The Hidden ABCs of Product Management: Reveal Your Product Blind Spots
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The tricky thing about blind spots – they’re tough to see! As a product manager you likely make hundreds of decisions each day for your product & team, but are you aware of all the hidden factors and considerations that go into making them? This presentation focuses on how to identify & account for these blind spots (hint: assumptions are one example). It includes tips & learnings from my experience as a PM on how to avoid the risks involved in ignoring these crucial factors when you & your team make key product decisions.
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The Hidden ABCs of Product Management: Reveal Your Product Blind Spots
- 1. The Hidden ABCs of Product Management: Reveal Your Product Blind Spots
- 2. Blind Spots Can Sneak Up On Us...
- 3. Hidden ABCs of Product Management Assumptions Biases Costs
- 4. Hi 👋, I’m Wes Galliher! Connect or say hi: @wesgalliher /in/wesgalliher/ wes@prodpad.com Current: US Business Lead @ProdPad Past: PM/Mgr @Pivotal Labs Dir of Tech @Children’s Health Dallas Product @startups in pharma/healthcare Way Past: Chemistry PhD @Stanford
- 5. ● Busy product manager ● Decision-making, but with little authority ● Trusts expertise of team ● Decisions impact long-term success of both product & company An all-too-familiar story...
- 7. But what goes into those decisions that we might not see...
- 9. Assumptions: what we believe to be true based on our experience or information available on hand. Why can this be a problem?
- 10. Assumptions: what we believe to be true based on our experience or information available on hand. Team diversity is valuable! ✔ Different experiences ✔ Different perspectives ✔ Different biases
- 11. Assumptions: what we believe to be true based on our experience or information available on hand. You don’t know what you don’t know
- 12. Spectrum of decision-making Quick intuition Analysis paralysis
- 13. Spectrum of decision-making Quick intuition Analysis paralysis
- 14. Spectrum of decision-making Quick intuition Analysis paralysis Consideration: Is it a Type 1 or Type 2 decision? (largely irreversible) (reversible)
- 15. We make assumptions to fill gaps in our data so we can move forward UX Business Tech
- 16. We make assumptions to fill gaps in our data so we can move forward ● Proto-personas ● Proto-journey maps ● Research, in general ● Business model canvas ● Willingness to pay ● Value ● Lead scoring ● How tech will get used ● Walking skeletons ● Integrations UX Business Tech
- 18. Our natural biases & blind spots cause us to miss things
- 19. ● Anchoring ● Confirmation ● Hindsight ● Status quo ● Commitment escalation
- 20. ● Anchoring ● Confirmation ● Hindsight ● Status quo ● Commitment escalation We miss… the way numbers are affecting our decisions
- 21. ● Anchoring ● Confirmation ● Hindsight ● Status quo ● Commitment escalation We miss… information that disproves our initial assumptions
- 22. ● Anchoring ● Confirmation ● Hindsight ● Status quo ● Commitment escalation We miss… learnings from past failures
- 23. ● Anchoring ● Confirmation ● Hindsight ● Status quo ● Commitment escalation We miss… potential outcomes offered by taking new actions
- 24. ● Anchoring ● Confirmation ● Hindsight ● Status quo ● Commitment escalation We miss… opportunities to avoid more costs or problems by continuing
- 26. “Complexity cost is the debt you accrue by complicating features or technology in order to solve problems.” - Kris Gale, former VP of Engineering @Yammer
- 27. “Can’t you just add a toggle here…”
- 28. “Can’t you just add a toggle here…” 1 2 3 4
- 29. “Can’t you just add a toggle here…”
- 30. “Can’t you just add a toggle here…” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
- 31. “Can’t you just add a toggle here…” 16 states
- 32. “Can’t you just add a toggle here…” “How hard would it be to add this toggle?" - shows a lack of understanding of total costs. "How much more complicated does it get with this toggle?" - gets us closer to the right discussion. https://firstround.com/review/The-one-cost-engineers-and-product-managers-dont-consider/
- 33. Cost of Delay ● Combines urgency & value ● Effective decisions require understanding both ● Cost can be $$, strategic, competitive, or customer value https://www.leadingagile.com/2017/05/cost-delay-project-management/
- 34. Cost of Tech Debt How will today’s decisions impact tomorrow?
