The Product Experience

Cristina Bustos, Product Manager at Swiss AviationSoftware, shares her journey from business analyst to leading the development of a mobile cockpit app in the aviation sector. She discusses the unique challenges of replacing traditional workflows with a digital solution during the pandemic. Cristina emphasizes the importance of engaging pilots for effective design and the necessity of aligning with customers and regulators through integrative decision-making. She reflects on the delicate balance between agility and regulatory discipline while achieving operational improvements that extend beyond simply removing paperwork.

Sean Flaherty, a veteran product and technology leader with nearly 30 years of experience, shares insights on leading without authority. He emphasizes the importance of self-determination theory, focusing on autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Sean explains how structured freedom can foster creativity and how teams should embrace self-accountability instead of fear-based methods. He also discusses the adaptive learning culture and the evolving role of leaders amidst technological changes like AI, advocating for a more human-centered approach.

Mariah Craddick, Executive Director of Product at The Atlantic, combines her journalism background with product management insights. She discusses the transition to managing product managers while avoiding micromanagement. Mariah emphasizes the importance of empathy, storytelling, and objective performance reviews using the Reforge PM Competency Model. She advocates for six-week Development Conversations to foster growth, tackle burnout, and combat imposter syndrome, all while integrating AI responsibly into the product workflow.

In this engaging discussion, Axel Sooriah, a product management evangelist at Atlassian with over a decade of experience, dives into the anxiety faced by product managers today. He explains how AI, while saving time, exacerbates strategic dilemmas. Axel highlights the 'hamster wheel of execution' that stifles creativity and the alarming statistic that 84% of PMs doubt their products' success. The conversation also touches on the importance of leadership in fostering a productive environment and how reframing work around customer progress can invigorate teams.

Kasia Chmielinski dives into the fast-evolving world of AI ethics and data quality. She emphasizes the importance of balancing innovation with responsibility, especially within large organizations like the UN. By advocating for marginalized users, she encourages product managers to redesign processes to be more inclusive. Discover the intriguing concept of nutrition labels for datasets, enhancing transparency and quality. Kasia also addresses ethical challenges in product management, offering compelling strategies for overcoming these dilemmas.

Matt Watson, founder and CEO of Full Scale, shares his insights on building product-driven engineering teams. With over 25 years in tech, he emphasizes the need for developers to connect with customer context, arguing that product managers must facilitate this by sharing vision, not just prescriptive requirements. He discusses how a sense of ownership boosts productivity and highlights the importance of communication in preventing wasted efforts. Matt's five-part model for success includes Vision, Focus, Clarity, Shared Ownership, and Courage, redefining what it means to be a productive engineer today.

Prerna Singh, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Avaaz, shares her journey in AI-driven prototyping. She reveals how AI can act as a 'thought partner,' accelerating the transition from concept to clickable prototypes. By utilizing tools like ChatGPT and Lovable, Prerna emphasizes the importance of human insight alongside technology. She also discusses balancing solo and team efforts, the limitations of AI, and the concept of 'sandbox mode' for experimentation before moving to structured application. Her insights redefine how we think about product development.

Teresa Huang, Head of Product for Enablement at Bupa, shares her insights on the unique challenges of platform product management. She discusses why platform work must connect to business outcomes rather than just efficiency metrics. Teresa highlights the importance of addressing both developer needs and end-customer value, the diversity of platform types, and reframing success metrics beyond traditional KPIs. She also emphasizes engaging stakeholders through real-world scenarios and showcases, and the necessity of a value-driven mindset in measuring impact after deployment.

Join product expert John Cutler as he explores the challenges of building great products. Discover why off-the-shelf models often fail and the importance of intentionally designing how teams work together. Delve into the stigma surrounding processes and the need for empowered teams amid changing workplaces. Learn about the traits of successful teams, designing effective rituals, and leveraging behavior design to create a thriving environment. Get practical tips on fostering creativity and navigating office politics while avoiding toxic cultures.

Nina Olding, a Staff Product Manager at Weights & Biases with a rich background in AI trust from Google DeepMind, dives into the intricacies of designing user-friendly AI products. She introduces her framework of the three A's: Awareness, Agency, and Assurance, emphasizing how essential user trust is as AI integrates into everyday technology. Nina explores practical design strategies to help users understand when AI is at play and how to control its functions while ensuring they feel secure in its reliability.