Product Management: Elevate
Online
12 weeks, part-time
21 Feb 2022 - 11 May 2022
Course overview
Complement your existing professional expertise and boost your career with in-demand skills in Product Management.
Product Managers are the highest paid roles in the tech industry*. Integral to an organisation’s success, the demand for skilled Product Managers is exponential, with thousands of roles available in any given month.
Designed for digital professionals, this online course will equip you with the latest frameworks and techniques so you can be a strong all-rounder: able to understand users and market, define and articulate a product vision, simplify and prioritise the design phase, execute and optimise the market launch and its results.
Industry-approved content:
- Premium material built in-house, with inputs from industry experts working at MYOB, PwC and Deloitte
- 60-80 hours of course content and activities over 12 weeks
- Understand what your customers really want, and ship better designed and higher performing products
- Dual focus on both product strategy and day-to-day product management skills
- Gain the leadership and persuasion skills expected of today’s Product Managers
- Hear real battle stories, case studies and tips from practising Product Managers
The best way to learn is by doing:
- Get practical experience that you can immediately use in your job
- Complete hands-on activities in each module
- Build your product backlog in Jira, create user stories and complete a simulated Agile sprint challenge
- Challenge 1: Improve an existing real-world product based on a scenario and real usage data
- Challenge 2: Create a product strategy for a new digital product of your choice
A highly supported experience:
- Fortnightly mentor-led live video sessions, conveniently held after work hours to facilitate discussions, unpack challenges and bring the content to life
- Two 1:1 mentor sessions for tailored support, available on demand
- Entire teams dedicated to support your learning and progress
- Set deadlines to keep you motivated and on track, while allowing for flexibility in pacing your weekly activities
A social and collaborative learning environment:
- Access course content through our easy-to-use and interactive online learning platform which encourages peer engagement
- Be part of a cohort that will motivate and spur you to extend yourself professionally
- Grow together, share ideas, and build a strong network with our community of passionate, like-minded individuals
Earn trusted and recognised credentials:
- Get a Certificate of Completion to validate your competencies and skills in Product Management
- Add an industry trusted digital credential to your LinkedIn profile
*source: 2017 State of Global Tech Salaries, Hired
Course timeframe
This course takes approximately 60-80 hours. This timeframe includes absorbing the learning materials, attending live video sessions, completing the course activities, completing your assessments, developing and presenting your product strategy, and communicating with your peers and mentor.
This course is to be completed in 12 weeks. However, you’ll continue to enjoy 6 months access to the course content from the time of enrolment.
What you'll learn
Investigate the first stage of any successful product – identifying opportunities. Strategically understand the organisation, its goals and where it fits in the marketplace. Analyse existing products, finding opportunities for improvement and understanding what makes a great product.
TOPICS
- Who are you?
- What are you trying to do?
- Where do you fit?
- Analysing existing products
- Creating great products
- Opportunity hypothesis
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Strategically understand the organisation
- Analyse existing products and customer data
- Create an opportunity hypothesis
Examine methods of validating your opportunity hypothesis, along with working to define and communicate your product vision, product requirements and high-level strategy.
TOPICS
- Basic user research
- Personas & journey maps
- User scenarios
- Financial modelling
- Analysing risk
- Defining product requirements
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Create a basic lean canvas
- Validate your opportunity hypothesis
- Define objectives/KPIs
- Create a product vision & high-level roadmap
Explore how products are designed using Human-Centred Design (HCD) principles. Specifically, you will go through the process of a Google Design Sprint (Understand, Define, Sketch, Decide, Prototype, Validate).
TOPICS
- Designing Digital Products
- Design Roles and Processes
- Defining Product Requirements
- The Customer Journey
- User Scenarios
- Google Design Sprints
- UX and Usability
- Low Fidelity Concepts & Wireframes
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Create a ‘lean’ product requirement document (PRD)
- Simulate a micro design sprint
- Create a customer journey & user scenarios
- Create a ‘Back of the Napkin’ Low Fidelity Concept
The first of a 2-module section centered around product development in a digital team, you will look at applying the Agile Scrum methodology to product development and use Jira to create roadmaps, product backlogs and sprint boards.
TOPICS
- Developing digital products
Product Development methodologies - Building an MVP
- Using Jira
- Acceptance Criteria + The Definition of Done
- The Backlog, Prioritisation and Refinement
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Create a delivery plan
- Design a roadmap & product backlog in Jira
The second of the 2-module section centered around product development, you will focus on working with remote and on-site tech teams, technical literacy & concepts for product managers, along with the quality assurance (QA) and deployment process.
TOPICS
- Working with Tech teams
- Working with Remote teams
- Tech concepts for product managers
- Backlog prioritisation & refinement
- Quality Assurance (QA)
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Retrospectives & release
- Deployment
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Complete an Agile Sprint simulation challenge
This module is centered around your product’s go-to-market strategy. This includes developing your strategy for messaging, channels, audience, tactics, along with planning your pre-launch phase.
