Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Refactoring the product and engineering relationship (STP204)

Summary

Anne Hunt and Eric Peterson, with 25 years of experience each, discuss improving the product management and engineering relationship.
They emphasize the importance of delivering products that serve both the customer and the business, highlighting the need for collaboration over communication.
The speakers touch on the evolution from traditional to agile methodologies, stressing the importance of learning before building.
They introduce "product flow," a process that integrates product and engineering responsibilities, focusing on learning and iterating.
The talk includes discussions on the importance of customer interaction for both product managers and engineers, and the financial implications of engineering decisions.
They present a checklist to assess the health of the product-engineering relationship and suggest resources for further learning.
The session concludes with an encouragement to provide feedback and continue the conversation on this topic.

The traditional division of responsibilities between product management ("the what and the why") and engineering ("the how and the when") is outdated and hinders collaboration.
Direct and regular interaction with customers by both product managers and engineers is crucial for creating products that truly meet customer needs.
The concept of "product flow" is introduced as a modern approach to integrate product and engineering efforts, with a strong emphasis on learning and iteration.
Financial considerations, such as cloud costs and unit economics, are now integral to the product development process, and teams should adopt FinOps principles.
The speakers advocate for a culture of commitment and iteration, where decisions are made and revisited based on continuous learning and customer feedback.
The checklist provided serves as a practical tool for organizations to evaluate and improve their product-engineering relationship.
The session underscores the importance of shared goals and a unified vision between product and engineering teams to achieve successful outcomes.