By Teresa Torres · producttalk.org · @ttorres on X · LinkedIn
Teresa Torres reflects on her first year of blogging at Product Talk, which she started in November 2011. She found that writing sharpened her own thinking, often surprising her with conclusions she hadn't expected, and that reader discussion was the most rewarding part. Her hit posts were not always the ones she expected, which she takes as a lesson about predicting what resonates. She reviews her most popular pieces, including user stories versus PRDs, interviewing product managers, talking to customers, framing product vision around problems rather than solutions, and questioning bug-tracking overhead. The retrospective is mainly useful as a snapshot of recurring product themes and a reminder that writing is a thinking tool.
01Key takeaways
- Writing regularly is a powerful way to clarify and test your own thinking.
- Don't assume you can predict which ideas will resonate; let audience response guide you.
- Fall in love with the problem, not your proposed solution, since feedback on solutions can be devastating when they fail.
- Lightweight artifacts like user stories often serve teams better than long requirement documents.
- Question process overhead, such as bug-tracking systems that consume effort on issues never resolved.
02Key sections
- Lessons from the first year
- Torres explains that blogging was a learning experience and that writing clarified her own thinking. Reader engagement and new subscribers were highlights.
- User stories over PRDs
- Her most popular post argued for user stories over long PRDs, which surprised her given how many companies still use waterfall processes.
- Interviewing and career advice
- Phone-screening product managers revealed how broad and disjointed the field is, and led to a series on landing a first PM job.
- Customer conversations and problem framing
- Posts on talking to customers and framing product vision stress focusing on the problem rather than a favored solution, a mistake she saw an entrepreneur make.
- Questioning bug tracking
- A later post questioned the laborious tracking of bugs that will never be fixed, unexpectedly generating controversy and strong engagement.
03From the post
“I started Product Talk in November 2011. It's been a great first year of blogging. I've learned a lot. Some posts that I thought would be hits didn't gain traction and others that I thought would be sleepers really took off. More importantly, I learned how much”
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.