The Feature Factory Trap

The Feature Factory Trap

A while ago a service designer told me about an incredible music app start-up she was working on. The app in question was well funded and had some of the smartest minds on the project. From kick off, the team set about building a raft of incredible features that wowed...

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Do You Design Sprint? Still a Thing in 2024?

Do You Design Sprint? Still a Thing in 2024?

It is amazing to think that Design Sprints were first introduced by Jake Knapp over 10 years ago! Once the buzzword in product teams as a surefire way to bring cross-functional teams together for successful ideation, I often get asked about the relevance of design...

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Self-Care for Product Leaders

Self-Care for Product Leaders

I’m late to the party on this one but I recently started watching HBO’s brilliant series ‘Industry’. The premise ‘Young finance graduates venture out in the cut-throat competitive world to get a job during the recession times that followed as a result of the 2008...

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Your Product Management Toolset for 2024

Your Product Management Toolset for 2024

It seems that every few months there are a bunch of shiny new tools to help us build products, design stuff or manage projects or teams. What’s your go-to stack for product management / development? Over the past few years remote work has been thrust to the fore....

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Creating a Product-Led Culture: A Personal Take

Creating a Product-Led Culture: A Personal Take

'Product-led' has been such a buzzword in recent years. The story goes that product-led companies not only harness great work cultures but are also set up for commercial success by this very culture and way of working. But what does it mean to be 'product-led', and...

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The Pitfalls of Radical Candor: A Critical Examination

The Pitfalls of Radical Candor: A Critical Examination

Communication is key. After running teams, coaching and also being a parent I realise that with good communication issues can be resolved quickly with the minimum amount of pain all round. A few years ago I decided to introduce Kim Scott's 'Radical Candour' concept to...

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From PM to CPO – Your Blueprint to Product C-Suite

From PM to CPO – Your Blueprint to Product C-Suite

The old adage 'be careful for what you wish for' can often apply to career moves or aspirations. Many product managers see moving to VP Product, Head of Product or even CPO a natural career progression. However the transition to C-suite might not be for everyone. With...

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5 Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier

In fact there are a few more than 5. In any case as I approach my 50th year on this planet I find myself reflecting a little on life and realise that there are quite a few things in both my personal and professional life that I wish I'd known earlier. Some are...

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Embracing the Hard Things: The Pathway to Ultimate Reward

Embracing the Hard Things: The Pathway to Ultimate Reward

We often dream of endpoints. Travelling to a certain place, launching a product or achieving a goal we set ourselves. But as we move through life as humans we come to realise that arriving at a point is often anti-climatical. Nothing stops, things continue. Our lives...

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QA Neglect: The Silent Killer of Software Projects

QA Neglect: The Silent Killer of Software Projects

Last year I jumped on a mini audit of a popular mobile app. I found that a lot of stuff wasn’t working well. There were a few bugs, some technical and performance issues, UX conundrums and I also recommended some minor UI tweaks. If the application was going to grow...

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Data Driven Disaster!

Data Driven Disaster!

The slack brush notification tapped incessantly through my AirPods Pro as I headed into the co-working space. Yet again there was a flurry of activity as another piece of ‘urgent’ data was being discussed in any number of channels. A swarm of voices began chiming in....

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