Top Courses & Tutorials for those in Product Development Careers
Product development is the strategic process of designing products and services or modifying existing products to meet market demands – which is why product development professionals are integral to every industry. However, expanding one’s skills in this field can be rather difficult to navigate. The good news is that we’ve created this post just for you. Below, you’ll find a list of essential skills employers look for, as well as, recommendations for the best product development courses and books. Keep reading!

In this post:
- Skills Employers Look for in Product Developers, Designers, and Managers
- Top Product Development Courses & Tutorials
- Best Product Development Books
Skills Employers Look for in Product Developers, Designers, and Managers
Employers look for a wide range of skills in product development professionals. Some of those skills include:
- Strong communication and collaboration skills
- In-depth product strategy skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Intellectual curiosity and a strong sense of creativity
- Leadership skills
- Team management
- User experience (UX) design skills
- User interface (UI) design skills
- Product lifecycle management
- Market research skills
- Negotiation skills
- Conflict resolution
- Critical attention to detail
- Strong public speaking skills
- Proficient technical skills in product design and development
While this is not an exhaustive list, however, it can be used as a guide for product development professionals who are just beginning their careers and want to know what skills to work on.
Common Careers in Product Development
Product development professionals can take on a variety of roles. Some common job titles in the product development industry include:
- Product Manager
- Product Designer
- UX Designer
- UI Designer
- Product Development Engineer
- Product Analyst
- UI/UX Researcher
- Prototype Developer
- Manufacturing Engineer
- Industrial Designer
- Video Game Developer

Top Product Development Courses & Tutorials
To succeed in today’s fast world of product design and development, you must be equipped with the best skills and the most up-to-date knowledge. In order to do that, consider taking a product manager certification course, a class on product leadership, or trying different tutorials to sharpen your creative thinking and product ideation skills.
After all, you must compete with other highly qualified candidates for the jobs you want. So, why not equip yourself with the skills needed to be the best product development pro you can be?
Keep reading to review our curated list of product design and development courses you can explore to enhance your skills or learn new ones.
Product Ideation, Design, and Management – the University of Maryland College Park via Coursera
Sharpen your entrepreneurial thinking skills with a course offered by the University of Maryland that explores product ideation and design from start to final project. Offered on Coursera, this online course aims to equip participants with sharper product development and design skills, as well as, empower new product leaders to take their ideas from concept to prototype to finished, functional product.
Product and Service Development: Empathy Mapping with Miro – Coursera Project Network
If you want to learn how to use the Miro platform to its full potential, take this course on creating customer empathy maps. In this online course offered by the Coursera Project Network, participants will be working on developing their customer segmentation analysis skills, as well as, agile practices and how to approach product and service development with the best business strategies.
Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals – University of Virginia via Coursera
Exploring? product management courses? Consider taking this one. In this course offered by the University of Virginia participants are expected to enhance their product management, design thinking, and entrepreneurial skills so that they can better meet the demands of the industry. So, if you want to explore new product ideas or effective ways to amplify existing products, give this class a try.
Agile Project Management – Google via Coursera
Ready to explore the history and philosophy behind agile project management? Learn from a top organization when you take this course offered by none other than Google. This course is a part of a series that aims to explore project management approaches, product design thinking, and innovative approaches to problem-solving.
Best Product Development Books
For some of us, an online course isn’t the best route and we’d prefer a book instead. That’s okay! We learn in dynamically different ways. But, if you are looking for books on product development, design, or management; look no further. This list encompasses the best product-related books you should read this year.
Important Disclaimer: This blog post may contain Amazon affiliate links.
The Complete Book of Product Design, Development, Manufacturing, and Sales by Steven Selikoff
Looking for a book that touches on a variety of topics that fall under the product development umbrella? Read the revised and updated version of the Complete Book of Product Design, Development, and Sales. This new version includes updated information on retail packaging, global shipping procedures, and other valuable information that can help product designers and developers take a project from its initial idea to manufacturing.
Product Design and Development, 7th Edition by Maria C. Yang, Karl Ulrich, and Steven Eppinger
Learn from seasoned professionals when you read this text on product design and development. The knowledge learners can glean may inspire invaluable insights and help folks navigate their product design and development careers.
97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts by Daniel Berlin
For product practitioners, learning about the best UX practices can be imperative. So explore this text edited by Daniel Berlin that includes short articles and stories that anecdotes from industry professionals. What better way to get inspired and develop one’s career than listening to sound career advice from folks who have been down this path already?
101 Things I Learned in Product Design School by Sung Jang, Matthew Frederick and Martin Thaler
Want a practical guide to product design? Explore this text called 101 Things I Learned in Product Design School. In its pages you’ll find valuable insights on the history, design, materials technilogy, manufacturing and marketing of products in general – definitely worth a read!