The Product Perspective

In this episode of "The Product Perspective," hosts Jon Tobin and Gil Pollak delve into the complexities of product prioritization and decision-making. Gil, a digital product lead at ING Australia with over a decade of experience in product management, shares valuable insights gained from working across various industry sectors.

Join the hosts as they explore the challenges and strategies of prioritizing user needs, addressing technical constraints, and aligning business goals. Gil offers practical examples from his own experience and discusses frameworks like RICE and Moscow, emphasizing the value of small, incremental releases and effective communication in product management.

Whether you're an aspiring product manager or a seasoned professional, this episode will equip you with practical skills and best practices for refining product priorities and driving successful outcomes in the dynamic landscape of product management. Tune in to gain invaluable wisdom and take your product prioritization game to the next level.

Join host Jon Tobin and guest Mudit Singh, head of growth and marketing at LambdaTest, as they delve into the world of Product-Led Growth (PLG). In an insightful conversation, Mudit shares his wealth of experience in leveraging PLG to drive sustainable business expansion.

Discover how LambdaTest's user-centric approach and community building have propelled them to over 2,000,000 users from diverse organizations. Dive into the core principles of PLG and explore real-world strategies for implementing a user-centric mindset across different company roles.

The conversation covers how businesses of all sizes can benefit from PLG and the importance of gathering and acting on user feedback. Mudit and Jon also explore the changing landscape of PLG strategy and the need for consistent user engagement and product evolution.

From fostering early user engagement to the role of data-centric analysis, this episode offers valuable insights for companies looking to embrace PLG as a driver for sustainable growth.

Join us for an engaging discussion on the challenges, successes, and future of PLG, and gain practical strategies for positioning your product for long-term success.

In this episode, Jon is joined by Su, the co-founder of Alico, a wellness platform for managing personal growth and well-being. Su's experience in product management across various health tech startups brings valuable insights to the discussion.

One of the main topics explored in this episode is the philosophy and mindset of experimentation in product development. Su and Jon delve into the importance of testing desirability and viability before fully designing an experiment, sharing examples and practical advice for conducting outreach and testing experiments with early-stage startups, small customer bases, and larger organizations.

Throughout the conversation, Su emphasizes the iterative nature of experimentation and the necessity of making it a part of the company culture. From measuring the success of experiments to the challenges faced in smaller companies and businesses, Su and Jon provide valuable insights into creating a culture of experimentation within product teams and organizations.

Tune in to gain valuable knowledge and practical strategies for crafting a culture of success through experimentation in product development.

Whether you're a product manager, entrepreneur, or part of a product team, this episode will provide actionable insights to enhance your approach to product development.

In this episode, our host Jon Tobin is joined by expert guest Gareth Behn. Together, they dive deep into the fascinating world of product management in eCommerce, with a special focus on high-value products. 

Gareth shares valuable insights on understanding user behavior, leveraging unique selling points, and driving innovation in the online shopping experience. They also explore the future of eCommerce search, the importance of data-driven decision-making, and how product managers play a crucial role in bridging departments. 

Whether you're an industry professional or just an enthusiast, join Jon and Gareth as they discuss the exciting challenges and opportunities in the high-value eCommerce space. Get ready for some valuable perspectives!

In this episode, host Jon Tobin is joined by Nathan Nguyen, Product Manager at Employment Hero, to delve into the transition from a healthcare background to a career in tech product management. 

Nathan and Jon underscore the advantages of starting a career at a startup, the value of non-tech backgrounds in product management, and the significance of creating and delivering products as a means of learning and personal growth. They emphasize the importance of practical skills, effective communication, and understanding customer needs in product management roles.

Nathan shares his personal journey from healthcare to becoming a product manager for a renowned B2B SaaS company, shedding light on the transferable skills and experiences that played a crucial role in his successful transition. 

This episode offers practical tips, insightful anecdotes, and industry expertise, providing a wealth of knowledge for those contemplating or navigating a career change into product management. Tune in to gain valuable insights and inspiration for your own career journey.

In this episode of The Product Perspective, host Jon Tobin is joined by guest James Bell to delve into the transformative power of building shared understanding in product development. They explore strategies for thinking big and starting small, addressing challenges with disengaged engineers, and the importance of key fundamentals like team structure and in-house designers. They dive into the critical role of product designers in understanding customer needs and building a design system.

Throughout the episode, James and Jon highlight the challenges and rewards of implementing a design system and stress the importance of deep customer understanding and collaboration for successful product development.

Tune in to gain valuable insights on strategic empowerment and how it can revolutionize your approach to building products.

Join us in this exciting episode of "The Product Perspective," as Jon Tobin takes us on a deep dive into the captivating world of design, technology, and social impact. In this engaging conversation, we are joined by Eric Ressler, the founder and creative director of Cosmic, and Neil Rudd, the Technical Director. Together, they shed light on the pivotal role of user feedback in driving positive change and crafting impactful digital experiences.

In our discussion, we explore the importance of prioritizing processes over tools, fostering collaboration and transparency with clients, and embracing a paradigm shift away from traditional working approaches. We delve into the challenges of bug reporting, uncover strategies to reduce friction in the reporting process, and highlight the transformative power of paying attention to small details. Additionally, Neil unveils the specialized tools and tech strategic plan employed by Cosmic, enabling the delivery of comprehensive digital projects while considering budget limitations and staff capacity.

Join us for invaluable insights on leveraging user feedback to create meaningful impact through technology and design. Whether you're a designer, developer, or product manager, this thought-provoking discussion will inspire you to approach your work with a fresh perspective. Embrace the power of collaboration, inclusivity, and let's shape the future together.

