Matthew Tomaszewicz

As a seasoned design leader at this stage in my career, I’d like to share a reflection of one of my greatest challenges—and privileges—navigating the delicate balance between leveraging well-established design patterns and crafting new, innovative product experiences. Why the balance matters: Tried-and-true design patterns are powerful because they provide familiarity and usability for users while reducing cognitive load. They’re a testament to the collective wisdom of our industry, refined over time through countless iterations and user feedback. However, relying solely on established patterns can sometimes limit creativity and lead to stagnation in product innovation. This is the dark side of established design systems. On the other hand, designing new flows and experiences allows us to break boundaries and chart new paths. This is where creativity shines, where we sharpen our skills and apply design principles in novel ways to solve evolving user needs. Yet, this comes with its own challenges—higher risk, potential user friction, and the need for extensive validation and iteration. As a design leader, the key is balance: 1. Master the fundamentals – Deep knowledge of design principles and established patterns is critical. These are the foundation upon which we innovate. 2. Push new horizons with intention – When we step into uncharted territory, it’s essential to root our explorations in a strong understanding of user goals, behaviors, and context. 3. Foster collaboration and experimentation – Building something truly innovative often requires stepping outside our comfort zone and collaborating across disciplines. 4. Measure and adapt – Whether we’re refining a pattern or creating a new one, data and user feedback are our guideposts to ensuring success. For me, the joy of designing the Akaio platforms lies in mastering this balance: ensuring products are intuitive and accessible while also delivering delightful, groundbreaking experiences. It’s a constant interplay of discipline and curiosity, structure and exploration. #designleader #innovation #exploration #flow #creativity #leaderrship #balance Check out a live use case of my latest product build here:

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I found this article to be a great summary of what a product manager does- understanding all stakeholders and acting as the glue across the organization. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/g39gC_4G

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#productwalk <start> <storytime> I’m not the greatest storyteller. For real, if I’m crafting a narrative it takes time, significant thought energy, core data, and deep understanding of what I’m talking about. But that’s ok. Why? Because as a product leader - as a leader in general - it’s not about the ability to just tell a story that is critical, it’s about the passion you have for what you’re talking about. <passion> When I am most excited about something with my job, it’s because I see the #value that it will add for the #users. That sets a fire under me not just to move mountains to deliver it quickly, but also to transfer that passion to the team. Putting the #userfirst is at the core of delivering great products, driving a mindset that shifts from just getting a thing done to delivering a GREAT outcome. <profession> Long have there been debates about profession vs job. Indulge me for a second about these two words. Profession is rooted in a formalization of a skill set, something that required training, qualification, experience to be a part of. Something that was more than just a task. A job, however, is focused on a task, a thing that you must do, more narrow. This is the reason why when we do #productvalidation we run through a #jobstobedone (#JTBD) analysis so we can understand the full scope of what the user needs. When you approach your role as a #productleader as a professional vs a job, your mindset shifts from a myopic view to one that is scanning the horizon to ensure that the thing you are delivering, the problem you are solving, addresses the problems the user has with orchestrated unity and harmonization. <action> So what does this all boil down to and why bring any of this up? If you are in #productmanagement you’re a product professional. If you’re in #engineering, you’re a product professional. If you are in #marketing, you’re a product professional. If you are in #qualityassurance, you are a product professional. If you are in #sales, you are a product professional. If you’re the #CEO or #founder of a company, you are a product professional. Picking up a theme yet? As a product professional, you are part of a team that drives quality focused on delivering products that a user can employ to get their jobs done. You are part of a #team - and as a Product Manager you help drive that team to that goal, fueled with passion for what you’re solving, with the user at the heart of everything you say and do. <lets.walk>

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Product roadmaps shouldn't be treated like a to-do list. They're living documents that tell the story of your product's evolution and adapt with customer needs. 🌱 I learned this lesson the hard way. Early in my career, like many founders and product folks, I viewed roadmaps as rigid plans to execute against - plugging items into project management tools and checking off boxes each quarter. While this felt satisfying, this output-based approach missed the point entirely. 😬 Here’s the roadmap philosophy I live by today: The art of roadmapping isn't about the output - it's about the process. 🏗️ Or, as Winston Churchill offers, "Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential." When viewed through this lens, startup roadmaps are a tool that helps you: 🗣️ Articulate your vision clearly to different stakeholders 🎯 Prioritize work that moves you toward that vision 🛞 Adjust quickly based on customer feedback 🤝 Unite teams around shared goals For early-stage companies, I’ve found the best way to do this is to create and maintain three versions of the roadmap, each for a distinct audience: 1️⃣ Annual roadmaps for investors: Focus on major milestones and market opportunities 6-12 months out. This shows your strategic thinking and excites investors about long-term potential. 2️⃣ Quarterly roadmaps for customers: Share concrete value coming in the next 3-4 months. This builds excitement while maintaining flexibility to pivot based on feedback. 3️⃣ Internal roadmaps for teams - Break down the work into specific problems and experiments to tackle this quarter. This connects daily tasks to bigger goals (which we manage in Linear). For each version, the key is focusing on the problems you're solving rather than features you're building. This shift in mindset leads to better products, more engaged customers, and teams that understand the "why" behind their work. ❤️ The best roadmaps aren't about checking off feature boxes - they're about delivering value by aligning your team, customers, and investors around a shared vision for the future. If you’d like to dive deeper into my thoughts around this topic, I’ve written up a post on creating your first roadmaps as a startup founder on the Clarify blog. I’ll drop the link in the comments 👇

