Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) #

End-to-end management of a digital product’s lifecycle, from discovery and development through launch, adoption, and growth.

Subdomains #

These subdomains represent common areas of product work. Their scope and emphasis may vary based on product type (e.g. SaaS), customer type (B2B, B2C), and customer segment.

1. Discovery & Strategy #

User research & insights
Problem definition
Product vision & principles
Market & competitive analysis
Opportunity sizing

2. Product Development #

Product management
Product design (UX/UI)
Engineering collaboration
Requirements & prioritization
Roadmapping & delivery planning

3. Go-To-Market & Launch #

Go-to-market (GTM) strategy
Positioning & messaging
Launch planning & coordination
Version releases & rollouts
Internal enablement (sales, support)

4. User Education & Enablement #

User onboarding
Feature announcements
In-product education (tooltips, walkthroughs)
Documentation & tutorials
Change management

5. Adoption & Growth #

Activation & adoption metrics
Feature usage & engagement
Experimentation & A/B testing
Lifecycle communication
Retention & expansion

6. Iteration & Optimization #

Feedback loops (qualitative & quantitative)
Metrics, KPIs & insights
Continuous improvement
Technical debt & refinement
Deprecation & sunset planning

Resources #

https://strategyn.com/jobs-to-be-done/ — Outcome-driven innovation & JTBD theory
https://www.strategyzer.com/library/the-value-proposition-canvas
https://www.hyperact.co.uk/blog/product-development-blueprint
https://www.wardleymaps.com/
Positioning a product
https://cloud.google.com/transform/unlocking-product-success-by-combining-dora-and-heart
https://productschool.com/blog/product-strategy/lean-product-management-glassbox