DeanKelly751 Product Thinking
Purpose
Enable engineers to make product-aware technical decisions.
Core Mindset
Outcome over output: The value isn't the code shipped, it's the user problem solved.
Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)
Users "hire" products to accomplish jobs:
- Functional job: "Help me track my expenses"
- Emotional job: "Make me feel in control of my finances"
- Social job: "Show my team I'm organized"
Engineering implication: Features should map to jobs. If a feature doesn't serve a job, question its priority.
Product-Minded Engineering Questions
Before building, ask:
- Who is the user and what problem are they solving?
- How will we know this succeeded? (measurable outcome)
- What's the simplest thing that could work?
- What can we learn before building the full solution?
- What happens if we don't build this?
Decision Framework: Build vs Skip
| Signal | Build | Skip/Defer |
|---|---|---|
| User requests | Many users, same job | One user, edge case |
| Impact | Unlocks a workflow | Marginal improvement |
| Reversibility | Easy to remove if wrong | Permanent commitment |
| Learning | Validates key assumption | No uncertainty to resolve |
Engineering Trade-offs with Product Impact
| Engineering decision | Product impact |
|---|---|
| Response time optimization | User perceived performance |
| Error message quality | User trust and self-service |
| API design | Developer experience (if API is the product) |
| Data model flexibility | Future feature velocity |
| Offline support | Usability in poor connectivity |
Related Skills
product/knowledge-mvp-strategy— scoping to minimum viableproduct/knowledge-prioritization— choosing what to buildpoc/knowledge-poc-methodology— validating before building