The Product Owner is in charge of developing and optimizing a digital or IT product (most often, a software, an application, or a website). The PO has to respect a certain budget and time frame, in order to meet users’ expectations as accurately as possible.
Their vision is product, business and efficiency oriented. They make sure that the product is developed in accordance with the needs of the users. Part of their work is also to collect and analyze expectations to improve the process as a whole.
Their mission is to orchestrate the project and ensure its good implementation by the team members. The Product Owner generally works by applying an agile method, such as the Scrum methodology. It is one of the most widely used, and requires to collaborate with the following departments:
- the R&D team
- the customer support team
- the sales team
- the marketing team
- customers
Designations may vary from one organization to another: Product Manager, Chief Product Officer, Head of Product, Project leader etc. In all cases, the “product” refers to the deliverable that must be provided to the client following the execution of a project.
A good reminder: the Project Owner is not the Scrum Master. They are completely different jobs. However, they both work with agility and the scrum methodology. The Product Owner is also different from the Product Manager.