One challenge in product management is making sure that what the product team works on actually matters to the business. A team might improve onboarding, launch new features, increase engagement, or reduce friction in a workflow. These can all be worthwhile improvements. But how do they contribute to the company’s larger goals? If that connection…

One of the easiest traps in product management is taking customer requests too literally. A customer asks for a dashboard. Another wants an export option. Someone else requests an integration. It’s tempting to turn each request into a backlog item and start thinking about implementation. But customers are usually describing the solution they have in…

One of the simplest changes a product team can make is also one of the most influential: Change the default. Preselect an option. Set a recommended configuration. Start users with a template. Give them a sensible starting point. Users can still change the choice, but many won’t. That’s the default effect, and it can have…

One thing I’ve learned about positioning is that the same product can mean very different things to different customers. A product may help one customer save time, another reduce risk, and another improve collaboration. The underlying product hasn’t changed. What has changed is the problem the customer cares about. That is why strong positioning often…

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in user research is thinking that asking more questions would automatically lead to better insights. It doesn’t. A 60-minute interview can produce very little useful information if the questions are too broad, leading, or focused on hypothetical situations. Good research isn’t just about getting customers to talk. It’s…