From Director to Product Manager: A career that has been marked by "growing pains" -- Interview with Takahiro Arai just

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On Tuesday, June 21st, Mynavi Creator will be holding the online seminar Web Industry Evolution Practical Course #18, "From Director to Product Manager: Expanding your career by pivoting."

Event information for June 21 (Tue)

For details on the Web Industry Evolution Practical Course #18 "From Director to Product Manager: Expanding your career by pivoting" please click here

Click here for the application form

The 18th installment of the "Web Industry Evolution Practical Course" is aimed at web directors who are thinking about their future careers . Takahiro Arai, a freelance product manager, will be the guest and will discuss a wide range of topics, including the difference between contract production companies and business companies, and web direction that can be applied to product management.

In this interview just before the event, we spoke to Arai about the job description of a product manager and his career so far.

Profile Introduction

Takahiro Arai,
Representative of 4us.design

After graduating from university, he worked in sales for online job ads, and as a designer/coder/director at a web production company before going freelance. He currently provides support mainly in the areas of product management and project management in software development, including as a UX director for a major real estate portal, a project manager at a start-up systems consulting company, and a product manager at a startup.

The job of a product manager is responsible for the "success" of the product
- First of all, please tell us about your current job.

Arai: In 2015, I left the web production company I had been working for and became a freelancer. Currently, I work as a product manager and project manager, supporting product development for business companies.

The role in which you are involved in product development varies from company to company. Some companies are struggling with development issues, while others are unsure of what features they should develop in the first place. In many cases, you will have multiple conversations with the other party and decide on your focus on each case.

-- This is a basic question, but what is the difference in belgium phone number data the work of a product manager and a project manager?

Arai: It may differ depending on the organization, but while a project manager is responsible for "how and when to create the product," a product manager is responsible for the "success of the product itself."

"Success" here refers to the achievement of business goals and KPIs set by the product. The main job of a product manager is to work toward the goal of "success," determine the direction of the product, and work out "what should be created."

Resource management and progress management are essential for project management to develop features, but product managers are rarely required to manage in detail like project management in contract development. I think you can think of their main role as steering the project overall and making decisions.

By the way, what kind of products have you been involved in so far?