Strategy and influence
Product Sense
4 lessons · ~23 min total
01
Read the spec for the problem
~6 minFind the underlying problem behind a requested solution, and check it before building.
Key takeaways
- Feature requests are solutions someone else already chose
- Ask what the person was doing when they decided they needed it
- Building the spec exactly is how you ship something correct and useless
02
Propose the cheaper version
~6 minOffer a smaller build that tests the same assumption, and know when the small version is wrong.
Key takeaways
- Engineers hold cost information nobody else in the room has
- A cheaper build wins when it resolves the same uncertainty
- Frame the small version by what it would prove, not by what it saves you
03
Match the quality bar to the bet
~6 minDecide how well something needs to be built based on what happens if it succeeds or fails.
Key takeaways
- Set the quality bar from the consequence of failure and the chance it becomes foundational
- Low consequence and short life is where speed is genuinely correct
- Throwaway code needs a deletion date, or it becomes permanent by accident
04
Know what your work is worth
~5 minConnect a piece of engineering work to the outcome it is supposed to move, and check afterwards.
Key takeaways
- Write the expected effect down before building, so it is a prediction rather than a story
- Set the date you will check, at the time you start
- Shipping is not the end of the loop; without looking, product judgment never improves
Try a sample check
A sample from the Scoping & Estimation track. The real checks unlock with an account.
Scoping & Estimation
A PM wants one number for the search migration. It is three weeks if the existing index can be reused, six if it has to be rebuilt, and nobody has checked which. What do you give them?
Start Product Sense.
Your first lesson takes five minutes, and you can do it right now without an account.