementation, the resources required, and the available training and support options are essential.

## **Does the tool offer features that will help you grow your business over time?**
The tool should scale with the organisation's needs to grow and evolve as it does.

Choosing the right tool for your needs ensures that your workflow is efficient and productive. Finally, businesses should consider the long-term viability of the product management tool and ensure that it will be able to meet their needs in the future.

## **Final thoughts**
Choosing the right product management tool is essential for any business. It’s important to consider factors such as user experience, scalability options, customer support options, cost considerations, and integration options when selecting a product management tool. Additionally, it’s important to consider customer feedback and reviews when evaluating different tools.

By carefully reviewing the options available and making a well-informed choice of product management tools, it allows you to concentrate more closely on delivering an outstanding product and providing a top-quality customer service experience.

Companies should carefully select a product management tool that meets their specific needs to maximise effectiveness.

Taking such an informed, tailored approach can make all the difference between success and failure.

## **FAQs**

## 1. What are product management tools and why are they important?
Product management tools are software applications designed to help businesses manage and organise their product development and lifecycle processes. These tools offer various capabilities, including requirements management, issue tracking, feature request management, customer feedback analysis, project management, and release management. They are important because they provide a centralised platform for teams to collaborate, streamline workflows, and make data-driven decisions.

## 2. What features should I look for in a product management tool?
Some key features to look for in a product management tool include project management capabilities, user feedback management, product roadmap creation and management, and data analytics and reporting.

## 3. Can product management tools be used by small businesses and startups?
Yes, product management tools can be used by businesses of all sizes, including small businesses and startups. There are many affordable and user-friendly options available that are specifically designed for smaller teams.

## 4. What are some popular product management tools currently available on the market?
Some popular product management tools include Asana, Trello, Monday.com, and Jira. It's essential to evaluate your business needs and choose a tool that best meets them.