Deanne Watt, Product Manager in Nanaimo, BC, Canada
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Deanne Watt

Verified Expert  in Product Management

Product Manager

Location
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
Toptal Member Since
January 24, 2019

Deanne is a product strategist with broad experience in SaaS, eCommerce, mobile, and desktop application planning and development. Deeanne specializes in early-stage and startup software solutions, focusing on game-changing solutions to challenging problems.

Project Highlights

ExamSoft Portal
Led the restructuring of their product to be able to launch into new markets effectively.
Feature Alignment
Predictive Index needed help getting the team into alignment and agree on a direction.
Executive Team Alignment
Research and user interviews helped guide a split executive team into a decision.

Expertise

Work Experience

VP of Product Management

2022 - 2023
Sprockets
  • Built the new strategic effort for product-led growth, including self-serve, time to value, and assessment enhancement.
  • Led the effort for processes for engineering, design, and product teams.
  • Worked with stakeholders to uncover insights and brainstorm solutions to address outcomes for the product.
  • Rebuilt the entire platform, incorporating insights gained from customer feedback and the MVP experience.

Senior Product Manager | Product Strategic Lead

2021 - 2022
Originate
  • Acted as the product lead consultant handling the client's strategic development from blueprints of the vision to guiding execution.
  • Guided the team of product managers, designers, and engineers to build a product that matched the clients' goals.
  • Functioned as the primary contact for the client to help them innovate a unique vision and create solid business value through workshops, collaboration, and guidance.

Head of Product

2019 - 2021
Starsona | myFanPark
  • Redesigned an MVP with the UX team and development team to compete with the competition and create a value proposition for our users.
  • Built user stories and personas around the product to help generate consensus around goals.
  • Developed a solid strategic vision to carry the product through the first two years and investment rounds.
  • Managed the backlog and prioritized user stories to develop a strong short-term plan and long-term roadmap.
  • Developed requirements for complex features for remote development teams.

Product Consultant

2017 - 2019
MDA Information Systems
  • Interviewed end-users to understand their journey and generate user stories for enterprise design.
  • Worked directly with their development teams to establish consistent patterns, style guides, and direction for three different products.
  • Assisted in prioritization of their roadmap of current and new feature sets.
  • Established integration design between their product lineup.
  • Conducted competitive analysis to help manage feature sets and goals.
  • Created user personas and a rough journey map for team alignment.
  • Assisted in creating a vision and value proposition for the series of products.

Product Consultant

2017 - 2018
Predictive Index Inc.
  • Provided in-depth product research for upcoming features.
  • Conducted competitive analysis to help form an understanding of the market and establish our value proposition.
  • Performed wireframing and code-based prototyping for extensive user testing to validate theories.
  • Mentored several of the staff while the team was in transition until fully staffed.

Product Evolution Manager

2012 - 2016
ExamSoft Worldwide
  • Redesigned the product that grew from 200 to over 1,000 clients in three years.
  • Conducted research and prioritization of all products, including SaaS, desktop, and mobile applications.
  • Worked with buyers and end-users to understand the market and validate potential features.
  • Guided the design direction utilizing wireframing, testing, data research, and front-end development.
  • Managed backlogs, user stories, and prioritization using Jira and Trello.
  • Acted as an active and non-active participant in several agile teams ranging from five to seven members to over 30 members.
  • Handled competitive analysis and SWOT guides for product management decision-making and marketing.
  • Worked on products such as affinity diagramming, journey maps, and user personas that helped develop our product vision.
  • Provided training on new features to an in-house team and worked with the implementation department to optimize efforts.
  • Proposed and produced features that helped establish new markets and growth.

Interactive Project Manager

2005 - 2011
Securus Technologies, Inc
  • Served as the team and product lead for the intranet, extranet, and eCommerce application.
  • Managed the roadmap and prioritization for multiple projects.
  • Adhered to business and technical requirements, including related wireframing, technical documentation, and presentation materials.
  • Directed web applications, including staff, represented at change control and monitored product releases.
  • Developed and coded the intranet and website alongside other team members.
  • Provided training and training materials for product and feature releases.
  • Visited customers across the country, working with different user personas to establish needs and current challenges.
  • Assisted marketing with testimonial videos and establishing relationships during visits.

Senior Art Director

2002 - 2005
Ad Cetera Inc.
  • Managed a team consisting of designers, developers, and freelancers.
  • Product managed all cloud-based applications, including membership sites, complex eCommerce systems, and promotional sites.
  • Built systems and processes to help the department run efficiently.
  • Led the creative direction for various industries, from health care to law firms.

Director of Web and Product Development

2000 - 2002
Y2 Marketing
  • Built the product portfolio and established guidelines for sales, including some presentations.
  • Managed the IT and design staff for all interactive and design projects.
  • Developed intranet and extranet portals that managed information provided to sales and customers.
  • Product managed all large development projects of over $100,000, including roadmaps, prioritization, opportunities, and maintenance strategies.
  • Collaborated with executive management closely on the business vision.

ExamSoft Portal

Led the restructuring of their product to be able to launch into new markets effectively.

A restructure of four separate websites to one for this online assessment authoring tool was required for professors and students to be able to create assessments and manage them. This project provided users with consistency and a product where the value was easily visible. The restructure centered around usability and the users being able to achieve their goals quickly. The end result built up the client base from 200 to over 1,000 customers.

Feature Alignment

Predictive Index needed help getting the team into alignment and agree on a direction.

The job targeting feature allows human resources to send out assessments to stakeholders for that position to evaluate what they want in a potential candidate. It helps the HR lead align the team to find a specific behavioral target for that position. My role was to coordinate the team to get to a final design and provide the solution. This project was more about alignment than it was about the design.

Executive Team Alignment

Research and user interviews helped guide a split executive team into a decision.

The executive team wanted to start building a matching question type to increase revenue in the nursing market. Based on conversations with clients, there was a clear need for another question type. To help the team make a decision on which direction would increase closes for nursing marketing, some research needed to be done.

Prioritization

Worked out a prioritization for a long list of highly contested feature sets using data.

The rubrics software provides for evaluations of performance where a traditional assessment is not enough. Most often used for essays or presentations. It provides a way to consistently grade by setting up specific criteria for different points of evaluation. I collaborated with the CEO and CTO on the final decision but handled the research independently.
1990 - 1993

Courses in Business Administration

University of Texas - Arlington, TX

1990 - 1992

Associate's Degree in Basics

Dallas County Community College - Dallas, TX

MARCH 2017 - PRESENT

Web Development Bootcamp

Online Certification

JANUARY 2017 - PRESENT

Lean Six Sigma White Belt

The Council for Six Sigma Certification

DECEMBER 2016 - PRESENT

Pragmatic marketing

Pragmatic Marketing

DECEMBER 2016 - PRESENT

Agile Certified Product Manager

280 Group

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