Product Onboarding Template

Template for product-specific PM onboarding docs. Copy, rename, and fill in.

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TL;DR

• Prerequisites: Read PM Onboarding Guide first for universal principles
• How to use: Copy this file, rename to ONBOARDING_PM.md, fill in each section
• Keep it current: Stale docs are worse than no docs

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How to Use This Template

1. Copy this file to your product/team folder
2. Rename to ONBOARDING_PM.md or PM_GUIDE.md
3. Fill in each section (delete the guidance text)
4. Remove sections that don't apply
5. Add product-specific sections as needed
6. Keep it updated - stale docs are worse than no docs

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[Product Name] PM Onboarding

One-liner: What does this product do and who is it for?

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Access Checklist

Before you start, make sure you have:

- [ ] Linear workspace access
- [ ] Analytics platform access (Metabase, Amplitude, etc.)
- [ ] Observability tools access (SigNoz, Datadog, etc.)
- [ ] Design tools access (Figma)
- [ ] Documentation access (Notion, Confluence, etc.)
- [ ] Added to Slack channels: [list them]
- [ ] Customer support tool access (Zendesk, Intercom, etc.)
- [ ] Session recording access (FullStory, Hotjar, etc.)
- [ ] Production app access (admin accounts if applicable)
- [ ] [Other access requirements]

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Product Overview

What We Do

• Problem we solve: [What pain point does this product address?]
• Users: [Who uses this? What are the key personas?]
• Business model: [How does this make money?]
• Market position: [Who are competitors? How do we differentiate?]

User Personas

Persona	Description	Key Goals	Key Pain Points
[Persona 1]	[Brief description]	[What they're trying to achieve]	[What frustrates them]
[Persona 2]	[Brief description]	[What they're trying to achieve]	[What frustrates them]
[Persona 3]	[Brief description]	[What they're trying to achieve]	[What frustrates them]

User Journey

High-level user journey (link to detailed maps if available):

[Journey Stage 1] → [Stage 2] → [Stage 3] → [Stage 4] → [Stage 5]

Example:
Awareness → Sign Up → First Consultation → Repeat Use → Referral

Key conversion points:

• [Stage 1 → Stage 2]: [Current conversion rate, target]
• [Stage 2 → Stage 3]: [Current conversion rate, target]
• [etc.]

Product Areas

Area	What It Does	PM Owner	Key Metrics
[Area 1]	[Description]	[Name]	[Key metric]
[Area 2]	[Description]	[Name]	[Key metric]
[Area 3]	[Description]	[Name]	[Key metric]

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Key Metrics

North Star Metric

• Metric: [The one metric that matters most]
• Current: [Value]
• Target: [Target value and timeline]
• Why this metric: [How it connects to user and business value]

Metric Hierarchy

North Star: [Metric]
├── Driver 1: [Metric that influences NS]
│   ├── Sub-driver: [More granular metric]
│   └── Sub-driver: [More granular metric]
├── Driver 2: [Metric that influences NS]
│   ├── Sub-driver: [More granular metric]
│   └── Sub-driver: [More granular metric]
└── Driver 3: [Metric that influences NS]

Key Dashboards

Dashboard	What It Shows	Link	Review Cadence
[Dashboard 1]	[Description]	[URL]	[Daily/Weekly/etc.]
[Dashboard 2]	[Description]	[URL]	[Daily/Weekly/etc.]
[Dashboard 3]	[Description]	[URL]	[Daily/Weekly/etc.]

Metrics to Watch

Metric	Healthy Range	Alert Threshold	What It Means
[Metric 1]	[Range]	[Threshold]	[Interpretation]
[Metric 2]	[Range]	[Threshold]	[Interpretation]
[Metric 3]	[Range]	[Threshold]	[Interpretation]

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Domain Knowledge

Industry Context

• Market size: [TAM/SAM/SOM if relevant]
• Regulatory environment: [Key regulations, compliance requirements]
• Industry trends: [What's changing in the market?]
• Seasonality: [Are there predictable patterns?]

Key Terminology

Term	Definition
[Term 1]	[What it means in this context]
[Term 2]	[What it means in this context]
[Term 3]	[What it means in this context]

Business Rules

Critical business logic you need to understand:

Rule	Description	Why
[Rule 1]	[How it works]	[Business/regulatory reason]
[Rule 2]	[How it works]	[Business/regulatory reason]
[Rule 3]	[How it works]	[Business/regulatory reason]

Pricing & Packaging

• Pricing model: [How users pay]
• Tiers: [What tiers exist and what's included]
• Key pricing decisions: [Why pricing is structured this way]

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Tools & Workflows

Project Management

• Tool: [Linear, Jira, etc.]
• Workspace/Project: [Name and link]
• Workflow states: [List the states issues go through]

[State 1] → [State 2] → [State 3] → [State 4] → [State 5]

Example:
Backlog → Ready for Dev → In Progress → In Review → Done

Ticket Writing

Labels we use:

Label	Meaning
[Label 1]	[When to use it]
[Label 2]	[When to use it]
[Label 3]	[When to use it]

Ticket templates:

• Feature template: [add link]
• Bug template: [add link]
• Research template: [add link]

Analytics

• Primary tool: [Metabase, Amplitude, Mixpanel, etc.]
• Access: [How to get access]
• Key reports: [Links to important saved reports/dashboards]

Common queries:

-- [Query 1 description]
[SQL or link to saved query]

-- [Query 2 description]
[SQL or link to saved query]

Customer Research

• Support tickets: [Tool and how to access]
• Session recordings: [Tool and how to access]
• User interviews: [Process for scheduling]
• Surveys: [Tool and process]

