By Teresa Torres · producttalk.org · @ttorres on X · LinkedIn
Teresa Torres talks with Petra Wille about how she and co-organizer Arne design experiences rather than mere events at Product at Heart and related leadership gatherings. Petra explains that intentional sensory details, such as a candlelit dinner, herbs, playful surprises, and self-selecting session paths, help attendees drop their corporate defensiveness and connect. The conversation argues that you cannot make everyone happy, so designers should choose a specific audience and design deliberately for them. Teresa links these ideas to product work, particularly designing for awe rather than novelty and asking who the product is really serving and when extra investment in delight is worth it.
01Key takeaways
- You cannot design an experience that pleases everyone, so choose the audience you are designing for.
- Offer self-selected paths so people can join the niche groups that matter to them.
- Small sensory details can shift people out of their defensive, business-mode thinking.
- Build room for unplanned, serendipitous moments rather than scheduling every minute.
- Aim for awe rather than novelty when you want users to feel their possibilities expanded.
- Ask who the product serves before investing in delight, and judge whether the extra effort is worth it.
02Key sections
- Designing an experience, not an event
- Petra describes how she and Arne plan a multi-day leadership gathering as a sequence of moods, mixing workshops, excursions, and meals. The goal is to shape how people feel, not only what they learn.
- Sensory details and serendipity
- Small sensory choices like rosemary in a greenhouse or a sudden disco ball are used to break corporate reflexes. These moments create space for unexpected connections and inspiration.
- Choice and niche audiences
- Rather than curating one experience for everyone, attendees self-select paths such as a Hard Problems Club. This lets a broad event serve specific niche needs well.
- Novelty versus awe
- Teresa distinguishes novelty, which fades quickly, from awe, which lifts people out of the everyday and widens what they believe is possible.
- Lessons for product teams
- The discussion ties the event design principles back to product decisions about who to serve, how to design for delight, and when the extra investment pays off.
03From the post
“Listen to this episode on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts What makes an event truly unforgettable — and what can product teams learn from it? In this episode, Teresa sits down with Petra Wille to explore how Petra and her co-organizer Arne design experiences (not just events) at Product at Heart and”
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.