It’s about time for a new edition of Meet A Spreader. This time it’s Mareike’s turn. About 3.5 years ago, Mareike started out as one of two product owners. A lot has changed at Spreadshirt since then. In this interview she’s going to explain what’s important for Product Management, how her work at Spreadshirt has changed, and how she finds motivation for her daily work.
But let’s take it step by step. Could you briefly introduce yourself? Where are you from, and how did you get into Spreadshirt?
How long have you been part of the company? Initially I am from the greater Berlin area. After I finished school, I first wanted to study design. So I went to Cologne to work as an intern for a marketing agency. I built my first websites there, and I got excited by the possibilities that I discovered. This is why I then studied Media Science in Furtwangen. Back then this was the only German university offering the programme with an online focus. And I’m still pretty happy with my change of tack. It’s what I like doing.
During my studies, I also had the opportunity to do a term in Finland. What a great experience! And later I wrote my final thesis at IBM in Hamburg. The topic was on product searches in online shops, and this is how i got into Spreadshirt. But first I stayed in Hamburg for another 3 years. There I worked for an agency involved with company communication at their online department. After that I came to Spreadshirt. And I’m still here today 
Like you said, you are a Product Owner. What exactly is your job? And do you find it difficult to explain what you do over a pint in the pub?
It’s a bit of a challenge, to be fair. My work comprises several areas: First of all I create a roadmap stating the goals for the year to come. I do this in cooperation with many different people, i.e. the board and department leaders. I also align tasks with the User Experience Team to get user tests under way in regular intervals. They give me information on what kind of changes our users ask for, and what can be improved on the platform. Based on these results I design business cases which are then again the basis for further decisions concerning projects worth pursuing. A big question is the relation between effort and use. The discovery phase is designed to do exactly just that. During this period, we as a team consider how to find the best possible solutions. These considerations always contain a minimal version, the achievement of which would be sufficient it itself, and an optimal version that leaves nothing to be desired. The mutual effort is important for realising goals.
This goes in three phases: User issues, revenue for company and efforts to be expended for project. Then the board needs to approve and prioritise.
In the product development phase, I have to break down the still very abstract solution into user stories for the team Communication is a central part of my work, particularly in terms of transparency during the whole project. The big advantage for our team here is that everyone is in one place – and this makes it easy to talk about things in person. But I also have a lot of communication to do outside the team. Identifying the solutions that we’re working on, dealing with delays, making sure everyone is on the same page. And this means managing expectations and motivation.
And after the release, we conduct an efficiency review. This implies identifying values that assess the success of goal achievement.
You keep talking about We and Team – what’s your team look like?
There are no set teams. Depending on the challenge the project poses, we establish so-called Feature Teams. Depending on the project, these are composed differently. In the design ranking team, there were primarily developers, and in the header team there was quite an interdisciplinary composition. It all depends on the challenges the project brings with it.
Can you say a little bit more about the project?
The header, for example, developed the new corporate design as well as the homepage. Parallel to this, we have been working on the Marketplace design ranking for longer, and in recent months we’ve been able to make some real improvement. This means that when I i.e. enter the search term ‘goat’ that I only get search results with goats, and not a mix of goats, sheep and horses.
Your last publication was the header last year in October: What was the main goal?
There were many goals. For a start we wanted to change the corporate design. The old header just didn’t fit to Spreadshirt any more. It was also irritating for the user to find different headers in different parts of the platform. Sometimes there were two layers, sometimes three, and other times there was a drop-down menu. We strived for more consistency. And the new header should work on touch devices. There were a lot of menu items that just didn’t work on tablets.
Now that the new header is in place, what’s the plan for next year?
In the first quarter of 2014, we are going to keep optimising the Marketplace and work on the SEO. It is our goal to have Google place the Marketplace in the top 3 listing, so that we get more visitors directly from the search engine.
Has your work changed during the course of time that you’ve been working at Spreadshirt?
I would say so. In the beginning of my time, there were two Product Owners and only a few small teams. The team members also worked on many projects at the same time, and the product owners had to run from room to room to talk to people individually. This is quite inefficient.
But about two years ago significant changes were made. We have more teams and of course more product owners as well. There are a lot of presentations and communication between the teams. This actually applies to the whole of the company. We’ve become more professional.
What do you like best about your job?
The best thing is working with a whole lot of different people. Then there is the interdisciplinary approach that helps you think outside the box. I’m not an expert in every field, but I’m versed enough to have a basic understanding of all aspects involved. Varied work is good and interesting.
And now a final question: Who would you like to see as the next Meet A Spreader vict… err… volunteer?
I’ve seen this question long coming. So why am I not prepared? Hm, let me think. I’d say someone from PR.
Thank you, Mareike, for this really insightful interview! You definitely gave us a thorough look behind the scenes.
And how about you? Do you still have questions for Mareike, or any comments?
The post Meet A Spreader: Product Owner Mareike Goedemann appeared first on The Spreadshirt UK blog.