Building a tech product is a journey that requires a number of people to contribute, from the inception of its idea to delivery of the product to the customer. While some of the roles are quite common, there are a few things you might not know.
A product owner represents the interests of the business and the user community. The product owner is responsible for determining the features that come into play with a product release.
He acts as a liaison between the technical team and the customer base. The product owner must have a very clear understanding of the requirements the product can fulfill. At the same time, they know what kinds of business users would make use of the features.
The product owner conveys and prioritizes the features or business requirements to a team of developers. This ensures that the team knows what story to work on during any given stage of the product cycle.
A technical product manager, commonly called a PM, has a strong base when it comes to the technical details. The PMs usually head product management teams, in between the business and engineering. Their main responsibility is to identify the features of a product prior to its release. Then, they must ensure that all is well on the product side of software development. He or she works closely with the development and testing engineers.
They might have to assign roles and tasks, or act as a subject matter expert whenever the situation calls for it. The agile product managers coordinate the UI/UX, prepare user stories for the development team, groom the board, and set deadlines. Sometimes they work with third parties for API integration, or evaluate tech framework options.
They give the team a clear idea about the features at play, and what the user expects from these features. Their collaboration with the marketing and sales can help the team exceed any expectations of the user.
A brand designer and graphic designer are similar roles that go hand in hand. A brand designer has expertise in the field of branding and copy. He or she understands the kind of design that can convey your brand's mission to customers. They assess a brand thoroughly, and create an image that allows your brand to resonate with the end-users.
Their responsibilities revolve around visualizing products to people in the way that the company wants to convey its message. It also involves the analysis of the brand and target customers.
A graphic designer decides everything from logos to a design palette. They ensure that the product appeals to the customer, after taking input from the brand designer. Often, a graphic designer also doubles as a brand designer.
An information architect essentially provides users with a positive experience. They do this by ensuring that the Web application and Web sites have a suitable information structure. They identify the requirements and analyze users' needs and preferences, including categorization and consumption of data.
Information architects also prepare paper and interactive models and coordinate between the web developer and the production team. They translate the user's general behavior into media structures and craft an interactive wholesome experience.
A tech architect is a crucial role that involves functionality design. They oversee the development and overall implementation of programs. In addition, they provide the necessary technical know-how and leadership to the software development teams.
Tech architects oversee the system specs and design a technology solution. Then, they convey it to the development team and solve problems when they turn up.
UX and UI designers focus on the user experience and user interface respectively. UX focuses on presenting something to a user, determining the way people interact with it, and how it works. Specifically, UX designers develop a number of flows that go logically from one point to another.
On the other hand, UI focuses on the visual appeal of the product. The UI designers define the look and layout to communicate the UX flow to the end-user in an appealing way. Without these tech product development roles, you could end up with a product that nobody wants or knows how to use.
A software developer aids in creating and advancing your product from software and program perspective. This is a key tech product development role. They ensure the smooth transition between the technical and design aspects so that it meets the needs of the end-user.
A software project manager supervises the project from beginning to end, giving technical guidance to the development team. They oversee the product and people, resolve problems, and ensure that realistic deadlines are set and met for product delivery.
A quality assurance engineer is a must in every product. Their role involves creating a well-structured plan to test any software or product with test cases.
They review the specifications and design documents, provide feedback, and coordinate with the development team. Therefore, they ensure that the team delivers zero defect products.
The DevOps culture was a dynamic shift in the technological community that raised the bar in terms of communication, collaboration, and the relation between the development and operations teams. It is a highly challenging role that covers coding, scripting, deployment automation, and version control.
Also, they unit test their code. When they push it, DevOps engineers make sure that the product has fewer defects at the testing stage. They are prone to very challenging environments and must be adept at handling change.
These are just a few of the major roles involved in building a great tech product. Only the seamless integration between the tech product development roles can dish out a successful end product. When all roles are in sync, the end product will meet business requirements and gives you a large number of satisfied customers.
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