Resources:

Check out how how Cosmic transformed client communication and improved project management with Userback: https://userback.io/userversity/cosmic-userback-case-study/

In this episode of "The Product Perspective," we sit down with Sean Whitney, a principal on the Craft investment team and an expert in product strategy and finance.

Join us as we explore Sean's unique insights into achieving product-market fit and its impact on investment potential. We discuss how venture capitalists assess market potential during this crucial phase, the primary factors they look for, and the different approaches taken depending on the stage and type of business.

Sean highlighted the importance of financial indicators for late-stage SaaS businesses, such as net new ARR, churn, and net dollar retention. These metrics serve as strong indicators of product-market fit, showcasing whether a company is on track for sustainable growth. For early-stage companies, Sean emphasizes the significance of identifying gaps in the market through trusted users or industry experts and how this user feedback can serve as a crucial indicator of potential success.

Whether you're a product manager or interested in the intersection of finance and product development, this episode offers valuable perspectives on navigating the path to success. Tune in to gain insights from one of the brightest minds in the field of product strategy and investing.

On this episode of the product perspective, we dive deep into the world of customer feedback and how it can transform your product development process with our guest, Daniel Ray, a valuable member of the user back customer success team with a wealth of knowledge and experience in championing customer feedback.

We explore the significance of actively collecting and acting upon customer feedback. Daniel emphasizes the importance of truly understanding your customers' needs and wants. While logic can guide product development, nothing beats hearing directly from users themselves. By listening to customers and interpreting their feedback, you can build products that they truly love.

One of the most intriguing parts of our conversation revolves around innovative methods for collecting customer feedback. Daniel shares some valuable tools and approaches. However, he reminds us that true innovation comes from meeting users at the right time and place. Simple actions like asking for feedback immediately after a call or a user interaction can make all the difference.

Remember, customer feedback is not just about observing user behavior but also understanding their sentiment and hearing their voice. It's the combination of context, session replays, and surveying users that truly uncovers valuable insights.

So, whether you're a product manager or a developer, unlocking the power of customer feedback is crucial for the success of your product. Tune in to this episode of The Product Perspective to gain valuable insights into transforming user insights into actionable improvements.

Resources:

https://userback.io/userversity/user-centered-product-development-report/

https://userback.io/blog/boost-product-satisfaction-with-userback/

On this episode of The Product Perspective, we welcome Matthew Johnson, a seasoned product manager with almost two decades of experience in the software industry.

We discuss the importance of prioritizing user feedback, how to efficiently manage it, and implementing a culture of listening to customers throughout all stages of product development. We go over how user feedback can help prioritize roadmap items and how structuring sprints can lead to the consistent delivery of customer-requested features and a quicker response time.

Additionally, we talk about how to create a dedicated portal for public feedback and why cultural feedback can shift conversations in product meetings to focus on customers. Furthermore, we discuss how user feedback can help solve decision-making and should not only be collected but acted upon.

Lastly, we delve into how Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework can be used for predictive innovation, how reviews for tools in the market can provide valuable insights, and how creating a spreadsheet with features and objectives can help rank them based on their impact. This episode is perfect for product managers who want to learn how to build and manage successful software products.

Resources:

https://userback.io/portfolio/user-centered-product-development-report/

https://userback.io/userversity/guide-to-user-feedback-for-product-managers/

In this episode of The Product Perspective, we talk about the challenges of gaining organizational buy-in with a seasoned product professional, Casey Brown.

Our guest shares advice on how to approach senior professionals and frame meeting requests clearly, as well as the importance of providing information and agreeing on a source of truth to ensure smooth communication. We discuss the benefits of building integrations and having user stories and sprint plans in place while being transparent and upfront with changes, and how pre-engagement with stakeholders can create smoother meetings. We also delve into the hurdles of implementing new projects or processes and how fear of change and resistance to change can be addressed.

Additionally, we discuss the benefits of having a quarterly plan and accommodating changes requested by the business, as well as learning from mistakes and using "war rooms" for critical situations. Our guest draws from their own experience in projects including CRM, loyalty, field force, and analytics tools and also emphasizes the importance of over-communication, being transparent and upfront, and understanding the impact of change on costs and budgets.

Tune in to learn more about how to navigate organizational buy-in, align projects with stakeholder objectives, and reduce stress and anxiety in high-pressure situations.

Resources:

https://userback.io/userversity/8-ways-to-keep-your-product-roadmap-on-track-with-user-feedback/

https://userback.io/userversity/fast-track-product-development/

On this episode of The Product Perspective, we talk about the emerging concept of user-centered product development and how it's being promoted by large SaaS organizations with Michelle Picoto, Head of Product Marketing at Deepstar Strategic. 

Our guest explains that Product Market Fit means aligning the product with the right customer and being continuously in alignment with users and maintaining a product strategy.

We dive into the key elements of achieving Product Market Fit, such as knowing customers, getting feedback, communication, and a shift in mindset within teams. We explore the distinction between being user-led versus user-centered and how product managers need to keep user needs aligned with the organization's goals. Additionally, we discuss how user-centered design is crucial for successful product development and how agile sprints can help foster greater customer alignment.

Our speakers further go into detail about the multiple responsibilities and KPIs that product managers have to cater to such as juggling multiple requirements and KPIs, effectively communicating within teams, and finding ways to stay in sync with your customers, which often make it challenging to invest time in user alignment. They explain how having resources and tools that help automate the process can ease the process without being overly time-intensive.

Tune in to uncover valuable insights on User-Centered Product Development and delivering products that meet user needs.

Resources:

Check out the world-first report on User-Centered Product Development by Userback: https://userback.io/userversity/user-centered-product-development-report/