Building Product Intuition
Notes on developing the instinct for what makes products resonate
Product intuition isn’t magic—it’s pattern recognition built through deliberate practice. The best product thinkers I know share a few habits.
They use everything
Not just products in their domain. They notice how grocery stores arrange aisles, how airports handle wayfinding, how games onboard new players. Every designed experience is a case study.
They ask “why” obsessively
Not just “what does this do” but “why did they choose this?” Every decision in a product is a bet. Understanding the bet helps you understand the thinking.
They ship and learn
Intuition without feedback is just guessing. You need the tight loop of:
- Form a hypothesis
- Build something
- See what happens
- Update your mental models
Open questions I’m still exploring
- How do you balance intuition with data?
- When should you trust your gut vs. test?
- How do you transfer intuition to a team?
More to come as I think through these…