AMA: Product Leader, Tamar Hadar on Product Development Process

Every PM dreams of a steady, sustainable flow of work that leads to great outcomes. The tricky part is finding that “sustainable pace.” On one end of the spectrum, you have engineers overwhelmed with work (and on the highway to burnout). On the other, you have engineers waiting for direction because Product or Design has become the bottleneck. I’ve often heard that the “ideal” ratio is 1 PM to 4-5 engineers. That can be true in some contexts, but the real answer is: it depends. A few key factors ...Read More

That is a tough one. No one likes being asked to do more with less. But, constraints do make things clear and can be freeing. As a product owner, you will always need to think about growth. With less resources, you will just have to think more strategically and creatively.  Here are a few principles to help you get there: Prioritize ruthlessly based on impact: with limited resources, every decision should be about ROI. Ask: which initiatives will deliver the most growth or user value for the lea ...Read More

I love this question. Ensuring everyone deeply understands the project’s scope sets the entire team up for success. Scope misalignment is one of the biggest drivers of wasted effort and frustration. Getting scope right at the very beginning is crucial not only for clarity, but also for adaptability. When trade-offs inevitably come up (i.e: a deadline moves up, a dependency slips, or a new insight changes direction), having a shared, detailed understanding of scope makes it far easier to make cut ...Read More

This usually signals a trust or communication gap rather than a purely logistical issue. Engineering teams sometimes struggle to be heard and may feel that maintenance work or platform upgrades are frequently deprioritized in favor of flashier, user-facing features. The mistake is assuming one can exist without the other; long-term product success depends on both. If we’re talking about user-facing features (rather than unplanned technical work or tech debt), this may point to a lack of buy-in o ...Read More

This is a common misstep for everyone, PMs included. I’ve certainly been led astray by assuming I know what users want. It’s important to have empathy for users, but not to confuse our own experience with theirs. That said, engineers often have valuable insights because they understand what it takes to build and maintain a successful API. Their perspective should absolutely inform your decisions, but not replace direct learning from users. The best approach is to observe real users, validate ass ...Read More