If you’ve made it this far, kudos to you! But let’s be honest. No engineer is going to run through a 15-point checklist to make a product decision. Just seeing the list above can feel overwhelming, especially coming from a mostly technical role. If we expect engineers to actually start doing this stuff, the core idea of product engineering needs to be simple and easy to remember.
The good news is, to think like a product engineer, it’s already enough to start with just three simple questions:
- What’s the problem?
- For who?
- Why is this important?
Let’s dive a bit deeper into each one.
1. What’s the problem?
Stop coding for a second. Do you really know what you’re trying to solve? Not the ticket description in Jira, but the real-world issue. If you can’t articulate the problem in simple plain English, you have no business writing a single line of code.
2. For who?
Identify your user and customer. Sometimes they’re the same person; other times, they’re not. Understanding who will use your product (and who will pay for it) is crucial. It shapes the way you approach the solution and helps you tailor the experience to meet their needs.
3. Why is this important?
As engineers there’s never a shortage of things we could be improving or adding. If solving the problem doesn’t make a meaningful difference, why are you wasting your valuable time? We’re not here to build features that nobody uses or cares about. Connect your work to something that actually matters and helps build your track record.
By anchoring your work in these three questions, you immediately move from code monkey to a high value product-minded engineer. Still a rare breed. You’re not just implementing features someone else decided to build; you’re elevating yourself to a position to influence product decisions and build smarter.