Product Strategy | Techlist.io

tossNov 26, 2025Original article

The era when everyone does research (opens in new tab)

In an era where AI moderators and non-researchers handle the bulk of data collection, the role of the UX researcher has shifted from a technical specialist to a strategic guide. The core value of the researcher now lies in "UX Leadership"—the ability to frame problems, align team perspectives, and define the fundamental identity of a product. By bridging the gap between business goals and user needs, researchers ensure that products solve real problems rather than just chasing metrics or technical feasibility. ### Setting the Framework in the Idea Phase When starting a new project, a researcher’s primary task is to establish the "boundaries of the puzzle" by shifting the team’s focus from business impact to user value. * **Case - AI Signal:** For a service that interprets stock market events using AI, the team initially focused on business metrics like retention and news consumption. * **Avoiding "Metric Traps":** A researcher intervenes to prevent fatigue-inducing UX (e.g., excessive notifications to boost CTR) by defining the "North Star" as the specific problem the user is trying to solve. * **The Checklist:** Once the user problem and value are defined, they serve as a persistent checklist for every design iteration and action item. ### Aligning Team Direction for Product Improvements When a product already exists but needs improvement, different team members often have scattered, subjective opinions on what to fix. The researcher structures these thoughts into a cohesive direction. * **Case - Stock Market Calendar:** While the team suggested UI changes like "it doesn't look like a calendar," the researcher refocused the effort on the user's ultimate goal: making better investment decisions. * **Defining Success Criteria:** The team agreed on a "Good Usage" standard based on three stages: Awareness (recognizing issues) → Understanding (why it matters) → Preparation (adjusting investment plans). * **Identifying Obstacles:** By identifying specific friction points—such as the lack of information hierarchy or the difficulty of interpreting complex indicators—the researcher moves the project from "simple UI cleanup" to "essential tool development." ### Redefining Product Identity During Stagnation When a product's growth stalls, the issue often isn't a specific UI bug but a fundamental mismatch between the product's identity and its environment. * **Case - Toss Securities PC:** Despite being functional, the PC version struggled because it initially tried to copy the "mobile simplicity" of the app. * **Contextual Analysis:** Research revealed that while mobile users value speed and portability, PC users require an environment for deep analysis, multi-window comparisons, and deliberate decision-making. * **Consensus through Synthesis:** The researcher integrates data, user interviews, and market trends into workshops to help the team decide where the product should "live" in the market. This process creates team-wide alignment on a new strategic direction rather than just fixing features. The modern UX researcher must move beyond "crafting the tool" (interviewing and data gathering) and toward "UX Leadership." True expertise involves maintaining a broad view of the industry and product ecosystem, structuring team discussions to reach a consensus, and ensuring that every product decision is rooted in a clear understanding of the user's context and goals.

Product Strategy AI User Experience Data Analysis+3

kakaoNov 19, 2025Original article

Were We Solving the Real Problem (opens in new tab)

The POPM (Product Owner/Product Manager) training course at Kakao focuses on restructuring existing professional knowledge into a cohesive framework for solving real-world business problems. Rather than simply delivering new information, the program emphasizes aligning strategy with execution, transforming "strategy" from a vague concept into a practical set of decision-making criteria. The ultimate goal is to move teams away from a "release-only" mindset toward a cycle of continuous hypothesis verification and learning. ### Strategic Thinking and Metric Modeling * **Strategic Decision Criteria**: Strategy is redefined as the standard for team judgment, utilizing frameworks like MECE, MVP, and priority-setting models to align daily tasks with long-term goals. * **Metrics as Problem-Solving Language**: Key indicators such as Funnel, Retention, Cohort, and LTV are treated not just as data points, but as a language used to define and reveal underlying product issues. * **Context-Based Design**: UX design is approached through "context-based logic" rather than intuition, encouraging teams to ask which specific design fits the current user journey. ### Systematic Experimentation and A/B Testing * **The MASS Framework**: Experiments are designed and evaluated based on being Measurable, Attributable, Sensitive, and having a Short-term cycle. * **Failure Analysis Routines**: The curriculum emphasizes the importance of establishing a routine for interpreting failed experiments, ensuring that every test contributes to the team's institutional knowledge. * **Incremental Testing**: Encourages a culture of "starting small," giving teams the confidence to run experiments without requiring massive resource allocation. ### Building Repeatable Execution Loops * **Metric-Based Retrospectives**: Teams transition from simply finishing a release to a structured loop of "Problem Definition → Hypothesis → Metric → Verification → Retrospective." * **Formalizing Problem Definitions**: Using templates to 명문화 (formally document) the problem, expected behavior, and success metrics ensures that the entire team—not just the PO—understands the "why" behind every task. * **Operational Rhythms**: Teams are adopting fixed weekly or bi-weekly cycles for sharing insights and adjusting priorities, turning data-driven execution into a natural habit. The most critical takeaway for product teams is to constantly ask: "Is the work we are doing right now actually a solution to a defined problem, or are we just busy releasing features?" Success lies in moving beyond the sense of accomplishment from a launch and establishing a repeatable rhythm that validates whether those efforts truly move the needle.

