Creating an exceptional product requires more than just a brilliant idea. It involves careful planning, thoughtful design, and relentless refinement—a process driven by diverse layers of feedback. The synergy of a product team breathes life into these stages, and a solid team can be the critical factor in the success of a new creation, determining whether it soars off shelves triumphantly or struggles to secure a foothold in the market.
Here’s what product teams are, how they can be structured, and tips for success.
What is a product team?
A product team is a group responsible for the development and management of a product throughout its lifecycle. This team typically includes roles such as product managers, designers, and engineers, collaborating to research market needs, define features, and ensure successful launches. Effective communication and agile methodologies are crucial for driving innovation and meeting customer demands.
While the composition of product teams varies depending on the organization’s size, industry, and specific needs, they often include individuals with diverse skills and expertise who manage the entire product lifecycle, from the initial ideation process to the product launch. Product teams also work on redeveloping existing products based on customer feedback.
Key roles in a product team
- Product owners
- Product managers
- Product designers
- Product engineers
- Product developers
- Product marketers
A product team has various key roles that all come together to bring a product to market. Here are some examples:
Product owners
The product owner acts as the bridge between stakeholders and the development team; they’re responsible for defining the overall product vision. The product owner ensures that the product aligns with business goals and user needs. This role demands both a deep understanding of the market and business goals, which inform the development of the product.
Product managers
Product managers oversee the entire process of designing, producing, and marketing a product. They work with business owners and stakeholders to develop a product vision, manage development, and measure product success over time.
Product managers keep an eye on the big-picture journey of a product and monitor product-related metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rate and customer satisfaction score (CSAT).
A product manager’s responsibilities can fall under the purview of product leaders, like a chief product officer or a VP of product management. Some companies rely on a product management team of several individuals to develop a product strategy and vision.
Product designers
Product designerswork closely with product managers, developers, and engineers to create product designs that are both useful and attractive to a company’s target audience. Product designers may be focused on the design aspect of the entire lifecycle of a product, from brainstorming to building a prototype to testing, or they may have more specific roles within the team.
One crucial design role within a product team is the user experience (UX) designer. UX designers develop elegant design solutions for friction points customers encounter when interacting with a product. By improving a product’s overall user experience), UX designers make products more desirable to customers with functional and aesthetically pleasing design elements.
Product engineers
Product engineers create the hardware and software necessary to bring a product line to life. Product engineers have the technical knowledge to perform tasks like writing software code or manufacturing materials for a hardware product.
Engineering team members contribute to the overall development team by producing iterations of products and fixing bugs. Some product engineers work as test engineers, evaluating the effectiveness of a particular product, troubleshooting potential problems, and maintaining quality control.
Product developers
Product developers collaborate with leadership, marketing, and sales teams to oversee the entire product lifecycle from initial market research through product launch.
Product developers do market research, work on conceptualization and brainstorming, assess competitors’ products, test product prototypes, and establish quality control standards for production. Some companies hire dedicated product development teams to ensure that each stage of the product pipeline works smoothly and aligns with a company’s overall goals.
Product marketers
Product marketing facilitates a product’s launch and reception in the market. Product marketers use customer research to understand their target audience’s needs better. They also conduct market research, create content for product pages and ads, and help product teams determine the right pricing strategy. Product teams rely on marketers to develop compelling assets and language that sales teams can use when discussing the new product with potential customers.
Even before a product hits the market, product marketers identify their product’s unique value proposition (UVP)—the aspects that set it apart from competitors.
Ways to structure a product team
- Product line structure
- Feature-focused structure
- Customer segment structure
- Cross-functional structure
Here are some of the frameworks companies use when product team structure:
Product line structure
One of the most common structures for product teams is built around a specific product line. In this framework, product team members work together to optimize a particular product’s development, production, and distribution. This structure requires collaboration between every product team member based on the needs of a particular product.
Feature-focused structure
Companies might structure product teams around specific product features. For example, an e-bike company may have a product development team that works solely on navigation features.
Companies using this structure organize product teams around specific areas of expertise that serve multiple products at once. This structure works well for companies with a wide range of product lines impacted by similar features. For example, a software company may have a mobile team that develops mobile features for many of the company’s apps.
Customer segment structure
Some companies organize product teams around different customer segments. For example, an outdoor gear company might release a line of hiking boots for children and manage a team to create products for this particular customer segment.
Product teams in this structure focus on the needs and expectations of particular groups of customers and develop products accordingly. A customer segment structure can benefit product teams in companies that serve a wide range of markets, industries, and customer groups.
Cross-functional structure
Cross-functional structure goes beyond singular projects focused on one product line, feature, or customer segment. Unlike other product team structures, cross-functional teams collaborate on various tasks simultaneously while gathering input from outside departments like customer success teams and IT departments.
Cross-functional collaboration can empower small product teams to solve problems using diverse skills and perspectives. For example, a cross functional team with design, engineering, and marketing backgrounds can combine creativity, technical expertise, and market insight to develop solutions that meet customer needs and market demands.
Tips for product team success
Here are some overarching tips for developing effective product teams to serve your business objectives:
Champion visibility
Develop a culture of transparency in your product teams. Make it possible for team members to voice their innovative ideas and contribute to development. Use as much data as possible to evaluate every aspect of the product development process. Ensure you can identify pain points within your product team and adjust accordingly.
Develop agile product teams
Keep your team small enough that every member can communicate easily and stay on the same page about product needs and business goals. This helps avoid miscommunication or unnecessary complexity. The ideal size of a product team varies depending on your company’s specific needs.
Use intuitive tools
A successful product team needs intelligent software tools to help communicate ideas and bring them to the market. Ecommerce platforms like Shopify offer a variety of tools that can help you optimize your performance. For instance, Shopify provides merchants with insightful reports, encompassing analytics on products such as top online store searches and overall product-specific profits, which companies can use for market research when developing new product lines or iterating on existing ones.
Product team FAQ
What is the role of a product team?
A product team develops, builds, and launches products and features. It evaluates analytics, customer feedback, and market research to identify new product developments that meet customers’ needs.
Who are the key members of a product team?
The key members of a product team include a product manager, a product developer, and a product owner. Other key members include product designers and UX designers, product marketers focused on how a product will be received in the market, and product engineers who bring ideas to life with hardware and software tools.
What are the three types of product teams?
Three of the main types of product teams are those focused on bringing a specific product line to life, developing new features for various products, and dividing tasks based on the requirements of different customer segments.
Should a product team be small?
Although product teams can vary from a few individuals to thousands of people based on the needs and resources of a particular brand or product, they should remain small enough to keep communication effective between team members. A big company may have an extensive product department with many teams segmented by different products, features, or customer types.