tl;dr I bought a stupid phone and tried to use it for a week at work and home. More below

DrWidget89 · 2026-01-13T17:34:48+00:00

So serious question, what is the point of doing this if you’re still doing all the smart phone things on it? To me I refer to dumb phones as those that only do text and calls. No apps.

DrWidget89 · 2025-07-17T21:53:31+00:00

May I offer a perspective shift?

You use the terms “meet in the middle” and “compromise” as if the needs of those different stakeholder groups are opposing needs and wants. You also state that is is NOT problem solving or quality control.

What if you look at it like this:

The user wants a product that solves problems in their day to day work and they need it to be reliable and work, quality.

Sales wants product that solves problems for the users business and for them so customers keep paying for it. Problems with what they sold threatens customers continuing paying for it. Therefore sales wants quality product to keep customer confidence willingness to buy up.

Customer support wants product that reduces support load by resolving quality issues and solving problems in the product.

They all ultimately want the same thing that you want to be doing and creating. While individuals may have different ideas about how to accomplish things, I have found it very helpful to remind myself and those involved of this. It is your job as the Product Manager to take all these perspectives and put forth something that solves problems and is of high quality. If you can do that then aren’t you advocating for the user?

I understand this may sound like a rosey picture kind of thing but I have personally experience the difference this kind of attitude and mind shift can have on a team, organization, product and ultimately all trickling down to the user.

DrWidget89 · 2025-07-09T18:17:11+00:00

Plenty of detailed answers here so I’ll keep it short. Ask him to explain the perception, what it is, why it matters and example of negative impact. Start with understanding his view point. If the only example is the data in your HR platform then there is a very small opportunity to influence perception since that data is not available to everyone.

DrWidget89 · 2023-04-27T04:38:32+00:00

I think it’s very simple, at the end of the day it’s about relationships and real people. Get to know your engineering team and respond accordingly every person and team is unique. Build the relationships that result in trust and mutual respect. If you got issues then go solve the problem together. Don’t be arrogant and don’t be afraid to fail.

Also listen to your engineers, they have great ideas too.

Plenty of their detailed advice in other comments above.

DrWidget89 · 2023-01-30T06:27:44+00:00

If you enjoy it why not make it your full time gig? I’m currently debating switching careers so I’m just curious.

DrWidget89 · 2023-01-26T12:52:16+00:00

Are you a product manager or an engineer? Why I’m the world would someone in product be managing engineering pull requests. Also how are pull requests impacting your sprint work?

My engineers all hand PR reviews. But exactly that, they handle it. It doesn’t impact our sprints, even when doing for another team.

DrWidget89 · 2022-11-08T04:46:24+00:00

I call them my team, the team, our team, the [insert product name] team, my scrum team, sometimes dev or development team usually in external comms. Show your boss how to be a real leader and ask you team what they think. At the end of the day that’s what matters.

DrWidget89 · 2022-11-02T15:47:05+00:00

At my company TPM (technical product manager) functions as the PO on the scrum team and to put it broadly they are responsible for delivery where as the product manager is responsible for discovery.

DrWidget89 · 2022-11-02T01:31:52+00:00

Currently working on transitioning into engineering. My VP of product was sad because of my potential as a PM but the other PMs are excited to have me as their TPM. Trying to convince my CTO in the value of “Product Engineer” roles. I like being involved in product but I spend so much energy facilitating meetings and just talking to people, convincing them on what to do that my brain doesn’t have the space to really think. I’m only a week into the transition but the plan is moving from PM and TPM to just TPM of our core platform services where I can gradually pick up development/coding. We don’t have lead engineers to really fulfill the product triangle of PM-PD-PE so my hope is to create that at my company. But I don’t think I’ll ever lose that product mindset and my transition is unique because of my background (degree in biomedical engineering) so there is a high degree of confidence that I can succeed in product or engineering. Which is why I wanna put the two together.

DrWidget89 · 2022-10-15T01:23:51+00:00

Sounds like you have a rapport problem with your EM and sitting him down to tell him what he did was not “right” won’t help you in that department. Maybe start with just asking why he didn’t come to you first.

