What Makes a True Digital Product Manager

Introduction & Welcome

Jake Yingling | 00:00–00:43

All right, good day everyone. Let’s go ahead and get started with our webinar titled “What Makes a True Digital Product Manager.” Thanks again for joining. I’ll be your MC today. My name is Jake Yingling and I lead our Client Services team here at Productside. Prior to joining Productside a little over a year ago, I spent 15 years as a PM and leader of product teams. Most of my time was spent in the financial services space, but I had tours in consumer goods, e-com, and interactive agency domains as well.

Jake Yingling | 00:43–01:12

I’m joined today by Todd Blaquiere, a Principal Consultant and Trainer here at Productside. Todd’s a dyed-in-the-wool product manager with deep experience creating product and marketing strategies for companies ranging from startup to enterprise. Todd’s adept at building motivated teams, finding simple solutions to complex market problems, and delivering on winning strategies. Todd’s a fantastic trainer and trusted advisor, and we’re lucky to have him leading today’s webinar. So thanks, Todd. Welcome.

About Productside and Webinar Housekeeping

Jake Yingling | 01:12–02:03

After today’s webinar, we ask that you stay engaged with our Product Management community of practice. Being in an online community can help you feel connected and help you continue to learn and hone your craft. Join your peers by joining our LinkedIn Product Leadership group and use it as a forum to chat about best practices, tips, and new ways of working.

Jake Yingling | 02:03–02:39

A bit about Productside — and Todd, you can flip to the next page. Listen, we love interacting with you. During the webinar, we encourage you to ask questions; this is not intended to be a lecture. The more interactive, the better the overall experience and the more weight we take off Todd’s shoulders. Use the Q&A box at the bottom of your screen to type in questions at any time. We’ll reserve time for general Q&A at the end. One of the most popular questions we get is: “Can I watch this later?” The answer is yes — everyone will receive a link after the recording ends.

Jake Yingling | 02:39–03:12

Let me quickly introduce Productside. We’ve been around more than 20 years now, based in Silicon Valley. Fun fact: our name is derived from the highway connecting San Francisco to San Jose. Our mission is to empower product professionals with the knowledge and tools to build products that matter. We strive to make product people and product organizations strategic. An optimal product organization delivers better customer experiences, increases revenue, and reduces operating costs.

What Makes a Digital Product Manager?

Jake Yingling | 03:12–03:42

Unlike other companies, we’re focused solely on the needs of product professionals. Whether you’re growing your own skills or improving your team’s effectiveness, we have the services you need. Our trainers and consultants are “recovering product managers” — not just professional trainers — with real-world experience at companies like Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Jake Yingling | 03:42–04:10

Before we turn it over to Todd, let’s start with a quick poll. Michelle is going to launch a poll in Zoom now to get a baseline. The question is: “How do you measure user engagement?” Take the next 30 seconds to input your answer, and we’ll use the themes to shape today’s content.

Jake Yingling | 04:10–04:36

I’m excited to see what we get back. All right, I see some encouraging responses so far — server logs, customer surveys, support tickets. That’s good. And… what is it looking like, Todd? What’s leading?

Todd Blaquiere | 04:36–05:03

Yeah, so with around 50%, people are using customer surveys to take a pulse on user engagement. That’s encouraging. I have a little concern over the one person who said, “What is user engagement?” Hopefully we’ll address that by the end of the conversation. But overall, great responses. Without further delay, let’s jump in and talk about what it means to be a true digital product manager.

Product-Market Fit & Constant Experimentation

Todd Blaquiere | 05:03–06:10

I love these responses. Let’s start with a story — a non-digital product example. A friend of ours here at Productside was a PM in the packaging space. He managed equipment for consumables. Learning about his users was really hard. He only got user data when service or maintenance teams visited the site. He could see cycles run or hours run if he was physically on site, but otherwise had no visibility into how people used the product.

Todd Blaquiere | 06:10–06:48

He learned one day that every time a service rep visited, the touchscreen was cracked. Why? Users were supposed to use a foot switch to cycle the product. But either they didn’t know about it or it wasn’t working — so one user used his cane to smash the on-screen button. Over and over. Cracked it every time. My friend had *no idea* this was happening — because he had no data. Keep that story in mind as we go through today’s webinar.

Todd Blaquiere | 06:48–07:22

Here’s where people usually stop: “I have a digital product, therefore I’m a digital PM.” But digital PM is not about the product being digital — it’s about how you *manage* digital capabilities. Digital means two advantages: more data, and speed. Non-digital PMs get jealous of both.

Todd Blaquiere | 07:22–08:02

Next part: product-market fit through constant experimentation. Let’s define product-market fit: valuable (customers want it), viable (the business benefits), and feasible (we can actually build it). As PMs, we’re always trying to validate these through experimentation — the Build → Measure → Learn loop popularized by Eric Ries in Lean Startup.

Todd Blaquiere | 08:02–08:38

And here’s the key: every product choice you make is a hypothesis. “If we move this button…” — hypothesis. “If we remove this step…” — hypothesis. Digital PMs test these hypotheses faster because they can get data immediately. A digital PM could run an A/B test on a UI change and know the result in days — something impossible in that non-digital cane-smashing example.

The Six Dimensions of User Engagement

Todd Blaquiere | 08:38–09:22

So digital PMs validate hypotheses quickly — but not by looking at a single metric. Looking at any usage as “good” is a massive mistake. Usage is not engagement. Vanity metrics are dangerous. Instead, digital PMs track *multiple* user-engagement dimensions.

