That’s why we have compiled a list of the best product management tools that ensure you get the best out of your team. Developing a digital product for your customers can be pretty challenging. To build a product from the ground up, you must have a set goal and a reliable team behind you. However, you would not be able to accomplish anything without access to the necessary tools. This is why choosing the right product development tools is vital before beginning your project. You and your team can accomplish your goals more efficiently with product management software.
What is a Product Management Tool?
Product management tools are software applications that help product management teams manage various product lifecycle stages. This includes designing, developing, and launching. A product manager uses these tools to do various things, including prototyping, customer journey mapping, road mapping, data analysis, etc. Furthermore, product management tools are a boon for remote product management teams. These tools can provide a central location for developing and managing their products.
Functions of Product Management Software
To stay focused on their goals, product managers often depend on product management tools to manage their day-to-day tasks. We live in a time when revolutionary products enter the market every minute or every second. Most of these products try to solve existing problems that product management teams face and ease their jobs. Almost every product launched in the market gives the product manager a chance to demonstrate their abilities. Because of this, product development tools ensure the seamless delivery of products. The following are some of the most prominent functions of product management software:
Assisting in prototyping Defines product road maps Creates user journey maps Conducts customer research Manages sprints Analyzes product data Helps in business process mapping Manages product releases
Next, we will check out the benefits of product management software.
Benefits of Using Product Management Software
Product managers rely heavily on product management tools to be as effective as possible. In addition to saving time, product management software has several other advantages. Here are some ways such tools can help product management teams:
Improves Scalability
Firstly, using a product management tool boosts business scalability. They help a business grow more by making it easier to introduce and manage new products.
Increases Product Content Control
Product management software can control a company’s products in a hassle-free way. Such tools help product management teams easily track and control sale-related web content.
Boosts Customer Loyalty
By providing customers with better resources, product management tools boost user experience. And as a result, customers become loyal to that particular brand.
Decreases Working Costs
As these tools help reduce the allotted time for each task, it reduces working costs too.
Key Features of Product Management Software
On the market today, you can choose from a wide variety of product management tools. While they differ in many ways, the best product management software for modern apps has some key features in common. When choosing a product management tool for a business, one must make sure it has the following features:
The tool must include a comprehensive task management feature set. Creating a brand-new product for your customers is no easy task. Making something unique requires creativity. Therefore, product management software should be able to match that creativity, regardless of its out-of-the-box nature. The software must include easy-to-use customizable templates to create a new product whenever you have an idea.
To be honest, finding a product management tool that can handle all your requirements is challenging. To be effective, a product management tool should include a feature that integrates with workplace software. Now, Let’s review some of the product management software available for modern apps.
Monday
Monday.com is an online tool for effortlessly managing daily tasks. Regardless of the size of your team, this platform makes it easy for teams to collaborate and create something great. It allows users to manage sprints, analyze their work, manage their workflow, schedule tasks, and install third-party plugins. Additionally, the tool offers milestones, project analysis, Gantt charts, Kanban boards, etc., and various integration options, including Slack, Google Drive, Typeform, GitHub, and many others. The user interface is simple and clutter-free, making navigation easier. Teams can customize their accounts according to their requirements and find features they want. In addition to 24/7 support, Monday.com offers knowledge-based articles to assist teams. Currently, Monday.com’s basic plan starts at $8/seat/month. There is a 14-day free trial available before you purchase a plan. Additionally, they offer a freemium plan that allows two users.
Wrike
Wrike is a solid choice for your product management needs. It simplifies work processes and ensures productive collaborations. Team members can collaborate seamlessly in Wrike thanks to its single collaboration space. Despite its simple, intuitive interface, it offers a wide range of powerful features. Milestone tracking, work intelligence, analytical dashboards, Gantt Charts, Kanban Boards, Agile software development, and time and expense tracking are some of the major features of this tool. A key feature of Wrike is that it keeps teams and individuals informed about all project activities. All users get notified in real time whenever there is an update or notification. Furthermore, Wrike has a ‘MyWork’ view that shows task information, a dashboard that allows task list filtering, a calendar, etc. In the current version of Wrike, you can try it for two weeks for free. In addition to its free plan, it offers premium plans starting at $9.80/user/month for growing teams. Teams just starting their journey can, however, utilize its free plan.
Teamwork
Teamwork helps in managing modern apps and facilitates the creation and delivery of projects on time to clients. Team members can easily access the platform from their PCs or smartphones and do their day-to-day tasks. Its cool features are resource management, time tracking, Gantt Charts, Kanban Boards, portfolios, milestones, task list templates, tasks and subtasks, custom fields, project profitability, integration, and many others. Teamwork is an excellent tool for managing projects quickly and efficiently. Teams can easily find what they need with its simple user interface. Teamwork offers a 30-day free trial without requiring a credit card. The paid plan starts at $9.99/user/month if you like it. In addition, there is a ‘Free Forever’ plan with limited features for those new to project management.
ProductBoard
You should consider ProductBoard if your primary concern is customer road mapping. With this customer-centric product management tool, you can gather customer feedback from different places, such as Slack, Zendesk, and others. It allows for better analytics and prioritization. It offers features such as customizable road mapping, unlimited roadmaps for stakeholders, templates for various roadmaps, syncing with other development tools, smooth onboarding, and customer support. In addition, it offers an amazing user experience thanks to its clean interface. By using ProductBoard, clients can better explain what they want, directly influencing the products’ production. The production team has all the details regarding the production process. As a result, they can effortlessly plan what action to take next. ProductBoard plans start at $20/maker/month, or you can try it for free for 15 days.
