Prototyping for PMs: Q&A with Rian Van Der Merwe →

Rian is a product manager on Postmark and a first employee in this role at Wildbit. Coming from a UX background he has a very pragmatic view on prototyping:

I think one of the biggest reasons for delays and conflict in software development is a lack of shared understanding. If a designer and a product manager and a developer have a different idea of what a product or feature needs to do, that’s a big problem — and one that’s often discovered way too late in the process. We’ve been taught in the Lean movement that “deliverables are bad”, and yes, some of them are, but by getting rid of all deliverables so many details can get lost.

The interview also touches on Rian's book, UX and product strategies, and challenges that product managers face when working in a software context.