What Every Software Engineer Should Know About Building Products – Issue 14
4 Lessons I Learned Transitioning from Developer to Product Manager
“To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease.” ― Lao Tzu, Tao the way
The eight wealthiest people in the world are engineers: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin.
They are not wealthy because they excel at engineering. There are 20 Million other Engineers in the world. They're wealthy because they mastered both business and engineering
13 years ago - I started my career as a software engineer. I gradually transitioned into product design, co-founded a startup, and eventually moved into product. This shift broke many of the Engineering myths I had about building products for people.
Here’s the story of the the 4 Lessons I wish someone had told me when I started as a software engineer👇
#1 Customers Are Not a Good Source of New Ideas Because They Don’t Know What’s Possible
When building a product, asking customers what features they want is tempting. You gather their suggestions, add them to your backlog, and start shipping.
But this approach often fails.
Look at what happened to Nokia, Kodak, and Blackberry. They kept building the exact features customers asked for until their customers left for something better.
Why? Building more features for customers doesn't build loyalty. Reducing the effort they need to solve their problems does.
Steve Jobs captured this best:
“Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. People don't know what they want until you show it to them.”
And again:
“It’s hard to design products by focus groups. Often, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
Customers aren’t visionaries. They can’t ask for what they can’t imagine. Their feedback tends to focus on small, incremental improvements to what already exists. Not game-changing ideas.
Innovation doesn’t come from simply listening to customers. It comes from understanding their problems and designing solutions they never thought to ask for.
So, while customers are a great source of ideas, they’re not the best source of new ideas.
Great reads:
#2 The 1st Lesson That Should Be Taught in Engineering School Is That Customers Don’t Care About Technology
In real life:
- No one cares if you're using PHP vs Ruby vs Go
- No one cares if you're using AI or a stupid if statement logic
- No one cares that your revamped code now executes 100ms faster
Customers care about VALUE:
- Can I do the task faster?
- Do I enjoy my time while using your software?
Jensen Huang and Jeff Bezos are known for starting with the customer experience and then choosing the technology to solve it.
In most cases you don't need cutting-edge tech to solve the problem.
Great reads:
#3 Writing Code Is Only 10% of the Work
When I started as an engineer, I believed in the "Build it and they will come" mantra. I later realized this was one of the worst advice I followed.
Imagine you want to write a book. You spend six months writing every day and finally, you have a great book. Woho, you're done, right?
NO, No and no.. The content of the book is only 10% of the work. 💀
There are many other questions to answer:
What will the title be? 💭
How should the cover look? 📕
Which publisher will we work with? 🤝
Where will the book be sold? 🏛️
How will people hear about it? 🗣️
How will I promote it? 🚨
This is called marketing, distribution, pricing, positioning, and placement.
Building products is the same. Thinking of all these things together is what creates a wholesome experience for the customer.
Great reads:
Positioning: Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
Marketing: Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday (from the daily stoic blog)
Distribution: Traction by Justin Mares
Placement: Made to Stick by Chip Heath
#4 Programming is Logical; Humans Are Not
In programming, every problem has a logical correct solution. You write code, test it, and fix the bugs. If A = B and B = C, then A = C. Simple, right?
Humans don’t always make sense. We make decisions influenced by emotions, biases, and irrational factors.
It’s not enough to follow the most logical path. You have to understand how people actually think and behave. That’s how you build something people will love, even if they don’t fully know why.
Important biases to consider when building products:
A) People don’t change default product options | Default Effect
Example 1: When designing a subscription plan, set the most popular option as the default. Users are more likely to stick with it, increasing conversions for that plan.
Example 2: 90% of users won’t change the default setup you for your product. Think deeply about the “Default Experience”
B) People prefer stories over cold data | Narrative Fallacy
Example: Instead of describing product specs, tell the story of how a customer used the product: “Maryam wore this jacket on her journey to the Himalayas and stayed warm and comfortable in sub-zero temperatures.”
A Funny story 😄: The 2008 Financial Crisis happened because people believed the story: “Housing prices always go up!” regardless of what the numbers say. That’s why Jeff Bezos makes Amazon VPs read The Black Swan to avoid falling for the Narrative Fallacy.
C) People hate losing more than they enjoy winning | Loss Aversion
Example: Airlines prefer using phrases like “Only 1 seat left at this price!” to push users to book immediately to avoid missing the deal. Instead of saying “Book Today and Earn Loyalty points” which talks about potential gains.
D) People avoid making decisions when they are overwhelmed | Paradox of Choice
Example 1: Limit the number of options in your pricing plans (e.g., Basic, Pro, Enterprise). Too many choices can confuse users and lead to decision paralysis.
Example 2: Restaurants offer meal bundling like “Healthy Special,” or “Family Combo.” This simplifies decisions and pushes customers to pay more.
+ many others (check the great reads section 👇 for more content )
Great reads:
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I write about my journey in building Enterprise SaaS and Marketplaces
Great read, thanks for the nice article