Product Management as a Lifestyle
It was only when I started my journey as a Product Manager in a tech firm that I was formally introduced to the concept of User Experience (UX). Prior to that, I always had some sort of rough understanding of it, but did not formally conceptualize the concept. Now, part of being a Product Manager means having to focus on user-centricity and constantly putting UX in the forefront.
The other day, I met up with a friend, who is a UX Designer, for coffee somewhere downtown in Shibuya, Tokyo. She noticed me recording down my expense on my phone after I made the payment for my coffee, and asked what kind of app I was using.
I explained that I am using Notion to manage my life, and that includes my finances as well. But firing up the Notion app, going into my ‘Monthly Expenses’ page, creating a new entry, and filling in the details, and selecting a category every single time is tedious, so I created a Shortcut to optimize this process.
It was then that she pointed out, “You Product Managers are so obsessed with optimizing everything and care so much about these kind of fine details.” We laughed. I am not sure whether all Product Managers are obsessed with optimizing everything and are meticulous, but I feel that this meticulousness and urge to optimize things are traits associated with Product Management.
That led me to think, “has Product Management seeped into my daily life, or have I always been product managing my life?”
This meticulousness, this urge to optimize things and think about user experience does not exist just in my work, but also in my personal life too. This was extremely apparent when I moved to Japan and had to setup my own apartment. My entire apartment could be thought of as one big epic, with each part of the room having its own user story. Following user stories, each part of the room was intentionally designed to meet its requirements within its constrains, and to deliver the most optimal user experience for me.
It started with laying down the requirements, scope, and constraints:
- Requirement: I wanted a room that has an aesthetic of a hotel, so that whenever I come back home from work, it was like going to a nice hotel to relax.
- Scope: Therefore, the ambience of the room should be rustic and warm, sticking to the colors brown, black, white, and grey, and warm lightings.
- Constraints: Since it was a small studio apartment, each part of the room should have maximized functionality while using the least amount of space.
And from there, I could start breaking down the epic into user stories. An example would be the dining table.
- Requirements: Because of limited space, the dining table should be multi-functional.
- User story: As a user, I want to have a dining table that can serve different purposes, so that I can do other things apart from just dining on it.
- Solution: I bought the HÅVERUD table from IKEA, which is a table with a storage ladder frame that allows me to attach stuff to it, while fitting into the room’s overall aesthetic.
Hooks can be incorporated to the side of the frame to hang stuff. I hang my bags here.
For each user story, I recall intentionally spending a considerable amount of time and effort in picking the right furniture that delivers the best user experience. However, you wouldn’t know if a product would be good till you validate it with usability testing. There are times where the usability of the product could be improved, and might required refining its user experience.
For example, the laundry area.
- Pain point: Clothes that are not dirty enough for washing, but not clean enough to go back into the closet are hung on the laundry rack above the washing machine. But they also get mixed with the wet laundry that were hung there for trying.
- User story: As a user, I want to separate my wet laundry and have a place to put clothes that are worn once, so that they do not mix.
- Solution: Repurpose a bath towel rack into a rack for hanging worn clothes.
To add on, it was not just about getting any bath towel rack. It still has to satisfy the requirements, scope, and constrains set of the epic. Hence, I ended up with a bath towel rack that is slim, and black in color, accentuated with wood.
Curtains were another area that required improvements to its user experience.
- Pain point: Curtains can’t seem to shut tightly and always leave a gap in the middle that is a privacy concern.
- User story: As a user, I want the curtains to automatically shut tightly by itself, so that it doesn’t leave a gap that allows outsiders to intrude into my privacy.
- Solution: Sow magnets into each side of the curtain.
Curtains now close tightly thanks to the magnets coming together.
Being able to make decisions that are long-lasting with no backtracking, and delivering a permanent, good user experience is important for Product Management. However, I found these virtues to be greatly applicable to one’s personal life as well. There are great benefits in being intentional and user-oriented — one being, you’ll always end up with decisions that you will be satisfied with and that make you happy.
