The Analyst Through a Product Manager’s Eyes: How to Make Complex Decisions Together

In product work, a single number rarely provides a ready-made answer: the data may be insufficient, and an improvement in one metric may come at the cost of another. That is why analysts need to understand what decision the product manager is preparing to make, while product managers need to understand what can and cannot be determined through analysis.

Let’s look at four situations that arise in collaboration between an analyst and a product manager. We’ll discuss how to agree on success criteria, who decides which trade-offs are acceptable, and why communication is the most important skill.