TOPICS
- Customer lifecycle
- Behavioural psychology
- Marketing strategy
- Marketing channels
- Product messaging
- A/B testing
- Betas and limited roll outs
- Client onboarding & training
- Launching your products
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Complete a micro go-to-market strategy
Discover how to manage products post-launch with an important focus on evaluation of the overall process from measuring success through to dealing with customer complaints, as well as looking ahead to improving the product.
TOPICS
- Measuring success
- Using analytics and data
- Post-launch planning
- Continuous improvement
- Building customer relationships
- Customer support
- Dealing with negative feedback & complaints
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Complete post-launch scenario challenges
Circling back to Weeks 2 & 3 with a deeper focus on more advanced topics. You will be applying your strategic knowledge to ideating new products rather than iterating and improving on existing ones.
TOPICS
- Investigating market trends & gaps
- Generative & evaluative research
- Recruiting users for research
- Interviewing skills
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Complete initial research for a new product of your choice
Time to cover a number of technical, financial and quantitative skills that are relevant to Product Managers.
TOPICS
- Financial modelling
- Managing budgets
- Analysing data
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Continue with the strategy development for your new product
Learn how to lead and influence stakeholders to ensure your product is set up for success. Tapping into emotional intelligence and leveraging powers of persuasion are often how you will get things done, rather than via direct hierarchical power from your position.
TOPICS
- Leadership skills
- Cross-team collaboration
- Stakeholder management
- Product Storytelling
- Presentation Skills
- How to future-proof yourself as a Product Manager
- How to land a Product Manager job
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- Start preparing a presentation about your strategy & new product
- Present your strategy to the group during your live session in Week 12
- Receive structured feedback from your mentor
Please note some topics and activities are subject to change, based on continuous improvements suggested by our industry expert consultants.
Who this course is for
Designed for ambitious students, ideally with existing experience and knowledge from working in digital team environments. Our Product Management: Elevate course is ideal for a variety of professionals, including:
- Product Managers who were never formally trained and would like to fill knowledge gaps
- Traditional Product Managers looking to get up-to-date with the latest digital product management terminology, processes and cloud-based tools
- Junior or Associate Product Managers seeking a promotion
- Product or digital team members (product owners, developers, UX or SD designers) looking to gain strategic skills to step up into a PM role
- Entrepreneurs wanting to develop and/or launch their own digital products.
Earn a digital credential
We partner with Credly to deliver digital credentials for our graduates. Digital credentials are a graphical representation of your skills, combined with a description of the knowledge and activities it took to earn them.
Digital badges can be used in email signatures or digital resumes, and on social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
For more info, click here.
Student portfolios
Check out our students’ personal projects as they showcase what they are passionate about.
ROCIO SANTOS
Our students' success stories
Academy Xi has a 4.2 score out of 5, rated by 2306 students.
“Thank you Academy Xi for successfully helping me to achieve my new career/future.”
Kerry Dawson
I can highly recommend Academy Xi and have become a massive fan of what they are achieving. The advice I would give to anyone thinking about taking the leap and changing their career/life is: your attitude will determine your outcome. If you go in with an open mind and positive determination you will succeed. Thank you Academy Xi for successfully helping me to achieve my new career/future.
“Academy Xi gave me the training I wanted; the discomfort zone I needed, and a family I never expected!”
Dennii Lee Stanbridge
Academy Xi gave me the training I wanted; the discomfort zone I needed, and a family I never expected! I wouldn't be where I am without the Academy Xi tribe putting me in the firing line of opportunities I may not have dared for myself. Be prepared to work hard. Accept and push through the moments of uncertainty, doubt and overwhelm. Surrender to and trust the process.
“The courses were an adventure and investment in my development”
Lurnea Simmons
Always friendly and welcoming! The community at Academy Xi and the environment they create for learning and expanding your horizons is exactly what is needed when you are looking to gain new skills. The courses were an adventure and investment in my development I'll always value and have gained immensely from.
“Academy Xi helped me overcome education paradigms”
Rocio Santos
When you’re new in a city like I was, you’d normally have to put a lot of extra effort in traditional education. Academy Xi helped me overcome education paradigms. They’ve provided me with knowledge, a network and gave me great industry insights. I am very grateful to be an Alumni.
“gained real-world exposure of what it’s like to be a Product Manager”
Alexandra Lee
Thanks to the mentorship from experienced professionals, I’ve been able to work in Product Management and gained real-world exposure of what it’s like to be a Product Manager.
“The instructors were great in providing the foundation, theory, and real-world examples”
Kwan Chan
The instructors were great in providing the foundation, theory, and real-world examples of Product Management. Working across theory and practical examples gave me a good perspective of how Product Management can be used.
“This course was honestly one of the best courses I have had the pleasure of attending in my entire learning career”
Clinton Chan
This course was honestly one of the best courses I have had the pleasure of attending in my entire learning career. Not a day goes by in my job when I am given a task and I think to myself "I can do that because we covered this thoroughly in the course! Within 4 weeks of working in my new job, I have been promoted to full-time Product Manager. I don't think I could have come this far this quickly without your support and guidance across the course, and your assistance in giving me a strong theoretical and practical foundation.
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