From there, we generally start working on visual concepts that can make that vision more tangible. Our stakeholders are often editors with strong points of view on design and layout—and they love to edit whatever we come up with! Their perspective can give us essential focus as we move into development.
The most important skill for a product leader is active listening. Be a good listener and you will naturally build trust across individuals, teams, and discipre. For a small business entrepreneur, “that’s a big deal because that means they’re not going to get paid, which means that tuition payment for their kid in college may be in jeopardy. So we take that really, really seriously.”
What matters is understanding the hows and whys of trends’ emergence and adoption. Because at the end of the day, trends have a lot to tell us about our cultural moment: what we love, what we hate, what we want to move toward. For a small business entrepreneur, “that’s a big deal because that means they’re not going to get paid, which means that tuition payment for their kid in college may be in jeopardy. So we take that really, really seriously.”