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Reflecting on some recent advising sessions, something I don't see talked about as much is how critical it is to have an incredibly strong, unified* Design leadership team in order to build an even stronger design team and product. Why this is so critical 👇 What I’ve seen happen when you DON’T have that unified Design leadership team: 1. Massive gaps in the user experience – Let’s start with the obvious one. When Design leaders are staying neatly in their corners and not communicating, the experience degrades pretty quickly. Especially where the "seams" of their teams/org are. We've all seen (and let's be real…probably have been guilty of at times) the navigation structure that clearly shows the org chart vs. what users actually need. This can happen way too quickly without that unified team. 2. A lack of Design’s ability to influence product direction — The best Design leadership teams work together, pushing each other, to have a unified perspective of what the big things are to tackle in the user experience that leverages the unique expertise of the Design functions, all the way from it being grounded in research, to it having a compelling narrative. When they have that unified perspective and are all consistently sharing that perspective, it is so much easier for cross-functional partners to understand and buy-in on it. 3. Design works against Design — When Design leaders don't have a shared perspective on what is important (both in the user experience and the culture), don't have the right level of visibility into each other's work, or even worse, when they don't have mutual respect for each other, it leads to the leaders (mostly) inadvertently working against the progress of the other leaders/teams vs. together toward a unified vision. 4. A limit to the flexibility and scalability of the Design team – To build great experiences at scale, having the flexibility of shifting people to focus on different parts of the product is critical. When the culture and processes are dramatically, instead of it being exciting for that person to focus on a new space, it is incredibly disorienting, slows everything down, and can quickly lead to burnout. *A note on when I say "unified". I don't mean at all that they agree on everything. In fact, the opposite. They push each other the most, early and often. However, they have shared respect, cultivated by their leader, and shared responsibility around aligning within a timely manner. THEN they support each other in any way they can with hurdles they may each face (e.g. cross-functional buy-in or team-wide communication). ——— Is this interesting? Let me know if you want me to share more on how exactly you can cultivate this strong design leadership team –OR– if you want more personalized advice around this, set up some time with me here: https://lnkd.in/g-vyymtW

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The title may appear intimidating, but the core message is actually very encouraging and exciting. We are entering an era of creators, whether we refer to ourselves as designers, engineers, or product managers. By mastering the power of AI, we can unlock a new level of autonomy in our ideation and creativity.

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"In product, we're bombarded by high-level concepts like empowerment, data-driven, product-led, customer-focused, accountability, getting into the details, and high agency. But teams have trouble putting these ideas into practice. Why? And what can you do about it? When I ask people to describe the behaviors these things might entail—what I would observe (see and hear) if these things were happening—I often get blank stares." https://lnkd.in/gFCpYZ7A

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As a product manager, what's your favorite way of discovering new requirements from your roadmap? As a product manager, your first answer is probably, "It depends," and I'm right there with you. Different methods work better depending on the types of insights you're trying to identify. That said, when I'm looking for insights into how people are using my product within the scope of their everyday work, I always consider Contextual Design. The process includes watching and documenting a user like a fly on the wall and documenting their process without judgment or guidance. I've done this to identify opportunities for streamlining workflows, building better reports, and automating various parts of the user's experience across multiple industries. While I used this almost exclusively for B2B products, I've also seen it used effectively by trained UX professionals for B2C products. If you're a product manager looking for more effective ways to add value to your customer's experiences with your products, check out the links below for more information. Thanks to Kathy MacDonald, who introduced this to a new product manager all those years ago. https://lnkd.in/gGfsmWRf. https://lnkd.in/gZwuGW89

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Every week, we hear the same challenges from product teams: - "People aren't using what we built." - "We're not booking enough demos." - "Our engineering team is top-notch, but who's thinking about the entire experience?" - "Decisions are driven by the loudest voice, not by customer data." Our UX Audits are designed for product teams seeking clarity and direction to achieve their goals. Whether you're struggling with user engagement or decision-making processes, our audits provide the insights and actionable steps you need to elevate your product experience. If you find your team nodding along to any of the above challenges, our UX Audits might just be what you need to transform your product strategy and execution. Check it out: 👇 https://lnkd.in/eRfeqUfd

