Working on FurFuel so far has been an eye-opening experience in both content and skills. First, I have never owned a pet (but I would love to one day), and through the process of researching pet food and talking to pet owners has given me a plethora of knowledge in cautionary and nutritional knowledge. Through so, I also learned many feeding behaviors of pet owners and their pets. This went hand in hand with the product management skills I acquired as well. This was probably one of the most diverse groups (in terms of skillsets and prior knowledge) that I’ve had taking a computer science course. While my focus has been in HCI where I was familiar with user interviews, A/B testing, etc, many of my group members possessed financial knowledge. By working together and learning from them, I feel as if I’m slowly turning into the “product management” chameleon, wherein I’m slowly dabbling in every aspect of the company. I suppose, the entire makeup of the group exemplifies this archetype.
In particular, I believe working as product managers in this group setting has shone light on a form of team dynamics new to me. Everyone essentially had the “same” goal, but each and everyone’s role and contribution to the group was a lot more ambiguous. We started with clear communication and general team work norms, but the division of work came down to be more nuanced. As iterated before, we learned of each other’s strengths and utilized them accordingly. Members with a more business focused background took on a larger portion of that aspect in the pitch makeup and presentation. Other members while learning and keeping up with these new measures, also contributed when conducting user interviews and building story maps. With this division of work, it was also extremely vital to ensure that everyone was on the same page. Summaries and to-do items helped us keep each other in check and also ensured no one left each meeting confused.
