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What exactly is product sense? Product sense is a unique blend of skills, experience, and intuition that allows a product manager to understand what customers n
by Sidsaladi 3y ago
What exactly is product sense?
Product sense is a unique blend of skills, experience, and intuition that allows a product manager to understand what customers need and translate that into a product that meets those needs in a way that is profitable for the business. It's a combination of empathy to discover meaningful user needs and creativity to effectively address those user needs, resulting in a successful product.
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To help illustrate this concept, let's explore some examples of products that have triumphed thanks to exceptional product sense:
Apple iPhone - The iPhone, introduced in 2007, revolutionized the mobile phone industry with its unique combination of hardware and software design, making it the go-to smartphone for millions of users worldwide. The iPhone was a result of Apple's strong product sense, which focused on creating a seamless user experience.
Netflix - Netflix started as a DVD-by-mail service, but with the rise of streaming, it quickly pivoted and became the leading streaming service in the world. The company's strong product sense allowed them to anticipate the shift in consumer behavior and pivot their business model to stay ahead of the competition.
Slack - Slack is a workplace communication tool that has become incredibly popular due to its ease of use and ability to streamline communication and collaboration within teams. Slack's success is largely due to its strong product sense, which focused on making workplace communication more efficient and enjoyable.
These are just a few examples of successful products that were built on strong product sense. There are many more out there, and these products continue to be successful due to their ability to continually adapt to changing customer needs and market trends.
How to Develop Product Sense as a Product Manager
Developing product sense is essential for any product manager who wants to consistently create products or make changes to existing products that have a positive impact on users. It's a combination of empathy and creativity that allows product managers to understand the unmet needs of users and develop solutions that effectively address those needs. A product manager with good product sense is capable of championing successful features or products that were not obvious to others.
Product sense is a combination of empathy to discover meaningful user needs and creativity to effectively address those user needs, resulting in a successful product.
Building empathy:
Observe people interacting with products
Deconstruct everyday products
Improving creativity:
Learn from great product thinkers
Be curious about changes in technology and your domain
Building product sense is a key part of the job for product managers and requires constant learning and improvement. In this article, we will discuss four practices that can help you develop your product sense and become a better product manager.