Empower Your Product Team with Effective Product Management Tools

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 multifaceted process that requires expertise in various areas, such as customer needs analysis, product goals formulation, team management, and performance analysis. The correct tools are necessary for product managers to enable effective 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 that help managers plan, develop, and launch products. These tools can support a range of tasks, including project planning and teamwork, as well as client requirements and market research.

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 numerous instances where effective product management has become the product's key competitive advantage, enabling businesses to gain a competitive edge by quickly developing and launching new products and services, beating out the competition, and capturing a larger market share. Also, product management spots fresh chances for development and innovation, enabling them to stay ahead of the curve and compete in their sector.

Streamlining your workflow

Product managers may optimize their workflow and make the most of their time by utilizing the appropriate product management solutions. Product managers may perform activities more quickly, guarantee quality in less time, and help focus on the most important tasks to keep projects on track with the support of more efficient workflows.

Identifying and prioritising projects

Product managers can set project objectives and prioritise tasks using product management technologies. Product managers can frequently use these tools to make project plans and assign tasks to team members. To keep projects on schedule, they can also assist with tracking progress, deadlines, and other indicators.

Managing collaboration and communication

Product managers may manage collaboration and communication with product management technologies. Numerous solutions are available for coordinating team discussions, sharing files, and tracking changes. Product managers can use this to verify that everyone is on the same page and has the knowledge necessary to contribute.

Gaining end-user insights

Product managers may learn more about the needs of end users with the aid of product management technologies. These solutions frequently have functions for surveying users, gathering feedback, and employing analytics to learn more about how people interact with a product. This data can improve customer experience, guide product decisions, and provide important insights into customer motivations and preferences.

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 simplify locating problem areas and, if necessary, taking corrective movement.

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

Processes like producing reports or notifying recipients can be automated. This can ensure that work is done efficiently and accurately, freeing up product managers to concentrate on higher-value jobs.

Top product management tools

Craft.io - product management

Craft.io is one of the top systems for product lifecycle management with integrated practices. From feature definition and feedback collection through prioritization, capacity planning, road mapping, and portfolio management, product managers may use it to manage every element of the lifespan of their digital products.

With this technology, product teams can create a single point of truth for managing their data, create customized roadmaps that are always up to date, seamlessly connect strategy to features, and deliver captivating 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. Projects can be easily organized into cards and progressed through phases thanks to its user-friendly interface. Business leaders can enhance team communication, monitor progress in real-time, streamline workloads, and establish clear standards for the entire organization with the aid of Trello.

It also offers a remarkable degree of customization, allowing users to add labels and due dates to each project to tailor it to the needs of specific team members or projects. Trello ensures that everyone on the team always has access to the same data to plan their next steps together.

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.

With Gantt charts, which provide an interactive chronological view of all tasks inside each project, users can quickly watch progress over time. When it comes to product management roadmap tools, Miro gives users the ability to visualize product data with interactive graphs, get insights into the performance of their products using the tool's robust analytics features, and keep track of all the tasks necessary for successful product development, from setting objectives and conducting 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. Teams of different sizes may interact easily while still achieving the highest accuracy and efficiency thanks to its customizable user interface.

Users of Jira may quickly monitor project progress and improve performance in the future thanks to the platform's sophisticated reporting options. Engineers can work more efficiently by integrating information like important software documentation in Jira cards. Along with the job, app developers may examine project data in one place, including requirement documents, roadmaps, and process documentation.

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

Read also: 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 simplifies for teams to develop a roadmap, prioritize features following customer needs, and gain deeper insights into customers.

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.

They comprise task monitoring, resource management, project schedules, and budget tracking. Users can easily manage many projects at once, ensure that work is completed on time and within their planned budget, and view the amount of work each team member has produced, how tasks are assigned, and who is in charge of what from above.

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.

Monday.com supports teams in defining clear ownership, tracking and analyzing their work, organizing sprints, and communicating on everything from weekly iterations to broad product roadmaps. It provides project analysis, Gantt and Kanban views, task dependencies, and milestones.

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:

• Lack of live support by person

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.

Read also: Top Product Management Frameworks for 2023

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, which 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, eliminating great tools that are not right for you is the hardest.

• Does this tool provide integrations with other systems?

Product managers ought to have easy access to the information they require. They include features for project planning, including task tracking, customer feedback loops, analytical capabilities, alternatives for software integration, and scalability.

• What is the level of support offered by the product management tool? Does 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?

Before deciding, take advantage of the free trial to learn more about its offer. Doing so lets you test the features and see if they meet their needs. Also, clients can pick the finest work for them if the pricing options are broad and varied.

• Is the tool easy to use and maintain?

Choose a tool that is simple and intuitive so that your staff can rapidly become proficient with it and begin managing your items effectively. While choosing a product management tool, take the implementation procedure into account. It's crucial to comprehend the implementation schedule, the resources needed, and the possibilities for training and assistance.

• Does the tool offer feature to 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 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.

You may focus more intently on delivering a remarkable product and offering a top-notch customer service experience by carefully considering the options available and making an informed choice of product management solutions.

To maximize success, businesses should choose a product management technology that suits their unique requirements.

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.