Grégoire Ostian retweetledi
People always ask me how to judge if someone is "good at product."
When you want to know if someone is good at architecture, you start by asking them about the buildings they like and perhaps their favorite architects.
They might reply that they are a fan of the Villa Savoye near Paris, of the modernist movement, and especially of its leading architect, Le Corbusier, whose life and work they are familiar with.
As an expert, you will then discuss why this work is remarkable. They will explain how the stilts elevate the house to free up the basement, they will surely also tell you the history of rooftop terraces, praise the "open plan" which, thanks to the load-bearing structure, eliminates the need for load-bearing walls, offering more layout freedom. They will end by praising the brilliance of strip windows which provide light as well as a panoramic view. In short, you'll get your money's worth.
If you want to know if someone is "good at product," do the same thing: discuss products.
Ask them about their favorite products and, more importantly, ask why. Don't settle for the easy answer you could get from any satisfied user. Dig deeper and demand a product professional's response.
If they tell you they like "Notion" – as do millions of other users – hope that they say they love Notion because they invented the interface of modern software just as Microsoft did 30 years earlier. While Google Suite naively adapted Microsoft's office suite online by replicating the same products and interfaces, Notion fully embraced the new paradigm of the web.
Notion used the multi-modality of the webpage to accommodate structured data, images, text, and more within a single object, "the page." They built on the block concept, which we'd seen elsewhere, like on Medium, but they improved and sophisticated it. Microsoft Office was designed for "print," focusing on layout and formatting, but Notion is designed for the web and mobile. Also, expect them to talk about the page as a granular object that abstracts the file and its tree structure (the ability to nest a page within a page) that replaces the notion of a directory. Hope they touch on the "Workspace" concept that extends the notion of an account and companies.
Demand as much from a product professional's answer as you would from an architecture professional's. Expect the same passion, expertise, attention to detail, and historical knowledge.
And if you consider yourself "good at product," don't hesitate to join us at @hexacc : talent@hexa.com
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