I first saw this concept from Yuhki Yamashita (@yuhkiyam), CPO of Figma, in 2020.
Well before the current AI boom.
It's driven by 3 key trends:
(Video: @productschool)
1. Engineers are taking an active role in the problem space
It's just a pre-requisite for engineering success these days.
Promotion committees don't just ask, how big was the feature, or important the technical innovation.
They ask: how big was the impact?
2. Designers are taking an active role in the business
More than ever, designers are learning and building for metrics.
In a world where OKRs rule the roost, the incentive is natural.
They can't just outsource to a PM fully vetting the business space.
3. PMs are learning design and tech drive performance
The little details of how you design a product and the technical decisions you make determine whether it's successful.
Both product leaders and product managers are realizing they have to get into the details.
4. Finally, yes, AI is accelerating the merge
Now:
โข Companies are waiting to hire PMs
โข Design engineer is the hottest thing on Twitter
โข All disciplines continue to use AI to speed up their work
This will reduce time on finessing details & increase time on the why.
Putting all this together... It seems undeniable the roles have started to merge on the edges.
But, the core responsibilities remain differentiated.
So, in this increasingly overlapped world, how you work with your sister functions becomes a differentiator.
Those who:
โข Lead with empowerment
โข Collaborate with empathy
โข Blend roles, but don't step on toes
Will be the one's leading us into this new era.
So, as a PM, how do you handle these blurry edges with design?
I interviewed 15 folks to help you out with all the tactics, strategies, and conversation starters you need:
"You're my personal Hebrew tutor. Build me a 20-minute lesson for today based on my current level [beginner/intermediate/advanced]. Include: 10 new vocabulary words with context, 1 key grammar concept with 3 examples, and 5 practice sentences I should translate. End with tomorrow's preview."
2. Real Conversation Partner
"Let's have a 10-minute conversation in Hebrew about [topic: weekend plans/work/hobbies]. Start each response in Hebrew, then add English corrections below using this format: 'โ You said X โ โ Say Y (because Z)'. Adjust your Hebrew complexity to match my responses."
In product management, not everything is straight forward maths, or solvable by AI.
Yet, some PMs still make better decisions most of the time.
How?
That's product sense:
"The ability to find the right solution for the user and business, despite limited and ambiguous information."
I love this definition from @Sid Arora.
You start with the PM process:
1. Take a vague & ambiguous problem statement 2. Create, or clarify the overall goal 3. Identify all users in ecosystem 4. Pick 1-2 users 5. Identify major problems of the user 6. Select the problems to solve 7. Brainstorm for solutions 8. Select the highest ROI solution 9. Build and deploy the solution 10. Measure success / collect feedback
This is the most important part! You want to describe your unicorn candidate-market fit. This is your opportunity to make a bumpy career look like a straight line to a sector of the market.
2. Navigation
The beauty of a website is you can add layers. Add in followup pages to deep dive into your experience. Link them. Add in blog & podcast appearances too.