Design

• Tool: [Figma, Sketch, etc.]
• Design system: [Link to component library]
• How to request design: [Process]

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Team

People

Role	Person	Responsibilities	Ask Them About
Product Lead	[Name]	[Scope]	Strategy, prioritization
Engineering Lead	[Name]	[Scope]	Technical feasibility, architecture
Design Lead	[Name]	[Scope]	UX, design system
Data/Analytics	[Name]	[Scope]	Metrics, dashboards
[Other role]	[Name]	[Scope]	[Domain]

Communication

Channel	Purpose	When to Use
[#channel-1]	[Purpose]	[When]
[#channel-2]	[Purpose]	[When]
[#channel-3]	[Purpose]	[When]

Meetings

Meeting	Frequency	Attendees	Purpose
[Meeting 1]	[Cadence]	[Who]	[What happens]
[Meeting 2]	[Cadence]	[Who]	[What happens]
[Meeting 3]	[Cadence]	[Who]	[What happens]

Stakeholders

Stakeholder	Role	What They Care About	How to Update Them
[Name/Team]	[Role]	[Their priorities]	[Preferred channel/cadence]
[Name/Team]	[Role]	[Their priorities]	[Preferred channel/cadence]
[Name/Team]	[Role]	[Their priorities]	[Preferred channel/cadence]

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Current State

Active Initiatives

Initiative	Status	Owner	Expected Impact	Timeline
[Initiative 1]	[Status]	[PM]	[Expected outcome]	[Timeline]
[Initiative 2]	[Status]	[PM]	[Expected outcome]	[Timeline]
[Initiative 3]	[Status]	[PM]	[Expected outcome]	[Timeline]

Recent Launches

Feature	Launch Date	Results	Learnings
[Feature 1]	[Date]	[Outcome]	[What we learned]
[Feature 2]	[Date]	[Outcome]	[What we learned]
[Feature 3]	[Date]	[Outcome]	[What we learned]

Known Pain Points

Issues we know about but haven't addressed yet:

Pain Point	Impact	Why Not Addressed Yet	Ticket/Doc
[Issue 1]	[Impact]	[Reason]	[Link]
[Issue 2]	[Impact]	[Reason]	[Link]
[Issue 3]	[Impact]	[Reason]	[Link]

Technical Debt / Constraints

Things that affect what we can build:

Constraint	Impact on Product	Planned Resolution
[Constraint 1]	[How it limits us]	[If/when we'll fix it]
[Constraint 2]	[How it limits us]	[If/when we'll fix it]

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Common Tasks

Running a Discovery

1. [Step 1: Define the problem]
2. [Step 2: Gather existing data]
3. [Step 3: User research]
4. [Step 4: Synthesize findings]
5. [Step 5: Document recommendations]

Templates: [add link to discovery template]

Writing a Spec

1. [Step 1: Problem statement]
2. [Step 2: User stories]
3. [Step 3: Acceptance criteria]
4. [Step 4: Design review]
5. [Step 5: Engineering review]
6. [Step 6: Stakeholder sign-off]

Templates: [add link to spec template]

Launching a Feature

1. [Step 1: Pre-launch checklist]
2. [Step 2: Release process]
3. [Step 3: Communication]
4. [Step 4: Monitoring]
5. [Step 5: Post-launch review]

Templates: [add link to launch checklist]

Handling Escalations

When users/stakeholders escalate issues:

1. [Step 1: Acknowledge and gather context]
2. [Step 2: Assess impact and urgency]
3. [Step 3: Communicate status]
4. [Step 4: Coordinate resolution]
5. [Step 5: Follow up and document]

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Historical Context

Key Decisions

Decisions that shaped the product (context for "why is it like this?"):

Decision	Date	Context	Outcome
[Decision 1]	[When]	[Why we decided this]	[What happened]
[Decision 2]	[When]	[Why we decided this]	[What happened]
[Decision 3]	[When]	[Why we decided this]	[What happened]

Failed Experiments

Things we tried that didn't work:

Experiment	What We Tried	Result	Learning
[Experiment 1]	[Description]	[Outcome]	[What we learned]
[Experiment 2]	[Description]	[Outcome]	[What we learned]

Roadmap Evolution

How priorities have shifted and why:

• [Time period]: [Focus area and why]
• [Time period]: [Focus area and why]
• [Current]: [Focus area and why]

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Links & Resources

Internal

• Product strategy doc: [add link]
• Research repository: [add link]
• Design files: [add link]
• Technical architecture: [add link]
• Postmortems: [add link]

External

• Competitor analysis: [add link]
• Industry reports: [add link]
• Relevant regulations: [add link]

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First Week Checklist

Day 1

• [ ] Read this doc
• [ ] Get all access (see checklist above)
• [ ] Join Slack channels
• [ ] Meet with PM lead / buddy
• [ ] Review product strategy doc

Day 2-3

• [ ] Review key dashboards
• [ ] Read recent launch docs and postmortems
• [ ] Shadow customer support or listen to calls
• [ ] Review current sprint and active initiatives
• [ ] Meet with engineering and design leads

Day 4-5

• [ ] Use the product end-to-end as a user would
• [ ] Review user research from past 3 months
• [ ] Attend sprint ceremonies
• [ ] Identify 3 questions you have about the product
• [ ] Update this doc with anything unclear or missing

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Feedback

This doc should help you get productive fast. If something is:

• Missing: Add it
• Wrong: Fix it
• Confusing: Clarify it

Don't ask permission. Just improve it.

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Last updated: [Date] by [Name]