We have recently been looking for some great design and engineering minds to join our productboard team. Having done hundreds of interviews in the past, I have been following my recruiting routine of screening candidates, asking about their past experiences, fishing for concrete examples of brilliance, drive, and leadership in their fields.
I want to forget, at least for now, the obvious need for a clear overarching vision, trust, accountability and a culture of cooperation. Without these, you will not build a great product no matter what, so let’s assume that these are in place. (Wishful thinking, I know, but let’s not go there now.)
Given the long history of myriad frameworks and methodologies, it seems like the customer, her goals, pains and motivations are besieged on every front. Everyone is trying to analyze her, everyone is trying to understand her, everyone is trying to learn how to satisfy her.
Everyone is on the same page when it comes to understanding who exactly the target customer is, what her key goals and pains are, and what solution alternatives are available to her. Nothing can stop them from building a product that will be a runaway success.
Well, not so fast.
It turns out that there is often a striking divide and lack of alignment in terms of understanding users, their goals and pains, and available solution alternatives (alternatives in the sense of competitive products or non-consumption).
Product Management seems to be the least defined and standardized discipline out of the corporate functions — sales, support, HR, finance, engineering, even demand generation tends to have much more standardized structure and best practices.