- 35. What are the risks of ignoring these? Assumptions Biases Costs ● Don’t capture potential value ● Build wrong thing ● Misuse of product ● Limited learning ● Don’t break out of status quo ● Narrow focus ● Unnecessary complexity ● Debt (many kinds) ● Quality issues
- 36. Now that you’ve uncovered them… Tips & Tricks
- 38. DISCOVER Do Continuous Discovery because... You don’t know what you don’t know (requires exploration) You need to validate what you KNOW you don’t know (requires collecting data) Involve the whole team in discovery FACT CHECK DATA COLLECTION INTUITION EXPLORATION Known Known Unknown Unknown
- 39. TRACK Use Trello or ProdPad to track assumptions that still need to be validated Note assumptions across all areas Revisit assumptions regularly
- 40. COMMUNICATE Be transparent & explicit about assumptions when making & communicating decisions Communicate trade-offs, especially hidden costs
- 41. HIRE Culture add, not culture fit Diverse panel of interviewers
- 42. Thanks! Connect or say hi: @wesgalliher /in/wesgalliher/ wes@prodpad.com💬 bit.ly/product-blind-spots bit.ly/art-science-decisions Want to learn more about embracing uncertainty in decision making? Want today’s slides? Snap a pic of this slide! 📸
Editor's Notes
- Reference Jeff Bezos Type 1 vs Type 2 Decisions (https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-this-is-how-successful-people-make-such-smart-decisions.html) Consider quoting Teresa Torres from https://www.producttalk.org/2018/04/time-in-product-discovery/
- Reference Jeff Bezos Type 1 vs Type 2 Decisions (https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-this-is-how-successful-people-make-such-smart-decisions.html) Consider quoting Teresa Torres from https://www.producttalk.org/2018/04/time-in-product-discovery/
- Reference Jeff Bezos Type 1 vs Type 2 Decisions (https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-this-is-how-successful-people-make-such-smart-decisions.html) Consider quoting Teresa Torres from https://www.producttalk.org/2018/04/time-in-product-discovery/
- Anchoring: we tend to be influenced by numbers, even invalid ones. Numbers affect our decisions, even when we should ignore them Confirmation: Our initial decisions or assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies; we seek out evidence that confirms our initial decisions, ignoring information against them Hindsight: Once we know something, we can’t remember when we did not know it, challenging our ability to learn from past failures Status quo: people feel greater regret for bad outcomes that result from new actions taken than for bad consequences that are the consequence of inaction; sticking to choices that worked in the past is often safe & less difficult decision Commitment escalation: making decisions and committing resources doesn’t necessarily guarantee a reward; difficult to accept sunk costs
- Anchoring: we tend to be influenced by numbers, even invalid ones. Numbers affect our decisions, even when we should ignore them Confirmation: Our initial decisions or assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies; we seek out evidence that confirms our initial decisions, ignoring information against them Hindsight: Once we know something, we can’t remember when we did not know it, challenging our ability to learn from past failures Status quo: people feel greater regret for bad outcomes that result from new actions taken than for bad consequences that are the consequence of inaction; sticking to choices that worked in the past is often safe & less difficult decision Commitment escalation: making decisions and committing resources doesn’t necessarily guarantee a reward; difficult to accept sunk costs
- Anchoring: we tend to be influenced by numbers, even invalid ones. Numbers affect our decisions, even when we should ignore them Confirmation: Our initial decisions or assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies; we seek out evidence that confirms our initial decisions, ignoring information against them Hindsight: Once we know something, we can’t remember when we did not know it, challenging our ability to learn from past failures Status quo: people feel greater regret for bad outcomes that result from new actions taken than for bad consequences that are the consequence of inaction; sticking to choices that worked in the past is often safe & less difficult decision Commitment escalation: making decisions and committing resources doesn’t necessarily guarantee a reward; difficult to accept sunk costs
- Anchoring: we tend to be influenced by numbers, even invalid ones. Numbers affect our decisions, even when we should ignore them Confirmation: Our initial decisions or assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies; we seek out evidence that confirms our initial decisions, ignoring information against them Hindsight: Once we know something, we can’t remember when we did not know it, challenging our ability to learn from past failures Status quo: people feel greater regret for bad outcomes that result from new actions taken than for bad consequences that are the consequence of inaction; sticking to choices that worked in the past is often safe & less difficult decision Commitment escalation: making decisions and committing resources doesn’t necessarily guarantee a reward; difficult to accept sunk costs
- Anchoring: we tend to be influenced by numbers, even invalid ones. Numbers affect our decisions, even when we should ignore them Confirmation: Our initial decisions or assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies; we seek out evidence that confirms our initial decisions, ignoring information against them Hindsight: Once we know something, we can’t remember when we did not know it, challenging our ability to learn from past failures Status quo: people feel greater regret for bad outcomes that result from new actions taken than for bad consequences that are the consequence of inaction; sticking to choices that worked in the past is often safe & less difficult decision Commitment escalation: making decisions and committing resources doesn’t necessarily guarantee a reward; difficult to accept sunk costs
- Anchoring: we tend to be influenced by numbers, even invalid ones. Numbers affect our decisions, even when we should ignore them Confirmation: Our initial decisions or assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies; we seek out evidence that confirms our initial decisions, ignoring information against them Hindsight: Once we know something, we can’t remember when we did not know it, challenging our ability to learn from past failures Status quo: people feel greater regret for bad outcomes that result from new actions taken than for bad consequences that are the consequence of inaction; sticking to choices that worked in the past is often safe & less difficult decision Commitment escalation: making decisions and committing resources doesn’t necessarily guarantee a reward; difficult to accept sunk costs
- https://firstround.com/review/The-one-cost-engineers-and-product-managers-dont-consider/ An application that does 20 things is more difficult to refactor than an application that does one thing, so changes to its code will take longer Sometimes complexity is a necessary cost
- Humans aren’t good at distinguishing between urgency and value