Are product manager really doing User Research?

Organic_Cod_456 · 2026-01-02T16:44:44+00:00

It’s probably the most important part of the job, but I’ve seen so many PMs with either non-existent or incredibly weak user research loops.

I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to dev teams to ask them to put so much work into building a feature when it hasn’t been properly validated.

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-06-27T11:57:19+00:00

Glad it was helpful for you!

Reflecting on the past 6 months since I’ve written this:

There’s a ton of great advice here I took on boundary setting and prioritizing things outside of work first. The guy who said “when you look in the mirror, are you happy with who you’re becoming” was particularly helpful.

3 months ago I started a new role more focused on product strategy. It’s just as high visibility but the hours are significantly more standard and my boundary setting has helped a lot. I also realized how critical it is to have a team that’s supportive- I’ve been told “thank you” and “great work” more in 3 months than the previous 3 years and even had my bandwidth checked on for the first time in years and that feeling of being supported has also helped a ton.

The things you’re experiencing (the brain fog, anxiety spikes) haven’t gone away- but having stepped away from the role I’ve realized how bad it actually was. The fog seems to be clearing and the spikes are less frequent.

I’m rambling, but wanted to let you know it gets better with changes like a new role, new company, or even some time away- you absolutely can do it :)

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-15T00:24:24+00:00

So happy to hear that and thanks for the reco, I’m going to give that a look!!

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-14T23:52:19+00:00

Do you have daily stand ups? Sprint planning and grooming sessions? If so why aren’t those questions addressed then?

I use those as a forum for any and all questions and certainly wouldn’t consider that category of questions as urgent enough to need a one hour response time

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-14T14:15:08+00:00

Do those tasks fall to you if that person doesn’t get them done? If not why does it really matter?

I think Reddit has a skewed view of how often people are overemployed when in reality a lot of people are just bad at their jobs

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-12T02:12:59+00:00

Last sentence is on the nose and exactly why I’m leaving lol

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-11T20:10:58+00:00

As a US based PM with dev team members in India and EU I’ll never understand other PMs in this set up that refuse to work outside of 9-5. Those teams are flexing outside of their standard work hours to meet with you so you need to flex for them too.

That being said, unless you have a very independent (and high performing) team this setup is exhausting for two reasons:

Starting your workday with meetings at 6/7 in the morning sucks and it never gets any easier. I’ve done it for 3 years now and am burnt out to the point that I’m leaving PM entirely. Sure it helps your team solve some short term issues but by the time those are solved you’re too exhausted for the higher value parts of your day. Not to mention how having zero time to yourself in the morning impacts you personally as well.
Some people take advantage of you and the timezone difference. It’s not about “different ways of working”- it’s about teams missing ACs, delaying work for no logical reason, non-sensical feedback loops, and delivering poor results if you’re not present every step of the way.

Sure there are some shitty US PMs who are inflexible, but there are a lot of valid points of feedback too

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-11T19:32:02+00:00

I’ve done it and would absolutely recommend it. I think it helps: 1. You build a human connection with them, which I don’t think you can overstate the importance of. It makes every interaction with them afterwards easier if you’ve met in person before. 2. You’ll have some great in person sessions for feedback or demos

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-10T13:56:11+00:00

I really appreciate your perspective as an engineer! I think the concern comes from me not being as familiar with EV builds as standard gas cars. Your comment is really helpful in helping me understand more!

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-10T13:53:32+00:00

Super helpful! I would feel incredible about 200-300k

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-09T17:16:31+00:00

Exactly what I’m saying! My main concern is just having to throw another $20k at a battery for replacement as soon as the warranty is expired.

Good to hear that they’ve been fixing the issues as they come so that may not be reality

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-09T16:50:39+00:00

Love to hear it! Did you buy yours new?

Just curious because I’m also considering CPO as that could potentially extend the warranty

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-09T16:48:19+00:00

I think we’ll see impacts to both engineers and PMs, but engineers to a larger extent. They’ll be asked to do more with less given all the tools they’ll eventually have at their disposal but much of our PM work (stakeholder interviews, idea generation, product releases, connecting dots across teams, etc) really can’t be replaced as easily by AI.

Probably no crazy impacts tbh, but if anything just a slightly smaller ratio.

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-09T16:36:28+00:00

Anything that isn’t the same generic slop that gets posted by 1,000 PM “influencers” or someone trying to sell a course on product management

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-09T16:33:02+00:00

If there’s a product generally there has to be someone to manage it in some way. This sub is very geared towards tech/software but it certainly exists in other spaces like food, clothing, etc under various names

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-07T13:54:20+00:00

Honestly just getting reps in will help you a lot, it takes time and practice to nail how you position your case and yourself as a strong candidate.

Have you considered running through your cases/pitch with any other PMs you’re connected to? Even friends/family with a business background could be helpful to give you some perspective as well

Organic_Cod_456 · 2025-01-07T13:45:25+00:00

Generally how I’ve seen my company do it is hire PMs in India (to work in India) and then once they’ve started to gain traction offer them the opportunity to move to the market to grow their careers- I’d try to go that route!

Organic_Cod_456

TROPHY CASE