Paula Herculano — The 5 What
Paula Herculano
Group Product Manager, Lives in Seattle, USA
About
With a background in technology, she has extensive experience in the product area, managing other product managers and multifunctional teams. She created the product area of PagSeguro, in which he was head of products, UX and UI for 5 years. Later she led the digital products team at Rede.
She moved to Seattle in early 2020 with her family. In her spare time what she likes most is to play with his daughter.
Contact
The 5 What
What is the most valuable thing you carry with you from the beginning of your journey as a product person?
Focus on the problem to be solved and not the solution. If you ask your client what the pain is, usually, he will come as a solution and not with a problem, then I always say:
Understand the problem to be solved, ask as many times as necessary, but understand the pain.
Allied to this, communication is one of the most important things in a product person’s daily life. Your team, stakeholders and customers need to have a clear vision of what is being solved and where you want to go.
What do you identify as a common thing among people working on product development?
They know the customer, the market, they have a long-term vision, they know where they want to go and they think in small steps. They add value for their customers, monitor results and know how to change direction if necessary.
What do you think will be the next big trend in product development?
Think more about strategy and business and less about the development backlog. Today we still see many product teams much closer to day-to-day execution than business strategy.
What have you learned recently?
I think communication is one of the great challenges in people’s relationships. That’s why I’m studying non-violent communication and I’m already starting to see results in some interactions.
What would you like to say to the product people who are reading this text?
- Understand the problem: Always think about the problem you want to solve and not just the solution.
- Be clear in communication: Share with your team and stakeholders a clear vision of the problem to be solved, the current situation and where you want to go.
- Be a leader: You will need to meet and engage people from various areas to deliver the product. The result will depend on how you act and not on your position.
- Study always: Study technical issues, they will help you communicate with your team, understand your market and study human behavior because it will help you understand your customers, peers and partners.
