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Eng - PM - Design: Mutual Empathy
This document provides a summary of 500+ replies from engineers / designers / PMs about
functions knew about their function. This summary was generated by Claude and it represents the common opinions & themes expressed by folks. It does not represent the views of any one person.What Engineers wish PMs knew
Theme
Key Points
Theme
Key Points
Complexity and Technical Debt
• Recognize that small changes can have significant impacts on complex systems
• Always consider technical debt in decision-making
• Understand that there's often a large gap between idea simplicity and implementation complexity
Time and Resource Management
• Minimize context switching and parallel work to reduce hidden costs
• There is a non-trivial impact when you change requirements on the fly
• Set realistic expectations by thoroughly understanding task complexity
Collaboration and Involvement
• Involve engineers as partners in product decisions
• Include engineers in "What?" and "Why?" discussions for better outcomes
• Align product direction with engineering team strengths for optimal results
Communication and Understanding
• Provide clear product documentation and communicate long-term trajectory
• Take time to understand non-intuitive engineering challenges
• Avoid using words like "just" in change requests as they understate complexity
Engineering Priorities
• Allow engineering excellence to take precedence over new features when necessary
• Differentiate between "good enough/fit-for-purpose" and "perfection" in your requests
• Prioritize product health and maintainability alongside new features
Team Dynamics
• Remember that engineering teams & even engineers aren't interchangeable - each has unique strengths
• Share credit and recognize engineering contributions explicitly
• Actively help engineers grow as product-minded professionals
Estimations and Productivity
• Treat estimations as informed guesses, not commitments
• Understand that more development time doesn't always equal more productivity
• Create realistic timelines that account for the full development cycle
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What PMs wish Engineers knew
Theme
Key Points
Theme
Key Points
Collaboration and Interdependence
• Wanting perfect requirements upfront is unrealistic
• Product management is a function, not a role - everyone can have opinions about the product
• Encourage engineers to explore solutions with product managers, avoid transactional relationships
Embracing Uncertainty
• Half of what we know right now is going to change, and we don't know which half
• Product scope ambiguity and delayed decisions are sometimes by design, especially for groundbreaking products
• Requirements aren't always exhaustive - ask clarifying questions
User and Business Focus
• Prioritize user experience
• Understand the need to make sustainable profit
• Commit to product success as the primary objective
Technical and Product Debt
• Technical debt, like financial debt, is a valuable tool if managed properly
• Product debt (UX/UI) can be as pernicious and risky as tech debt
• A successful product makes many challenges go away, including debt
Product Development Process
• 'What if' scenarios are crucial for product planning
• Grooming is a team effort
• Ticket updates (status, comments) are very important
Engineering's Role in Product
• Engineers are valuable in the product development process<br><br>
• Engineers in a product organization grow faster by sharpening their product sense<br><br>
• Build product context by partnering with your PM
Holistic Product Thinking
• Product decisions often involve balancing competing priorities
• Use the product, suggest ideas, and get into the arena
• A successful product can make many challenges disappear, while an unsuccessful one exacerbates even small problems
There are no rows in this table
What Designers wish PMs knew
Theme
Key Points
Theme
Key Points
Design Process and Nature
• Design requires time to explore and iterate - rushing leads to suboptimal solutions
• Design is about solving problems, not just making things look pretty
• Good design can be transformative, going beyond mere feature addition
Collaboration and Involvement
• Involve designers early in product discussions, not just for visual polish
• Leverage designers for business strategy, not just user experience
• Share sales and operations information with designers to help them create better products
Understanding Design's Scope
• Designers are system thinkers - use them to design PRDs, rituals, and workshops
• Design makes the value of a product visible and understandable
• Typography skills can improve product hierarchy and PM's own presentations
User-Centric Approach
• Provide designers with problems to solve, not predetermined solutions
• User research is a specialized skill - don't assume anyone can do it effectively
• Design uncovers what users need, not just what they say they want
Design and Business Alignment
• Define clear outcomes before focusing on outputs
• Both business goals and user goals are crucial - neither works alone
• Celebrate wins to motivate the design team
PM's Role in Design Process
• Help designers improve their product thinking by asking questions about their solutions
• Understand that designers often handle project management and communication tasks
• Learn basic UI concepts, patterns, and conventions to improve collaboration
Design Evaluation and Maintenance
• Regularly re-evaluate old features to maintain or improve experience quality
• Be cautious of overusing A/B testing for UX decisions
• Understand that design can be objectively evaluated, it's not just subjective opinion
There are no rows in this table
What PMs wish Designers knew
Theme
Key Points
Theme
Key Points
Business Focus
• Business goals and financial outcomes are important
• Learn and apply the domain’s context to your design decisions
• Take more responsibility for the product's market success
Iterative Development
• Aim for 'good enough' in the first version, especially for new products
• Embrace imperfection - prioritize progress over perfection
• Adopt an iterative mindset - plan for continuous improvement
Time and Resource Constraints
• Work within time-to-market constraints - extensive UX research isn't always possible
• Adapt your designs to fit resource limitations
• Increase your design speed without sacrificing core functionality
User Feedback and Evolution
• Prioritize getting quick user feedback over perfecting designs internally
• Design for future flexibility - products will evolve
• Focus on creating lean, testable versions for real users
Practical Considerations
• Consider manufacturability and technical feasibility early in your design process
• Use real content in your designs - avoid Lorem Ipsum in UX work
• Understand and address the technical risks of your designs
Cross-functional Alignment
• Prepare for ongoing feedback from PMs due to cross-functional alignments
• Recognize the boundaries of your role in the product development process
• Strive to balance business needs and customer outcomes in your designs
Data-Driven Decision Making
• Respect design decisions that are based on data
• Utilize metrics to guide and validate your design choices
• Be prepared to articulate the impact of your designs on key performance indicators
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