The first point hit home for me. For the longest time, I'd be amazed at how thought through some folks' product perspective is, until I realized that what really amazed me was that they took a stance that I had never heard before. It was novel and refreshing. However, that thought through perspective / insight is the tip of the iceberg, the reward if you will, that follows everything that goes into developing the product judgement, that one doesn't always see.
I read this phrased once as honing a practice of curiosity and observation. Taking from this post: https://twitter.com/joulee/status/1357748477548089344. She also mentions how designers have a structured way of practicing this with "critique" processes. Which seem like a great, collaborative way to grow.
This area gave me the most imposter syndrome when I first started in product and it's something that I've felt more comfortable with over time and reading things like UX tear downs.
great thread! the snippet below jumped out and is 💯what I meant in #5
“It's not innate talent to be have a good product sense. Designers are relatively strong here because of practices like design critique—few other roles get as much exposure to other people's opinions on the daily. Researchers, data analysts, VCs can gain product sense through pattern-matching from large sets of data. PMs, engineers, marketers develop it in the trenches of repeated shipping and iteration.”
Love the idea of referring to judgement rather than instinct.
Abstraction = absolutely. Put another way, the ability to apply non-linear thinking, and look for the effects that tactical decisions have on the wider system is invaluable for product people. Thanks Ibrahim and have a great weekend.
The first point hit home for me. For the longest time, I'd be amazed at how thought through some folks' product perspective is, until I realized that what really amazed me was that they took a stance that I had never heard before. It was novel and refreshing. However, that thought through perspective / insight is the tip of the iceberg, the reward if you will, that follows everything that goes into developing the product judgement, that one doesn't always see.
Your words reminded me of this blog I read a while ago (you may have recommended it, don't quite remember): https://www.intercom.com/blog/product-judgment/
Thanks for sharing!
yes, that blog post got me thinking about this last year https://runthebusiness.substack.com/p/opinion-product-instinct/comments
I read this phrased once as honing a practice of curiosity and observation. Taking from this post: https://twitter.com/joulee/status/1357748477548089344. She also mentions how designers have a structured way of practicing this with "critique" processes. Which seem like a great, collaborative way to grow.
This area gave me the most imposter syndrome when I first started in product and it's something that I've felt more comfortable with over time and reading things like UX tear downs.
great thread! the snippet below jumped out and is 💯what I meant in #5
“It's not innate talent to be have a good product sense. Designers are relatively strong here because of practices like design critique—few other roles get as much exposure to other people's opinions on the daily. Researchers, data analysts, VCs can gain product sense through pattern-matching from large sets of data. PMs, engineers, marketers develop it in the trenches of repeated shipping and iteration.”
Love the idea of referring to judgement rather than instinct.
Abstraction = absolutely. Put another way, the ability to apply non-linear thinking, and look for the effects that tactical decisions have on the wider system is invaluable for product people. Thanks Ibrahim and have a great weekend.