Adevinta is a leading online classifieds group, operating digital marketplaces across Europe. Their marketplaces span consumer goods, mobility, real estate, and jobs, with a portfolio consisting of more than 25 digital brands. But with so many unique companies and brands, the product organization was experiencing several pain points, including too much time spent in meetings, a lack of trust and communication as teams worked in silos, and difficulty accessing information because everyone used separate tools. Productboard supported them in streamlining roadmapping, customer insights collection, and communication, so everyone now feels empowered to work toward the same strategic goals.
Need to buy or sell something in Europe? If so, there’s a good chance you’ve turned to one of Adevinta’s 25+ brands. Their portfolio — including brands like Leboncoin in France, Marktplaats in the Netherlands, and Kleinanzeigen in Germany — attracts 120 million users and over 1 million businesses every month.
Each brand has its own unique identity, provides a range of services, and plays an integral role in empowering buyers, sellers, renters, and job seekers to find exactly what they’re looking for. As you can imagine, serving such a broad community through dozens of platforms leads to complexity within the product org. Needless to say, it’s easy for tools and communication to get a little tangled. This is why Product Operations Manager Jo-Shan Lee is committed to streamlining their product processes and toolkit.
Challenges: Multiple tools, inconsistent processes, and too much time lost
“Back in the old days, our teams were using multiple tools to manage their roadmaps — Google Sheets, Google Slides, Confluence,” says Jo-Shan. It often took several rounds of back and forth meetings to communicate roadmaps. Some of their biggest challenges included:
- Inconsistent roadmap processes, which led to extra work and time to get everyone on the same page
- Lack of visibility into other teams’ work, which eroded trust and hampered productivity
- Decentralized organization prevented effective cross-team alignment
These problems meant there was a lack of cohesiveness within the product team. “People didn’t have visibility into what others were doing — teams worked in silos,” says Jo-Shan.