In Defense of Design Thinking

The Design Thinking Stages

Why do so many folks love to hate on Design Thinking? I really don’t get it. It’s a great way to knock off the cobwebs when dealing with gnarly problems.

Design Thinking at Work – DX20 Innovation Lab

he Deluxe Exchange 2020 Innovation Lab Squad

There are a few occasions that I’ve had the opportunity to truly create something with a group of amazing people who believed by bringing together a cross-discipline team we could build something that would solve our customers’ problems as a balanced team.

Finding Empathy

It took me a while to gain confidence in what I was doing when I started as a Product Manager. Hell, some days I still suffer from Imposter Syndrome, but I’ve found a little bit of a secret weapon to keep in my arsenal when I feel that I’m starting to lose my way – Finding Empathy with the Product and the Customer.

Product Management as an Introvert

I’m a classic Introvert, and I’m a Product Manager. When I first started this blog, I was tempted to call it The Introverted Product Manager. Any extroversion that you have seen from me really is just manufactured for the masses, and by the end of a heavy day of pretending to be an Extrovert, it really takes its toll. I’ve always thought of it more as putting on one of those dollar-store white masks that heist movies have made popular. Sometimes it can be stifling if you wear it too long.

What does Product Success Look Like?

Large Target with Arrow

For the last month, I’ve moved completely out of my comfort zone, taking a job in a totally different industry. I’m still in a (nascent) Product group, but it’s not in media for the first time in my career. I’ve been more than a little lost when it comes to defining product needs and also the Big Kahuna, Product Success.

Fighting for your Product

Everyone is overworked these days, especially when your product is part of a larger entity that has multiple versions of yourself all vying to be the top of the priority list. How do you compete and fight for your Product’s success?

What Do You Do?

Product Manager. Product Management. What are these roles and responsibilities?

Developers: Documentation is Your Friend

Most developers that I’ve worked with over the years will either cringe or scoff at writing their own documentation. The most that you’ll get from a select few will be a few lines of comments within their code that they’ll refer to as documentation. If you’re planning on making a move or not to the […]

The 20-Minute Rule

When I first started at my current company, my technical manager said something that I carried with me through my entire development career. “If you make no progress on a task after twenty minutes of work, find someone to help you.” That simple phrase carried me through multiple league-level redesigns & more tentpole events than […]