Real-world projects from industry experts
With real-world projects and immersive content built in partnership with top-tier companies, you’ll master the tech skills companies want.
How to Become a Product Manager
Nanodegree Program
Learn to lead the product strategy of industry-defining products and successfully bring them to market. Influence the execution of product development as a product manager—one of the most highly-coveted roles in technology.
Estimated time
4 Months
At 10 hours / week
Enroll by
June 14, 2023
Get access to classroom immediately on enrollment
Skills acquired
Product Design Sprints, Stakeholder Management, Product Prototyping
"Product managers play a critical role in making sure that the right product gets built. This starts by deeply understanding your users and the problems that you are solving for, then working with a number of different teams to identify and build a solution. After launching a product, it’s an amazing feeling when you see people using your product in the real world."
Alex KingProduct Manager at Google
What you will learn
Product Manager
4 months to completeProduct managers are responsible for designing and delivering a profitable product or feature into the market. In this program, you will learn to define product strategy and KPIs based on market analysis, pitch a product vision to get stakeholder buy-in, and design a user-centered prototype that adheres to engineering constraints. Then, you will take a product through the development process, with a focus on high quality, risk management, and communication. Finally, you will build tests to enhance product features based on market data.
Prerequisite knowledge
Product management basics.
Product Strategy for Product Managers
The most effective products start with a comprehensive market-based, insight-driven strategy. Identify the right problems to solve through market research, target user definition, and market sizing. Create a compelling vision and strategy that will set up the team to solve those problems. Understand how to communicate effectively to get people excited and invested in your ideas.
Product Design
Take an idea through concept, design, and user validation phases, and create a spec to hand off for development. Use design-thinking methodologies to explore various ideas; then converge on a single idea. Map out the full concept through creation of a prototype that can be used to validate that you’re solving a problem for real users.
Product Development
Learn the critical soft skills needed to manage the development and execution phase of the product. Collaborate with cross-functional teams and perform key activities that occur during development, including the lifecycle of a code change, test plan creation, early feedback intake, issue prioritization, and go/no go launch meetings.
Product Launch
Create a plan, identify the launch risks, and figure out how to minimize their impact on your launch. Collaborate with a variety of teams including marketing, sales, customer support, and more to prepare them to interface with customers as the product is launched. Execute the launch and use feedback from your customers to determine the next steps for your product.
All our programs include
Real-time support
On demand help. Receive instant help with your learning directly in the classroom. Stay on track and get unstuck.
Career services
You’ll have access to Github portfolio review and LinkedIn profile optimization to help you advance your career and land a high-paying role.
Flexible learning program
Tailor a learning plan that fits your busy life. Learn at your own pace and reach your personal goals on the schedule that works best for you.
Program offerings
Class content
- Real-world projects
- Project reviews
- Project feedback from experienced reviewers
Student services
- Student community
- Real-time support
Career services
- Github review
- Linkedin profile optimization
Succeed with personalized services.
We provide services customized for your needs at every step of your learning journey to ensure your success.
- Experienced Project Reviewers
- Real-Time Support
Get timely feedback on your projects.
- Personalized feedback
- Unlimited submissions and feedback loops
- Practical tips and industry best practices
- Additional suggested resources to improve
1,400+ project reviewers
2.7M projects reviewed
88/100 reviewer rating
1.1 hours avg project review turnaround time
Learn with the best.
Learn with the best.
Anastasia Root
Product Manager at GoogleAnastasia is a growth product manager at Google, leading growth for the Google iOS Search app. Prior to Google, Anastasia has worked on products in real estate, FinTech, dating, navigation, and enterprise software.
Alex King
Product Manager at GoogleAlex King is a product manager at Google, where he works on Pixel Camera. He previously worked on setup experiences for smart home devices like Google Wifi, Google Home, and Chromecast. He formerly worked at Uber where he led rider experience for JUMP Bikes and Scooters. He graduated from the University of Washington.