ProdPad
Product roadmaps are ideal for keeping your team members on track and aligned for neat product lifecycle management. ProdPad’s browsing and search features may not be as user-friendly as other options in the list. However, ProdPad offers robust planning and road mapping capabilities. Besides task scheduling and tracking, it also manages projects, customers, priorities, ideas, and many other features to make project management easier. The integration options for ProdPad include Jira, Trello, Slack, GitHub, Dropbox, Azure DevOps, etc. Having all these features makes ProdPad a versatile road mapping tool. ProdPad offers a free 30-day trial, after which you can purchase their paid plans for $24/user/month.
Craft.io
It is impossible to ignore Craft.io when talking about product management software. Craft.io is a reputed cloud-based tool that can help product managers improve their companies’ transparency and alignment. It is easier for project managers to customize workflow, track project progress, add fields, and so forth with Craft.io. Its wonderful features include easy-to-navigate UI, road mapping, spec editor, capacity planning, strategic inputs, milestones, and feedback control. It is highly recommended that product managers check the integration feature of a product management tool before deciding on one. Your productivity will be hindered otherwise. Craft.io integrates smoothly with a wide range of useful tools to give you maximum functionality. Currently, Craft.io offers paid plans starting at $39/user/month. No free or freemium plans are available, but you can try them for 14 days without a credit card. After trying its free service, you can upgrade to any premium plan.
Asana
First of all, Asana isn’t a dedicated product development tool. The tool is primarily meant to be used as a general product management tool. Due to its minimalistic and clean interface, you can easily locate your desired features. Many organizations around the globe use Asana to run marketing campaigns, launch new products, and manage digital transformations. Some awesome features of Asana are tasks and subtasks, custom fields, project conversations, saved advanced searches, milestones, portfolios, and many others. Moreover, it comes with various integrations, such as Google Drive, Adobe Creative Cloud, Slack, Salesforce, Microsoft, Harvest, and more. Additionally, Asana’s road mapping, attachment, and communication features help team members collaborate more effectively. Currently, Asana offers a free plan for teams of up to 15 people. Individuals and start-ups can benefit from this free version. However, if your organization grows, you can pick from one of Asana’s paid plans starting from $10.99/user/month after your 30-day free trial period ends.
Airfocus
Airfocus is the world’s first modular product management software. With it, you can create a comprehensive roadmap for all your products. Using Airfocus, teams can effectively manage strategies and communicate, create roadmaps, and connect feedback for fast problem-solving. Developers at Airfocus have given flexibility a high priority. Because of this, users can customize the entire platform quickly and efficiently without interfering with their team’s work. Its features are road mapping, prioritization, modularity, a portal, feedback, insights, etc. Airfocus integrates with various tools, such as Trello, Jira, Asana, Azure DevOps, Shortcut, Microsoft Planner, Zapier, Github, etc. The simplicity of its user interface is a plus. To get started with Airfocus, you can choose from various premium plans starting at $19/editor/month. There are no free or freemium plans available. However, if you are unsure whether to purchase Airfocus, you can try it for 14 days for free before making any decisions.
Dragonboat
Dragonboat’s user interface is intuitive and includes an all-inclusive product portfolio management system, especially if you want to connect product development to Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). You’ll love Dragonboat if you’re an outcome-driven product manager. Its features include road mapping, project management, calendar management, task scheduling and tracking, campaign management, automated tracking, data visualization, and notifications. Jira, Clubhouse, GitHub, Azure DevOps, and others are among the top integrations of this tool. Using this tool, you can easily prioritize features, centralize feedback, build stakeholders, and do many other time-consuming tasks. As part of effective time management, project managers can set OKRs and keep track of direct return on investment for new product features and updates. Currently, the Dragonboat plan starts at $39/user/month. You can try out a free demo to get an idea of what Dragonboat is all about. Additionally, Dragonboat offers a free version for individuals and start-ups. To learn more about this matter, contact their customer service representatives.
Productfolio
Productfolio is a wonderful tool for managing products. This end-to-end product workflow software aligns and empowers your team to create incredible products. The app can also help you set a product strategy and facilitate discovery, in addition to helping you develop a roadmap. The Productfolio lets you define your long-term goals and evaluate your ideas against them. The platform effectively handles both road mapping and requirements management. The features of Productfolio include data export, API, batch permissions, data visualization, external integrations, Gantt charts, task scheduling/tracking, inventory tracking, prioritization, and multi-user support. The premium plan at Productfolio starts at $10/editor/month and is available with a 14-day free trial. If you are just starting your venture, you can also use Productfolio’s starter pack known as ‘Free Forever’ at zero cost but with limited features.
Harvestr
Harvestr is a user-centric road mapping tool designed for organizations looking to create roadmaps based on customer feedback. This platform enables cross-departmental collaboration. Its main features are product road mapping, feature prioritization, notifications, feedback loops, and external integrations. Harvestr’s premium plans start at $79/user/month, which is a bit pricey. You can, however, try it for 14 days for free. There’s also a free plan with limited features if you’re hesitant to commit to this software. Make sure you use it first before deciding if it’s worth it.
Final Words
With the best product management software at your fingertips, you don’t have to wait any longer. Check out our article to see what best suits your organizational needs. These tools will simplify your product management tasks. Next, you can check out online courses to become a certified product manager.