Product Strategy User Experience Product Management Data Analysis+3

figmaJan 29, 20242 min readCurated summary

Peter Yang: 10 Rules for Making Products that Customers Love | Figma Blog

Peter Yang argues that great product management is a craft, not an instinct or checklist. Product managers must continually develop product sense, deeply understand customers, think strategically before executing, and protect quality through difficult trade-offs. The goal is to build products customers genuinely value, even when that requires delaying milestones or abandoning a beloved project. ## Product Sense Must Be Cultivated - Product sense is the ability to create products or changes that have the intended impact on users. - It is not a permanent, intuitive skill; markets and customer needs constantly change. - PMs should continually improve through: - Empathy - Creativity - Attention to craft - Humility and ongoing learning ## Use Empathy to Diagnose the Problem - Teams often rush into solutions before clearly understanding the customer or business problem. - Peter cites empathy as a product manager’s superpower. - PMs can build empathy by: - Treating customers like members of the team - Speaking directly with them - Personally using the product as customers do, even for just an hour - Accurate problem diagnosis should come before defining a vision or solution. ## Start with Big Ideas Before Daily Execution - Once the problems are understood, teams should pause before getting absorbed in execution. - Collaboratively define: - Mission - Vision - Strategy - Brainstorm ambitious, “blue-sky” ideas and prioritize them. - Seek simple solutions—potentially a few clear steps—that best address customer needs. - New learning may require changing priorities and making trade-offs. ## Protect Quality and Know When to Change Course - Quality may require missing a launch date or short-term OKR. - In one example, Yang chose to add an important feature identified through customer conversations, even though it meant missing a quarterly deadline. - Craft means obsessing over details, trade-offs, bugs, and the extra work required to create a worthwhile experience. - Product managers must also recognize when a project should be canceled. - At Reddit, Yang worked on Reddit Talk, a well-loved live audio product, but the project was ended during an economic downturn because it did not improve the company’s most important metrics. - Good product judgment includes considering the company’s broader needs rather than becoming attached to a particular product. The practical recommendation is to keep customer understanding and product quality at the center of decision-making, while remaining flexible enough to delay, redirect, or stop work when the evidence demands it.

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Product Strategy User Research Product Management Brainstorming+3

figmaAug 16, 20232 min readCurated summary

Design’s New Deal | Figma Blog

Brian Chesky’s claim that designers can lead products—and even companies—has sparked debate about the future role of product managers. The article examines whether Airbnb’s design-led approach represents a broader shift or an overstatement of design’s independence from business and product strategy. Five leaders from design and product offer perspectives on how these disciplines should work together. ## Chesky’s Design-Led Vision - At Config 2023, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky argued that designers are increasingly positioned to work alongside engineers rather than report to or be directed by product managers. - He suggested that designers can help drive products and, in some cases, lead entire companies. - The ultimate goal, in his view, is not organizational status but creating products that people genuinely love. ## Airbnb’s Near-Death Story - Chesky framed Airbnb’s transformation as a story of crisis, recovery, and growth shaped heavily by design. - His conversation with Figma CEO Dylan Field drew attention because it connected design decisions directly to business survival and post-IPO growth. - The talk generated strong reactions among designers, including the impression that Airbnb had eliminated its product management function entirely. ## The Debate Over Product Management - The article questions whether Airbnb’s example signals “the end” of the all-powerful product manager. - It cautions that public reactions may have exaggerated or misinterpreted Chesky’s comments. - Rather than presenting a simple design-versus-PM conflict, the discussion invites a closer examination of how responsibility, decision-making, and leadership are distributed across product organizations. ## Five Industry Perspectives The article brings together leaders from design and product to interpret Chesky’s ideas: - Julie Zhuo discusses the importance of deep domain knowledge. - Steve Johnson argues that design disconnected from business becomes mere decoration. - Sho Kuwamoto considers whether product organizations should favor creative work over layers of middle management. - Lenny Rachitsky explains why capable product managers remain difficult to find. - Yuhki Yamashita explores the value of embracing work in progress. The practical lesson is not that companies should abolish product management, but that design should have a stronger voice in product direction. Effective organizations likely need designers, engineers, and product leaders to share ownership rather than operate through rigid hierarchies.

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Product Strategy User Experience Product Design Product Management+1