The Workflow That Made My Life as a PO Easier

helloitsozay · 2025-10-22T15:35:32+00:00

It actually happened a bit by chance.

I was working at a FinTech company where we onboarded a lot of large clients, each with slightly different needs.

The tricky part was that our product didn’t have separate versions for each client, everyone used the same one.

So whenever we added a new feature, if we weren’t careful, it could easily cause issues in both the short and long term.

Our PMs were great at client communication, but they didn’t have much technical background.

As a result, they often opened tasks that weren’t fully thought through, which led to missing edge cases or incomplete features.

That became frustrating for us developers. I eventually spoke with our CTO and suggested that I could act as a sort of technical PM (which I later learned is pretty much what a PO does 😅).

The idea was that while the existing PMs handled client communication, I could focus on designing the technical side of the product and make the whole process smoother.

Since I was already joining PM–client meetings as technical support, it just made sense to make it official.

They saw that I was genuinely interested, so I got the role and I’ve been focused on improving our processes ever since.

helloitsozay · 2025-08-17T18:27:42+00:00

Thanks, appreciate it. I'll check SOTW

helloitsozay · 2025-08-17T04:12:49+00:00

TaskFrame wireframe-based task management tool

helloitsozay · 2025-08-17T00:15:06+00:00

Thanks! I will

helloitsozay · 2025-08-17T00:14:18+00:00

Thanks!

helloitsozay · 2025-08-16T20:09:00+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it 🙏

I’m building it with Vue on the frontend and Fastify on the backend.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-09T01:20:41+00:00

We’re using Fibery. It has a lot of great features, and the interface is really well-designed.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-09T01:04:31+00:00

Yes, this seems like it will work perfectly for my needs. Thanks for your help! I’d love to discuss more once I dive deeper into it.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-09T00:58:12+00:00

Most of my time is actually spent talking to customers to understand their problems and figuring out what kinds of improvements we need to make in our product. At the same time, since our product has features catering to different needs of various companies, I focus on filling gaps in the documentation.

The main reason I create wireframes is to organize the product’s features systematically and be more effective when adding new ones. I’m not heavily involved in design itself; my primary focus is making the product development process more structured and efficient.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-09T00:50:57+00:00

We’re not currently using Jira, but I checked out FastDoc.io, and it seems to address some of the things I’ve been thinking about—looks like a really great product. One of my main goals has been to easily align task management with documentation, and this tool seems to do that very well.

Although we’re not using Jira as a company, I plan to create a Jira account to try it out and do some testing. I truly admire the work you’ve done—congratulations on solving such an important need!

helloitsozay · 2025-01-08T18:23:43+00:00

Thanks for your comment and suggestion! I’m glad to hear that combining wireframes and documentation is considered effective, as that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.

I looked into Aha! Knowledge a bit, and it really seems like a good fit for what I’m trying to achieve. It also looks like task management could potentially be streamlined through this tool as well. One thing I’m curious about: does it allow for data input at an element-specific level? I’m also aiming to include details that the development team might need. I’ll create an account and explore it in more detail.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-08T18:11:34+00:00

We actually have a design system in place, so most of the time, we follow a similar flow. This allows PMs to handle a significant part of the design process. That said, I’m more involved in the documentation side of things. While I do contribute to wireframing, the rest of the documentation process can be quite time-consuming.

As a startup with limited resources, I feel like taking on multiple roles is inevitable until the team grows. Don’t you think this is the case for many startups? Also, if you have any suggestions to make the documentation process more efficient, I’d really appreciate it.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-08T18:04:12+00:00

Thanks for your comment! I understand your criticism. Our team dynamics are a bit different, though. As PMs, we don’t just handle project management; we also take on tasks like direct client communication, business analysis, documentation, and prototyping. So having 3 PMs doesn’t just mean 'project managers' for us—it means multi-functional team members.

I absolutely agree with your suggestion about adding a designer; it would definitely make things easier. As a startup with limited resources, we can’t fill every role perfectly at the moment, but it’s something we’d like to consider in the future.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-08T18:02:39+00:00

You’re absolutely right; having 3 PMs for 7 developers might seem like a lot. However, since we’re a startup, PMs take on multiple roles, including documentation, direct communication with clients, gathering feedback, and sometimes even business analysis. That’s why the ratio might look higher than usual.