Yuva Murugan
Product ConsultantYuva has led SaaS products across various-stage startups and Fortune 10 companies. She is dedicated to evolving a company’s vision into a product with a strong market fit, while creating delightful user experiences.
Product Manager
Get started today
Learn
Lead the entire product development lifecycle, and drive the creation of industry-defining products.
Average Time
On average, successful students take 4 months to complete this program.
Benefits include
- Real-world projects from industry experts
- Real-time classroom support
- Career services
Program details
Program overview: Why should I take this program?
Why should I enroll?
Product managers are highly coveted roles in both enterprises and startups. It’s a role involves leading many cross-functional teams to develop new products and features from scratch, and bring them to market.
This program is designed for students who want to assume key leadership roles in product development in their company. You will learn how to define product strategy and KPIs based on market analysis, pitch a product vision to get stakeholder buy-in, and design a user-centered prototype that adheres to engineering constraints. Then, you will collaborate with cross-functional teams and perform key activities that occur during development, including the lifecycle of a code change, test plan creation, early feedback intake, issue prioritization, and go/no go launch meetings. Finally, once launching a product into the market, you’ll learn how to build tests to enhance product features based on market data.
What jobs will this program prepare me for?
This program will equip you with the foundational skills to assume entry-level product manager roles. You’ll learn directly from experienced product managers at Google, who have constructed this Nanodegree program to equip you with the most in-demand and relevant industry skills.
How do I know if this program is right for me?
This program is intended for anyone who wants to be equipped to become a product manager. If you want to learn the core skill set required in all product manager roles, which is the foundation for more specialized roles like growth product manager, data product manager, AI product manager, and more, this program is for you.
Why should you want to become a product manager?
Product Manager is a top 5 job on LinkedIn's Most Promising Jobs for 2019, and one of the most coveted roles in large tech enterprises, as well as entrepreneurial startups. Glassdoor lists Product Manager in the Top 4 in their list for the 50 Best Jobs in America for 2020.
With a starting base salary of $125,000, product management roles in the US have grown an astounding 32% over just a two year period, from August 2017 to June 2019, higher than software engineering job growth (21%) and overall US job growth (6%) during that same time span.
Enrollment and admission
Do I need to apply? What are the admission criteria?
No. This Nanodegree program accepts all applicants regardless of experience and specific background.
What are the prerequisites for enrollment?
A well-prepared learner should have:
- General understanding of the product development lifecycle
- Familiarity with different roles required to build a product
- Familiarity with Google Workspace or similar software for building slides
Tuition and term of program
How is this Nanodegree program structured?
The Product Manager Nanodegree program is comprised of content and curriculum to support four projects. Once you subscribe to a Nanodegree program, you will have access to the content and services for the length of time specified by your subscription. We estimate that students can complete the program in 4 months, working 10 hours per week.
Each project will be reviewed by the Udacity reviewer network. Feedback will be provided and if you do not pass the project, you will be asked to resubmit the project until it passes.
How long is this Nanodegree program?
You will have access to this Nanodegree program for as long as your subscription remains active. The estimated time to complete this program can be found on the webpage and in the syllabus, and is based on the average amount of time we project that it takes a student to complete the projects and coursework. See the Terms of Use and FAQs for other policies regarding the terms of access to our Nanodegree programs.
Can I switch my start date? Can I get a refund?
Please see the Udacity Program FAQs for policies on enrollment in our programs.
Software and hardware: What do I need for this program?
What software and versions will I need in this program?
You will need Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Docs or Microsoft Word, as well as access to the internet and a 64-bit computer. You will also need access to a computer to record a video pitch, Figma, and theplot.io.
Minimum browser requirements are:
- Chrome 49+
- Firefox 57+
- Safari 10.1+ (Apple - macOS)
- Edge 14+ (Windows)
Minimum operating system (OS) requirements are:
- Windows 8.1 or later
- Apple MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite) and later
- Any Linux OS that supports the browsers mentioned above
- Any Chrome OS that supports the browsers mentioned above