Todd Blaquiere | 09:22–09:58

The six dimensions are: Depth, Breadth, Frequency, Paths & Funnels, Sentiment, and Feedback. We’ll go through each — what it measures, how to interpret it, and how digital PMs use these to understand their users deeply.

Depth & Breadth Metrics: What They Reveal

Todd Blaquiere | 09:58–10:46

Depth = which features are used. Not who is using them — which features. This helps identify sticky features and unused ones. Example chart: Feature 1 used more by Group A; Feature 2 by Group B. Some features barely touched. Feature 6 not used at all. Is that good? Bad? Depends what it is. Ask questions.

Jake Yingling | 10:46–11:14

Labels matter. Maybe Feature 6 is a “Help me!” panic button — you *don’t* want high usage. Context is everything. Data without context is dangerous.

Todd Blaquiere | 11:14–11:42

Breadth = number of users (DAU/MAU). Example chart: DAU steadily rising over 10 days. Looks great — but again, is it the same users returning? Or new users churning? Why the spike? Seasonality? Marketing? Virality? One metric alone never tells the full story.

Frequency, Funnels, and Cohorts

Todd Blaquiere | 11:42–12:34

Frequency measures how often and how long users engage. More time is not always good. Sometimes a user taking longer means the product is failing them. Example: we built an app for clinical research associates. They should get in, find a patient, and get out. If they spend *more* time, that means it’s not working.

Todd Blaquiere | 12:34–13:28

Cohort chart example: January cohort — only 39% returned Week 1. By Week 6, only 10% remained. That is churn. But later cohorts improved dramatically — meaning the team fixed something. Cohort analysis is gold for digital PMs.

Jake Yingling | 13:28–13:50

This helps confirm whether you’re solving the right problem. Group 1 vs Group 6 — what changed? What did you learn? Cohorts reveal truths that averages hide.

Todd Blaquiere | 13:50–14:38

Funnels show users moving from step to step. Example: Landing Page → Sign Up → View Item → Buy → Checkout → Success. Maybe it can be three steps instead of six. The largest drop-off? Landing → Sign Up. That’s where we optimize first.

Sentiment, Feedback, and Real-Time Learning

Todd Blaquiere | 14:38–15:20

Feedback and sentiment are critical. Unlike non-digital PMs, we don’t wait weeks to find out someone is smashing a screen with a cane. We can ask in-product, real-time: “How was your experience?” Marketing loves positive reviews. PMs love *truth*. We should fear not knowing, not bad news.

How to Define “What Good Looks Like”

Todd Blaquiere | 15:20–16:12

Use several dimensions. Define what “good” means for Depth, Breadth, Frequency, Funnels, Sentiment. Build a 4-tier model: Champions, Healthy, Needs Improvement, At Risk. Set thresholds. If you don’t, stakeholders will — and they’ll guess wrong.

Todd Blaquiere | 16:12–16:52

If you lack data, make an educated guess. Start with three KPIs — don’t wait for perfection. And here’s a rule: if the metric doesn’t help you change user behavior, it’s a vanity metric.

Todd Blaquiere | 16:52–17:20

Share data. Never hide it. Low retention? Share it. Explain what you learned, what you’re testing next. “Fail fast” scares execs — say “learn fast.” Same meaning, less panic.

Instrumentation Tools & Data Strategy

Todd Blaquiere | 17:20–17:48

Instrument everything. There are many tools — the key is selecting based on team bandwidth, ease of implementation, and clarity of reporting. Choose tools engineers can implement easily and PMs can analyze quickly.

Becoming a True Digital Product Manager

Todd Blaquiere | 17:48–18:36

A true digital PM continually learns, uses data to make decisions, and iterates fast. Ask yourself: am I getting these benefits? If not, write down what you need — hypotheses, instrumentation, engagement metrics — and start tomorrow morning. The power of digital PM is speed.

Jake Yingling | 18:36–19:06

Exactly. In hardware or regulated industries, A/B tests can take months. In digital? Hours. Days. It’s a gift. Use it to learn fast and pivot when needed.

Live Q&A: Metrics, Tools, and DPM vs OPM

Jake Yingling | 19:06–19:26

We did awesome — thank you, Todd. We have a few questions coming in. First one: “Is there a preferred instrumentation platform?”

Todd Blaquiere | 19:26–20:02

It depends. Involve engineers — some platforms are much easier to implement. PMs should focus on clarity, segmentation, and easy dashboards. There’s no perfect tool — pick the one that matches your team’s capabilities and your product’s needs.

Jake Yingling | 20:02–20:31

Another common question: OPM vs. DPM training. Todd?

Todd Blaquiere | 20:31–21:08

OPM is for early-career PMs and covers the full Optimal Product Process from conception through end-of-life. DPM is for PMs with 3+ years experience and focuses on digital-specific skills: experimentation, product-led growth, instrumentation, and metrics. They complement each other.

Jake Yingling | 21:08–21:39

Next: “Differences in metrics between e-commerce and SaaS?”

Todd Blaquiere | 21:39–22:22

E-commerce relies heavily on funnels and conversion optimization. SaaS focuses on retention, adoption, engagement depth, and lifetime value. Both use the same six dimensions, but with different priorities.

Closing Remarks & Next Steps

Jake Yingling | 22:22–22:56

Huge thanks to Todd and Michelle. And thanks to all our attendees. If you want help improving your PM skills or your team’s capabilities, reach out — we’re here to help. We appreciate your time, and we’ll see you next time.

Todd Blaquiere | 22:56–23:10

Thank you everybody. Bye now.