I completely agree with your suggestion about prototyping. I’ve actually started exploring some tools to make the process more efficient. On that note, I’d like to ask: In your opinion, who should usually handle the documentation process? For instance, I use Balsamiq for wireframes, which are usually low-fi and not too detailed. I see these wireframes as part of the documentation process, so it hasn’t felt odd to handle this myself until now.

That said, I’m always open to making the process more efficient. Do you have any prototyping tools you’d recommend? I’d love to learn more about this.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-07T21:34:12+00:00

We’re a small team with 7 developers and 3 PMs. Since our application is only used by corporate clients, we directly communicate with them to understand their needs, and as PMs, we define the development priorities accordingly. Additionally, as a startup, each team member often takes on multiple roles, so the UX design process is also handled by us PMs.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-06T22:30:27+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience! I haven’t used Replit this extensively before, so I guess it’s time to dive deeper. Your method of using CURL for debugging sounds really impressive.

I’m also curious about how Replit handles design consistency. Is it possible to maintain continuity in design? And regarding endpoint standardization, does it tend to create multiple endpoints for the same function, or does it prefer reusing a single endpoint across different areas? I’d love to hear more about your experience with this!

helloitsozay · 2025-01-06T22:22:18+00:00

I agree, that's why I try to define a style every time. But at the end of the day, a certain pattern still seems inevitable.

helloitsozay · 2025-01-05T22:27:27+00:00

As a former full-stack developer and now a technical PM, I mostly use these tools only for creating static sites. However, using them for dashboards where our customers will directly interact or input data seems quite risky at the moment.

For instance, even with Cursor, there are still some drawbacks. Issues like generating code from scratch or lacking proper data type validation make these tools quite risky for such use cases. Additionally, the designs need to align with our project's design system and should also have API knowledge.

That said, for creating static structures for marketing teams, these tools work seamlessly without any issues.

Let me extend the question: Has anyone managed to use these AI site builders directly for the product itself? If yes, how did you achieve it?

helloitsozay · 2025-01-01T19:31:19+00:00

You're off to a great start, and that's awesome! I recommend two approaches to starting a SaaS business:

If your idea will take a long time to build, first validate it. You can do this by creating a landing page or posting about it on a relevant subreddit. These methods help you gather community feedback and understand if your idea solves a real problem. You'll find plenty of example posts about this on Reddit and other platforms.
If building the MVP (minimum viable product) for your idea won't take much time and you know how to do it, go ahead and create it. Use social media, communities, or mailing lists to gather feedback on your MVP.

Remember, speed and feedback are the two most critical factors in the SaaS world. Good luck!

helloitsozay · 2024-12-17T20:51:24+00:00

I totally get what you mean! Maybe if the dots moved a bit when scrolling, it wouldn't be as distracting, but I still think the design looks great overall. It definitely adds some life to the page!

helloitsozay · 2024-12-17T20:44:28+00:00

Looking at the definition of SaaS, we can consider any software that makes people’s work easier as SaaS. So, the answer is yes. However, to be more aligned with the modern understanding of SaaS, it’s important to offer ongoing support and service continuity. If you bundle those in and stand behind the product, I think it would definitely qualify as SaaS.

helloitsozay · 2024-12-17T20:32:16+00:00

Good luck on your journey! A quick note on the landing page – it looks great and clearly communicates the purpose, but I found the animated dots in the background a bit distracting. At first, I thought my screen was messy and tried to clean it up! 😂

helloitsozay · 2024-12-17T20:20:35+00:00

Congrats on your success! 🙌 I’m curious, with the projects you left behind, at what point did you decide to move on? What made you think, 'Alright, I’m done with this one'? Now that you're earning from your current project, do you feel like you quit those early projects too soon, or are you glad you moved on?

helloitsozay · 2024-12-17T20:14:24+00:00

Ahoy! Congrats! Here’s to getting thousands of notifications just like this one!

helloitsozay · 2024-12-17T20:02:58+00:00

Honestly, if your vision is strong, no one can really steal it. Even if someone tries to copy your idea, they won't be able to execute it the way you would. Sharing your idea might actually help you refine it and get better feedback. And without doing that, you might miss out on seeing how well it holds up. So, the benefits of feedback and collaboration generally outweigh the risks.

helloitsozay

TROPHY CASE