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I recently had a candid conversation with Kate Syuma on the Growthmates Podcast, recorded live at the Hatch Conference in Berlin. I was thrilled to share thoughts on some of the biggest misconceptions about user research — especially for teams with limited resources. Let’s break down the 3 major myths we discussed: - Research is too costly and time-consuming. Many believe that good research requires a lot of time and money, but that’s simply not true. 👉 Advice: You don’t need a large budget or a dedicated research team to make an impact, just get started with what you have! - Research doesn’t provide measurable ROI. One of the most frequent concerns I hear is that research can’t be tied to business results. 👉 Advice: It CAN be done … it just takes a little extra effort. Understand what metrics YOUR company cares about (eg. cost reduction, retention rates), then get creative on doing the math to map your research outcomes in those terms. - Democratizing research is too risky. Some worry that letting non-researchers contribute might lead to inconsistent or inaccurate findings. 👉 Advice: Encourage teams to take ownership of customer experience insights and ensure leadership supports a culture of curiosity and continuous learning. A big thank you to Kate Syuma and the Growthmates Podcast for inviting me to discuss these topics — it was a fantastic experience! 🙌 Catch the full conversation here (Youtube, Apple, Spotify inside): https://lnkd.in/es8Di63i

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“If there is no clear owner, then it’s the PM that owns it.” I sat down with Esteban Contreras from #ProductState to discuss Product leadership, or Prioritization process at Productboard. We also dug into the concept of Extreme Ownership, which is a principle I firmly believe in. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eVN47mWn #productmanagement #productexcellence #ownership

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When debating prioritization or scope, the question isn’t “yes or no”, it’s “instead of what”. Same with strategy, by the way. Strategy is about defining a choice, “this instead of that”, not “also”.

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Ethics and product management - perhaps one of the tougher questions we face today. Christian Idiodi and I discuss the issues in the latest podcast…

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Strategic Storytelling for product leaders was a fab session yesterday with TopProds community led by Ross Webb, MBA I love the takeaways below. I’m always intrigued and impressed with what people learn from my talks… helps me refine the message also. An amazing feedback loop. Thanks again for inviting me 💪🏻 —— My focus is on bridging worlds within organisations and sectors with a focus on creating amazing customer & product experiences. I’m passionate about bringing an element of creativity back into to the product conversation. 📞 DM me if you want to know more. Available for consulting gigs (short term / long term / fractional engagements) #productstrategy #productmanagement #digitalproduct #storytelling #leadership

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The north star metric isn't just a compass guiding us; it's a window into the soul of our product, reflecting the core value we deliver and the profound impact we aspire to have on our users. #NorthStarMetric #ProductManagement #ProductValue #Impact #UserFocus #StrategicDirection #ProductVision #ProductStrategy #MetricsThatMatter #CustomerCentric #ProductGrowth

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Gotta love lunchtime conversations around my house. These were just from today! This is what happens when you have two product people under one roof. - How to handle WCAG compliance recommendations - Dealing with scope creep - How to document assumptions around R&D for quarterly planning

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I always hear about technical debt, but I rarely hear anyone talk about product debt. This week, in ProductFTW, I dive into what product debt is, why it matters, and how it can silently slow down your product’s growth. If you have no idea what I am talking about, this post is for you 😁 #product #productmanagement #newsletter

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Curious about how we spot the most unobvious winners at seed? It’s simple - we invest in those we’d never want to bet against. In 2017 slice was a scrappy fintech financing smartphones for college students. Today, it’s set to become India’s first true digital bank, catering to the needs of India’s Gen Z. With this merger, Slice is poised to simplify digital banking for a billion Indians, establishing a new gold standard of customer-focused banking.

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Should you talk to customers as a CPO? This topic came up in a conversation with a few go-to-market leaders. To my surprise, I learned that many product leaders see their role as process designers and owners. They actively avoid customer conversations. Of course, our product managers, designers, and UX researchers talk to more customers than I can. We have great insights from the customer success team and sales. I could rely solely on the summarized insights. Yet, there is nothing like raw customer feedback to help you truly build empathy for your customers and the problem you are solving. Genchi Genbutsu - go and see yourself. I love listening to customer problems. Every interaction allows me to refine my understanding of the problems we are solving, allowing me to develop a truly nuanced view of customers' jobs and struggles. I love pitching our roadmap as well. Every PM should be the best salesperson for the product they are building. If you can't articulate how your customers will benefit from your product and get them excited, you shouldn't be building the product in the first place. PMs spent more time researching the product than anyone in the organization. You can't build a product and hope that product marketing will jump in at the last minute and figure out how to sell it. They can help refine the pitch. It doesn't apply only to CPOs. CEOs, CMOs, CSOs, and CXOs should all have regular direct conversations and build their insights. If you want to be part of the conversation on what should be on the roadmap or how the product should be marketed and sold, you need to understand who you are building products for and why. #productmanagement #startups

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