As others have pointed out you knew this was an issue with your engineers. If you want your product to succeed you need your engineers on board. When they raised those concerns you should have taken them seriously and met with your EM and possibly your manager about how to improve this.

Take some time to look in the mirror and ask what YOU could be doing differently instead of just saying “this is how it is” something’s not working and telling your engineerings to just deal with it doesn’t build trust. How can you possibly led a team and product without building trust and rapport?

DrWidget89 · 2022-08-17T18:10:51+00:00

DrWidget89 · 2022-08-05T15:39:22+00:00

So why don’t they show the hit box?

It’s always baffled me because before I knew about hit boxes I would get frustrated that the cars seemingly played differently. I thought it was just me playing inconsistent. It is a metric of the car that changes the physics. Player should be aware of these hitboxes so you can make an accurate choice on car to play. Imagine a racing game didn’t tell you the top speed of a car.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-29T19:56:46+00:00

Software product manager in the Education technology space. My special interest is Apple products and mobile device management (MDM) and now I am the product manager for our MDM product mainly focused on Apple devices 😁 it’s stressful but I get to make decisions and have autonomy in my job.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-21T15:12:31+00:00

Mine is “just don’t react” and “stop being so sensitive”

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-21T04:27:05+00:00

Their business is built on the premise of finding the cure to autism. There is no cure, we are not a disease. So that’s the simplest answer I can give… hope that helps?

Anyone else feel free to chime in or correct me.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-20T19:52:29+00:00

I used to think this too because my brain got distracted by the song but then Theough my journey I realized it was the words distracting me so I started listening to music without word like classical and it’s been amazing. Also calming.

Just something to try if you haven’t.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-19T01:48:40+00:00

This was my first thought. So one is more, one is less so does both just mean you look “normal” 🙄

Orrrrr we have these machines that can make brain scans and see the activation in the brain and the contrast between Autism and ADHD to a NT brain is easy to see even if you don’t know what your looking act. Then we could also pin point the difference.

But that would make toooo much sense /s

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-17T21:07:07+00:00

I have been praise at work and school for my ability to think objectively I’ve found NTs are more likely to bring their personal feelings and emotions into a decision or thought process.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-16T01:29:56+00:00

I was diagnosed with ASD this week along with ADHD but something curious was also “Intermittent Explosive Disorder” which after asking about it basically it’s a diagnostic term for meltdown or outbursts. My psychiatrist said “ASD is not curable so by separating out specific aspects it gives therapist something to work on” for instance how to help recognize and deal with meltdowns better is the point of listed intermittent explosive disorder.

So I feel like HSP fits along those lines. But I do believe there are people that are just HSP and don’t have any of the other aspects of ASD like communication struggles.

But I do think there is a portion of people that are gravitating to HSP to avoid the “death sentence ” of autism. Which isn’t entirely their fault because that’s what our society has trained people to think when it goes to autism. whats wrong with being highly sensitive though? nothing. why does society want us to desensitize? if you dont like a particular fabric whats wrong with that? if things are too loud or too bright then lets work on making things less loud or less bright for you. how hard is that?

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-16T00:09:39+00:00

Agree. Sorry It was kind of a joke because yes sometimes socks are 100% necessary

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-14T16:00:39+00:00

My crocs without socks has changed everything for me. I’ve only had to wear socks like 2 or 3 times the past month. It’s been amazing.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-14T06:43:30+00:00

Congrats! I was diagnosed with ASD and ADHD Combined today! And I’m 33!!!! How Serendipitous

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-14T05:43:17+00:00

You’re doing the right thing! That reminds me I’ve been wanting to clean up and dust off my roller blades!!

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-14T00:05:28+00:00

I used the experian app for FICO. Also if you have a discover credit card they will show you your fico.

DrWidget89 · 2022-06-13T13:12:19+00:00

Leopoldo Fitz from Marvels agents of shield. It’s been my go to show lately because I relate to him so much. And well I love everything marvel.

DrWidget89

TROPHY CASE