DJing and Product Management
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough for my cousin and her fiancé to ask me to DJ their wedding. Play some music, read the room they said. Fun!
I had DJ'd in sweaty frat basements in college but the decks have gotten dusty since, so thanks to them there was an excuse to bring them out. After graduating, and working in product management, I remember seeing a tweet about how DJing is akin to Product. Couldn't agree more. Maybe it's why I love them both.
If done right, DJing is the purest form of product management. Here's why I think that:
- feedback is immediate and unfiltered11 if the song sucks/rocks, the dance floor will tell you. if your product is instrumented properly, your usage will tell you.
- the obsession should be focused solely on the customer experience22 it's upstream of all the good stuff, so focusing there normally yields highest returns
- close to the customer33 in order to be obsessed, you should have conversations often and feel what they're feeling. virtually trying to connect won't work in either.
- how to make them feel a certain way44 metrics become tainted once their metrics, but feelings persist
- forced to make fast decisions55 by various stakeholders, or the 2 minute song running up
- it requires judgement on what’s good, given dimensions of factors like domain, timing, and customer empathy
- not taking every request as-stated, and having an opinionated view66 it's easy early on in your career to hear a request and jump straight to executing that request. but good judgement on what's needed can uncover the deeper needs and an opinionated view means it's not for everyone (that's okay!)
- the best moments are often when they get what they don’t know they wanted77 a song that shocks the crowd with delight has the same effect as a feature that magically works, anticipating needs
- at its best, it's both an art and a science, and looks more like art to the beholder
And downstream of all that, if the product is done well, is business impact (tips)!
I think I want to continue playing music.
Footnotes
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if the song sucks/rocks, the dance floor will tell you. if your product is instrumented properly, your usage will tell you.
-
it's upstream of all the good stuff, so focusing there normally yields highest returns
-
in order to be obsessed, you should have conversations often and feel what they're feeling. virtually trying to connect won't work in either.
-
metrics become tainted once their metrics, but feelings persist
-
it's easy early on in your career to hear a request and jump straight to executing that request. but good judgement on what's needed can uncover the deeper needs and an opinionated view means it's not for everyone (that's okay!)
-
a song that shocks the crowd with delight has the same effect as a feature that magically works, anticipating needs