Everyone agrees product sense separates good PMs from great ones. Nobody can define what it actually means.
Here’s the paradox: product sense feels like intuition, but it’s built through systematic practice. It looks like magic, but it’s earned through reflection, pattern recognition, and user empathy. The vagueness isn’t because it’s mystical—it’s because it’s contextual. What works in enterprise software fails in consumer apps. What matters in healthcare differs from fintech.
But certain principles hold. Here’s how to strengthen product sense in any domain.
Make decisions with incomplete data
Every meaningful product decision happens with incomplete information. Perfect data doesn’t exist, and waiting for it means losing momentum or missing insight.
The best PMs build pattern recognition by comparing current situations with past experiences, analyzing what worked and what failed, and using that history to decide faster next time. They make small, reversible bets—features they can test quickly or hypotheses they can validate with minimal cost.
Each decision, even wrong ones, refines your mental model. You learn what “good” looks like by making calls and watching what happens. Wrong decisions teach you more than safe ones.
Watch users struggle
Good intuition about products comes from unusually deep understanding of users. You can’t build product sense by staring at dashboards. You have to see real people use your product and struggle with it.
Sit in on support calls. Watch user sessions. Read customer feedback without defensiveness. Ask: “What job is this user trying to get done?”—a core principle from the Jobs To Be Done framework.
The real insight comes from what users don’t say. Notice the moments of confusion, the workarounds, the feature they use in a way you didn’t expect. When you internalize those observations, your intuition becomes sharper and more empathetic.
Start with curiosity, not confirmation. You’re looking for truth, not validation.
Solve problems, not symptoms
Many teams rush to solutioning, mistaking activity for progress. Strong product sense means slowing down to define the real problem before moving to design.
Ask “why” until you reach a root cause. If users churn after onboarding, the issue might not be your onboarding flow—it might be that users didn’t see value in the first place. Frameworks like the 5 Whys or Opportunity Solution Trees help trace symptoms back to underlying needs.
If you can’t describe the user pain in one sentence, you don’t understand it yet.
Think in trade-offs
Product sense isn’t only about users. It’s about understanding how daily decisions shape long-term direction. Every roadmap choice reflects strategy, even the small ones.
Before saying yes to a feature, ask: “If we do this, what becomes easier or harder later?” That question forces alignment between tactical work and strategic intent. Sometimes that means saying no to a customer request that fits today’s demand but erodes tomorrow’s flexibility.
Strong product sense turns intuition into discipline—connecting the dots between now and next.
The path forward
Product sense is practical wisdom built through reflection, user contact, and repeated decision-making. It’s not design taste or technical expertise, though both help.
To strengthen it: stay curious, test your assumptions, seek feedback constantly. Over time, the patterns you see become instinctive. Your decisions feel less like guesses and more like grounded judgment.
Great product sense isn’t magic. It’s earned.