[MUSIC] To better understand why we need software product management, let's begin with a story about how software product management can go terribly wrong. You just took on the role of the Software Product Manager, leading your own software development team that will be building a product for client you just met. Your client envisions a revolutionary new software system that connects hundreds of thousands of end users every day. The deadline is set for six months from today. You're excited. This is a big chance for you to really show off what you can do. You've met your team. Contracts have been signed and everything has been set into motion. What's next? To control this situation, you figure the best thing to do would be to map out exactly what your client needs. So you schedule a meeting, sit down with them face to face. You ask them what they would like to see in the final product. The client gives you a quick list of really interesting ideas, and you're on your way. Your developers begin to buzz about how they'll tackle the problem. They each choose a few features to develop, and everyone goes off to do their own thing. The project seems to be off to a really productive start! Fast forward three months. Your client emails you asking to meet in person for a demo of what you've done so far. All of a sudden it dawns on you that you have no real idea where you are in the project. You approach your development team for updates, they excitedly tell you what they're working on. They reassure you that their part will be done on time. You tell them, though, that the client would like a demo. Everyone's mood changes to panic. They say, we haven't integrated any of our functionality yet. It's gonna take at least a week for me to finish debugging my code. I didn't know we had demo coming up. Now you're panicking because you have to tell your client you have nothing ready to demo. Surely your client will understand, after all, software development is more an art than a science. With half the project resources spent, things seem to be going nowhere fast. You can barely see what will be completed next week, let alone what you'll have ready for the client when the deadline comes around for the demo. Another two months fly past. You're now just four weeks away from the delivery deadline. The team is in full on panic mode. And one of our developers hasn't been at work for two weeks, and their code has become a bottleneck for your entire system. You try to assign another team member to work on it, but he can barely understand the original code work. Nothing meaningful is gonna happen. Now, you're making up for lost time you never had in the first place. It's two weeks until the first demonstration of your product, and your team is under incredible pressure. Everyone has been working through the night writing and testing code. You've thrown all the best coding practices out the window just to save time. And, you're hoping the client won't discover those few bugs you just can't afford to have anyone spend any more time trying to fix. The deadline is rapidly approaching. You have no choice but to ask your client for an extension of some kind. They're not going to be happy, you think. But what other choice do they have, other than to say yes? You buy yourself just some extra time, however, they still want to see what you've done so far. Two weeks later, demo day. Through foggy eyes and caffeine induced typing, your team has slapped together a rough demo of the product. Everyone is nervous and their only relief is to think this project will be soon over. That is, until the client starts tearing this whole thing apart. The client says, I never asked for this. What's the purpose of this feature? Why did you decide to put this element here? I can't show this to my customers. It becomes heartbreak. What they're demanding is going to create much more work. Why couldn't they be more specific from the beginning? The project is late enough already. Can it really survive another four months? Can you really survive another four months? Now, instead of taking that great vacation you had planned with your family. You are stuck in your office banging your head against the keyboard. Wishing there was a better way. Coursera and the University of Alberta can help. For about the price of one university course, you can access an entire computing science specialization. Delivered on demand as you need it. Welcome to Software Product Management Specialization, and welcome to the world of better software. Throughout this specialization, our expert team of instructors will walk you through all the steps to unleash your inner product management ninja. You'll learn how to take control of your projects from the very beginning, so like a ninja, nothing creeps up on you. You'll learn how to manage your project efficiently and collaboratively, so, like a ninja, everyone on your team is aware of what's going on, and you'll learn about what's currently being done in industry so that, like a ninja, you become a master of your craft. Business today runs on software. Every company has internal applications for controlling day to day operations. And a growing number of companies are reaching externally to customers through websites and mobile apps. To be successful in meeting business goals, companies need competent software product management professionals that can deliver the digital assets necessary to operate in the 21st century. Welcome to Software Product Management. This could be an exciting journey, and we hope you'll learn a lot along the way. We're really looking forward to having you with us.
