This Week in Product – Mar. 1, 2019

Get It Together

Recently did interviews with a very specific user subset. Didn’t see many valuable insights until we did the the synthesis…and holy shit. So many insights we have to a second session to prioritize the info. Kicking myself for how often I’ve half-assed my research synthesis.

— Karen VanHouten (@designinginward) February 28, 2019

What we have here is a classic case of trees and forest — and many PMs can probably relate to becoming attached to anecdotal data as if it were absolute truth. This is your gentle reminder that collecting feedback requires a good amount of planning, so before you start, breathe deeply and make a plan.

Unexpected Places

The nerd herd of ProductCraft loves a good book rec, and we especially appreciate one that comes from outside the field. If you’re looking for a weekend read that’s not just about roadmaps, we’re all about “The Design of Everyday Things.” Also, Sughanda, we’re very jealous of your job.

No Matter Where

We were surprised a few weeks back to hear our audience and debaters so divided on the question of distributed teams. I fully expected a landslide of arguments for the benefits of co-location, but it seems that the tide is actually turning. This article from a distributed PM does a nice job of highlighting some of the joys (and pitfalls) of remote work. If you’re trying to build a better distributed team, this is worth a read.

So.Many.Questions.

What questions should we ask before starting a piece of work?#prodmgmt

— Roger Swannell (@rogerswannell) February 28, 2019

This thread of five questions feels like the Five Ws of product management. Next time you’re about to start planning, stop and ask yourself all of these.

Across the Pond

This is one of the longest job descriptions I’ve seen for a product person, but I love the focus on soft skills. This position requires you to “instill trust, belief, confidence and drive into a worldwide team.” We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: influence, not control!