Product Handbook
Welcome to the Product Team Handbook
- The Product Team is led by David DeSanto.
- The Product Handbook focuses on how we do product at GitLab.
- Please see Product Direction to learn about what the Product Team plans to build.
Product Team Functions
Product Team Mission
We create products and experiences that customers love and value.
- Consistency wins as you scale. Our organizational goal is to create a Product Manager (PM) system that maximizes the chances of success across new products, new features, and new team members.
- We are shipping an experience, and not just a product. Don’t forget about the links between the product and the website, pricing & packaging, documentation, sales, support, etc.
- It’s about our customers and doing a job for them, not the product itself. Think externally about customer problems, not internally about the technology.
- It’s about love AND value. Will customers value what we are building? We need to make sure what we build helps build and extract customer value.
Contributing to the Product Handbook
The product handbook is widely referenced by product managers and cross-functional team members. Therefore, we want to follow a consistent change management process so all affected collaborators are aligned and informed when there are changes (specially new requirements, processes, meetings, etc.) that affect their workflow.
It is helpful to indicate which type of change you are suggesting:
- Small improvement (typos, clarifications, etc.)
- Adding a new section
- Modifying existing section
- Documenting a new process
- Adding a new page or directory
- Other
For a small improvement, please feel free to merge the MR yourself. Otherwise, please tag the appropriate code owner for review and approval. The guidance below should be followed for driving awareness:
Informing team members about the changes
It is your responsibility to communicate with relevant team members about your merge request. Here are some best practices to follow:
- For significant changes affecting the whole Product or Engineering team, consult your manager or product leader for the best communication strategy.
- For changes specific to product management, tag
@gl-product-pm
in the merge request before merging. - Indicate in the comment whether you are requesting contributions and feedback or simply providing information.
- For changes relevant to other teams, tag department leads such as the VP of UX, VP of Development, or the Director of Quality Engineering in the merge request before merging.
- Share and cross-post the merge request link with a brief description in relevant channels such as Slack
#product
,#product-leadership
,#eng-managers
, and#ux-managers
. - For more guidance on communication, refer to the GitLab Communication tips and best practices.
Product Management
- If you’d like to collaborate with product management see the How to Engage guide.
Product Principles
The Product Principles section is where you can learn about our strategy and philosophy regarding product development here at GitLab.
Product Processes
For a detailed view on how we do Product Development, read up on our established Product Processes.
Product sections, stages, groups, and categories
To learn how the GitLab product and our Teams are organized review our Product Categorization section.
About the GitLab Product
Learn about GitLab as a product, including what does it mean to be a single application, our subscription tiers and pricing model, and the basics of permissions in the platform.
Product Manager Responsibilities
Understand the roles and responsibilities of product managers.
Being a Product Manager at GitLab
Want to know more on what being a Product Manager at GitLab is like? Checkout our Product Manager Role guide for helpful information like our Career Development Framework and learning/development resources.
Product Performance Indicators
Learn how we measure success in Product via our Product KPIs, which are tracked in our Product project. For best practices and guidance on how to add instrumentation for features please review our Analytics Instrumentation workflow.
Product OKRs
Understand the OKR Process for the GitLab Product Team and review current and past OKRs.
Our Product Leadership Team
Learn about our Product Leadership Team and learn about them via their personal README’s.
Popular Product Resources
- Data for Product Managers
- Internal Product Handbook (must access through OKTA)
- Learning and Development for Product Management
- Product Budgeting Process
- Product Development Flow
- Product Development Timeline
- Analytics Instrumentation Guide
- Product Management CDF and competencies
- Product Manager Onboarding
- Product Manager Responsibilities
- Product Manager SAFE (legal) Guidance
- Product Pricing Model
- Release Posts
- Tiering Guidance for Features
Communicating with the Product Division
Below are team emails and handles that can be used for different departments and sub-departments in the Product Division. These groups are used for internal communication and the @mention
can only be used by project members. Please remember that tagging @mention
on issues will generate in-product to-do items and email notifications to all team members in that project, so use it only when you need to communicate with the entire team. For communication specifically for product managers, please leverage How to Engage.
@gl-product-leadership
tags all group managers, directors and VPs in the Product Division@gl-product-plt
tags all direct reports to the VP Product in the Product Division@gl-product-pm
tags to all members of Product Management, Product Monetization and Program Managers in the Product Division@gl-product
tags to all members in the Product Division: Product Management, Product Monetization, Program Management, Product Design, User Research, and Technical Writingproduct@gitlab.com
emails all members of Product Management, Product Monetization and Program Management in the Product Divisionux-department@gitlab.com
emails all members of UX (UX Research, Technical Writing and Product Design) in the Product Division@gitlab-com/gitlab-ux
tags all members of UX (UX Research, Technical Writing and Product Design) in the Product Division@gitlab-com/gitlab-ux/managers
tags all people managers within UX (UX Research, Technical Writing, and Product Design)@gitlab-com/gitlab-ux/designers
tags all Product Designers and Design Managers in UX@gl-docsteam
for all Technical Writers in UX
When you are tagging @mention
:
- Clearly state why you are tagging the entire product team and what action you need product team members to take.
- Write a short summary in the same comment so team members can quickly understand the necessary context.
- Review the issue title and description to ensure it has relevant details other product team members need BEFORE submitting the comment. The issue title will be the subject of email notifications and in-product to-do items.
- If asking team members to review a change, please directly link to the specific page on the review app and any relevant issues or MRs.
Advantages of a single application
AI-assisted features
Analytics Instrumentation Guide
Collaboration on shared feature and experience areas
Cross Functional Prioritization
Fulfillment Guide
GitLab the Product
How the growth section works
How to Engage with Product Management
Making Gifs
Personas
Product - Interpreting Release Dates
Product Data Insights
Product Division OKRs
Product Division Performance Indicators
Product Internship - Best Practices
Product Leadership
Product Manager SAFE Guidance
Product Milestones
Product Operations
Product Principles
Product Processes
Product sections, stages, groups, and categories
Secure and Govern Internship Program
The Product Manager Role at GitLab
Tiering Strategy & Guidance for Product Managers
Use Cases
UX Department
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