On Creating a Learning RoadMap & Testing New Products

Using Roadmunk Template I designed a learning roadmap to keep me focused and prioritize only the most important tasks

Work Journal #Week17

Hi There.

I’m Favour, a Content Writer and Aspiring Product Manager. I’m always on the lookout for tools and resources that will help me do my work better. Every week, I document insights I find touring on the Internet, along with the challenges I face at work.

I hope you find something useful for your work and learning regardless of your field.

I tried Zoom & Google’s Meet…

Tried without success to download the zoom App from playstore

The internet went abuzz when Google asked their staff to stop using Zoom, during our online meeting n the office, we were asked to download Meet. It kept bouncing me back, here’s what it told me….

For Zoom, I could not download the app from play store, after trying without success, I downloaded the file, with that I was able to install it without using play store.

I downloaded PluralSight App…

See this download button underneath, it didn’t allow access to what was below and if I auto-rotated my phone for a better view, I couldn’t access the back button

Now my take on learning platform apps is one thing…Avoid the apps at all cost. They are usually clumpy and take up precious space I try to avoid using them, but I couldn’t run away from Pluralsight. My take on the app.

Dark interface, makes Pluralsight, quite different from other apps, like LinkedIn learning, it takes a while to load its videos, and downloading videos is difficult, but one good thing about it is, you can play its video in the background, minimize the app and do something else.

Is YouTube Going Overboard with Ads…

This is YouTube, I promise you

YouTube, being one of my favourite apps, has been constantly tweaking their products here and there, from introducing stories to adding another page on the app,

Can they tell if these features have impacted their numbers positively?

I like my steady flow of video recommendation on my home page, now I have to jump past stories, Ads, New Ads, and picture posts, yes, picture post. What do you think about these tweaks?

Building a learning roadmap…

Inspired by the product development process, I created a learning roadmap, to follow the development process of a personal project

In the first run of the lockdown, I picked up a lot on my plate, and I was able to complete 4 courses in the space of 3 weeks, I had two major challenges:

1. There was so much to learn and I did not know what to prioritize

2. Doing a lot without direction lead to my first burn out

In trying to find a solution, I decided to build a learning roadmap for myself. Yes, a learning roadmap.

A roadmap helps teams visualize where they are going to and how they will get there.

My learning roadmap, (something I came up with) would tell you where you are and where you want to go to.

I knew what my vision was:

To know the tools and skills that would help me become a better product manager, and launch a successful product to the market.

Now, seeing that a roadmap could help a team, I figured out a learning roadmap would help me achieve my goal and deal with the two major challenges I had.

1. So much to learn, do not know what to prioritize

I thought about the natural path a product would take to launch: Discovery, Ideation, Prototyping, Design, Build. I decided to take that natural path to learn, the most important things I need to understand as a product manager.

Naturally, I began with Discovery, and this led me to take interviews and email surveys. After which I can move to Ideation, and learn how to build roadmaps, user journeys etc. prototyping would only come after than, and learning how to code, would only come after I’ve learnt the basics of prototyping.

This put my mind at ease, because, as a non-technical founder, I want to jump right into coding, now using this process, I can prioritize what I need to learn the most.

2. Doing a lot without direction lead to my first burn out

I tried other road mapping sites like Productplan, & Miro before settling for RoadMunk, because everything was editable

Burn out, yes, I did burn out. Now, I wanted to take in only what I can handle and do so with direction. What direction, something that tells me I’m not just learning, but implementing what I learn. That brings us to practising.

A lot of learning courses I take requires that I practice what I learn, what better way to do so than have a side project.

BookQuest is an online platform that seeks to improve the overall experience of readers in Africa by making books more accessible.

My learning road map, looks a lot like a typical product launch roadmap, I’ll keep up the pace with this project, using what I learn to work on it and documenting the entire process and implementing it with my team.

My Key Learning This Week…

Can you guess the site with these wireframes, the third wireframe is easily YouTube

1. I learnt the elementary of User Research with Krispain Emert on Pluralsight

2. I set up an email survey and carried out phone interviews, I’m trying to understand my users but how do you begin to measure qualitative data?

Discoveries on the internet

Hover round a picture, and the name appears, visiting this site on mobile, was a whole different experience.

1. Product management exercises can be a game you play with your friends, yes, it’s really that much fun.
2. Africa NXT is partnering with Facebook Africa to provide a limited amount of data stipends for students, youth leaders and startups/entrepreneurs to attend the 2-day virtual conference.

Moving Forward…

This new week begins with mixed feelings for me. Like a runner closing the last round of a marathon race, I’m beginning to lose steam, the idea of creating a roadmap for my learning journey is to ease on my stress, so this week, I’ll be chewing in smaller bits, and understanding myself and the passion that drives me to work.

I look forward to a week of learning even more about myself, and developing inner grit in the face of challenges.

Have a great week.