In Product Management, defining what a product is—and what it is not—is crucial. People often confuse products with systems, components, or services. At its core, however, a product is a solution to a customer’s problem or need, delivered in a way that provides value.
What Defines a Product?
A product is a solution that creates customer value. It can take many forms, often consisting of multiple systems, services, or sub-products. However, the defining characteristic is that it addresses a specific customer problem or need.
For example, an iOS app is not a product if it is part of a broader solution also delivered through an Android app. These apps collectively solve the same problem for the customer, making them part of the same product. The focus must be on the solution provided to the customer, not the platform used.
A product is a business idea or offering that can be sold or delivered to customers. It provides value by solving a problem. A well-defined product also has measurable outcomes that indicate its success, such as revenue generation, cost savings, or improvements in customer satisfaction.
A product’s value should be measurable, it is preferable if it is directly tied to revenue. But other common ways to evaluate a product’s success is to use KPIs like increased user satisfaction or efficiency or other ways to track the product’s progress and performance.
Every product should have:
- A Vision: The long-term goal or ambition for the product.
- A Mission: The product’s purpose and how it creates value for customers.
- A Strategy: The steps needed to achieve the vision and mission.
The Product Manager (PM) is responsible for defining and driving these elements, ensuring the product solves the right problems and stays aligned with customer needs.
A product can serve multiple types of customers:
- End Users: The people or organizations who use the product directly.
- Internal Customers: Teams within the organization that benefit from the product. For example, a platform used by multiple teams to simplify workflows.
For internal products, it’s important to have well-defined interfaces (e.g., APIs) and clear documentation. In some cases, it may be more efficient to sort of buy a solution from an internal team rather than build it independently.
Defining a Product
Defining a product can be challenging, especially in complex organizations. Start by focusing on the customer perspective, what problem are we solving? While it’s tempting to split responsibilities or create rigid boundaries, remember that definitions will often need to evolve as the product matures and as you learn more of what works and what not. The goal should always be to reduce dependencies and create clear ownership.
A successful product requires a dedicated team that takes long-term ownership and deeply understands the customer’s needs. The team must collaborate across systems, components, and platforms to deliver a cohesive solution. Ultimately, a product is only as strong as the team driving it.
Case – PO for Radio player
Some time ago, I joined an organization as a Product Owner. There were four defined products split across two teams that I would be working with. It was a radio player with the products defined as the iOS app, the Android app, the web app, and the Open API. The teams were also divided by technical focus, with most competencies centered on specific technologies they worked with, even within the same team. A classic example of component teams. The technology choices were shaped by the available expertise and organizational structure, resulting in different technologies being used for different platforms. Each platform had its own codebase, meaning the same functionality for a customer had to be built in three different places. This led to an inconsistent user experience depending on which platform the customer used.
When we researched what our customers wanted, three main needs emerged, staying updated with the latest news, listening to the fantastic podcasts we produced, and enjoying live radio. Many of our customers would use multiple platforms for listening, often within the same session or at least on the same day.
The new products we began designing aimed to address these needs, podcast listening, news consumption, and live radio streaming. Additionally, there were several shared features that we categorized as internal products.
In this organization, however, some prerequisites were missing to immediately launch dedicated teams for these new product areas. As a result, we had to take a phased approach. We started by consolidating everything into one product to spread knowledge and modernize the tech stack. This laid the groundwork for eventually forming dedicated teams around the new product areas.
Conclusion
In Product Management, a product is more than just a collection of systems or components—it’s a solution that delivers value by addressing a customer problem. By focusing on measurable outcomes, building a clear vision, and aligning the product with customer needs, Product Managers can create long-term impact.