What do think about product intuition for PMs? How to get this soft skill?
Product intuition is that elusive skill that we all look for and want to select, nurture, and encourage in our team members. If I had to break down product intuition, I’d break it down into the following parts:
- Experience - having made the mistakes that make you aware of what to look out for (or learning from those that have)
- Customer centricity - knowing on a deep level what your customers or potential customers need, want, and feel (deep empathy and understanding of their jobs and goals)
- Reading the market - following trends both in your direct industry and competitive set, as well as more broadly in adjacent industries.
- Communication/Storytelling Skills - being able to leverage the knowledge and awareness you have gained in the previous 3 points and articulate it in such a way that your cross-functional partners, customers, and prospects feel heard, seen, and validated.
Hopefully, you are seeing a trend that each of these elements is also a skill that can be honed over time. They are not necessarily capabilities you either have or don't have, although some people have honed them so well that watching them work makes you feel like it is an inherited trait.
Investing time in each of these categories to find a sustainable way to maintain your knowledge and comfort level with these skills over time is the key to developing and growing your product intuition.
Pro tip - find people who impress you with their mastery of product intuition (or even any of the skills listed above) and observe them, talk to them, ask them questions, and try to glean insight into how they have developed their skills.
Product intuition, also known as product sense, is the ability to understand what makes a product great and enables product managers to make effective decisions in ambiguous situations. It encompasses 3 key aspects: Empathy, Domain Knowledge (customers, competition, etc) and problem solving.
Empathy - Ability to view the world from the point of view of products' users, partners or competitors. PMs with strong product intuition can anticipate how users would react in various situations and understand their perspectives, needs, and behaviors
Domain Knowledge - Knowledge about customers, users, competition, opportunities, and trends
Problem solving - Ability to come up with innovative ideas to address challenges or solve problems
To build good product sense, consider the following approaches:
Talk to users and customers: Engage in meaningful conversations and conduct user research to understand needs, pain points, and expectations.
Learn about user psychology: Understand the underlying motivations and decision-making processes of users. This knowledge will help shape user experiences and influence product decisions.
Perform detailed breakdowns: Explore a variety of products, analyze their features, user experiences, and design choices. Identify what works well and what could be improved, and apply those insights to your own product.
Stay updated on industry trends, best practices, case studies, and thought leadership within your domain
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