Developing Product Taste
Product taste is the ability to identify what's really good without needing to see results. It's not an innate trait but a developable skill built through exposure, observation, and building a repertoire. In an era of AI-generated content, taste is the critical differentiator that sets great products apart.
The Guide
6 key steps synthesized from 10 experts.
Recognize taste as a learnable skill
Taste is not an inaccessible gift that some people are born with. It's a skill developed through 'exposure hours' - analyzing the best products in the world and understanding why they work. Treat taste development like any other skill that improves with deliberate practice.
Featured guest perspectives
"Taste, sometimes I think we think of as this inaccessible thing that, 'Oh, that person was born with taste.' I see it as a skill that it can develop."— Guillermo Rauch
"Taste is about the ability to identify what is really good, without needing to see its results."— Shreyas Doshi
Be a voracious user of products
There's no replacement for being a heavy user of many products. The 'cheat code' for building great products is developing muscle memory and intuition through constant product usage. Use products obsessively, notice what works and what doesn't, and let those patterns inform your own work.
Featured guest perspectives
"The best cheat codes for getting better at building products is just being a voracious user of products... There's just no replacement for that."— Kayvon Beykpour
Build your repertoire and understand the canon
Taste is your point of view on things, developed by understanding the history and context that led to current products. Study the 'canon' - the foundational products and design decisions in your space. Know where you agree or disagree philosophically with established approaches.
Featured guest perspectives
"Taste is your point of view on things and how do you develop your point of view... build your repertoire. Understand what is the greater context, what is the canon that led to this thing, and where do you disagree or agree philosophically?"— Dylan Field
Start with self-observation
The foundation of product sense is observation and curiosity, beginning with yourself. Notice your own reactions to products - what frustrates you, what delights you, what you skip over. Then validate those observations qualitatively and quantitatively to build conviction.
Featured guest perspectives
"The number one advice... is it's just really about observation and it's about curiosity and can start by first observing yourself."— Julie Zhuo
Use intuition as a hypothesis generator
Think of intuition as a hypothesis generator, not an oracle. You're constantly generating hypotheses about what will work based on pattern recognition. Test those hypotheses, but trust that well-developed intuition provides valuable signal, especially for decisions that are hard to A/B test.
Featured guest perspectives
"I think intuition is like a hypothesis generator and you're constantly generating these hypotheses and others are generating hypotheses as well."— Dylan Field
"Then we think you can much more use your intuition or thinking to do those decisions so you don't have to use data or metrics to back those things up."— Karri Saarinen
Develop a first-party perspective
A PM cannot outsource their perspective or delegate their thinking through people and process. You must develop your own informed point of view through understanding human motivations - why someone wants to click a button, why they want to join a team. This 'feel' goes beyond what metrics can tell you.
Featured guest perspectives
"A PM cannot outsource their perspective or delegate their thinking through people and process."— Naomi Gleit
"You need to understand motivations in people for building products... why does somebody want to click on a button, why does somebody want to join your team?"— Tamar Yehoshua
Common Mistakes
- Believing taste is innate rather than a developable skill
- Outsourcing product judgment to data or process rather than building your own perspective
- Not using enough products deeply to develop pattern recognition
- Focusing only on your own product category rather than building broad repertoire
- Treating intuition as truth rather than as hypotheses to test
Signs You're Doing It Well
- You can articulate why a product decision is good before seeing results
- You have a clear point of view that sometimes differs from conventional wisdom
- Your intuition generates hypotheses that frequently validate when tested
- You can identify quality in products outside your immediate domain
- People seek out your opinion on product decisions because your taste is trusted
All Guest Perspectives
Deep dive into what all 10 guests shared about developing product taste.
Alex Komoroske
"In this cacophony, how do you stand out? You stand out by having good taste. I think taste is the most important thing."
Dylan Field
"I think intuition is like a hypothesis generator and you're constantly generating these hypotheses and others are generating hypotheses as well."
"Taste is your point of view on things and how do you develop your point of view... build your repertoire. Understand what is the greater context, what is the canon that led to this thing, and where do you disagree or agree philosophically?"
Guillermo Rauch
"Taste, sometimes I think we think of as this inaccessible thing that, 'Oh, that person was born with taste.' I see it as a skill that it can develop."
Julie Zhuo
"The number one advice... is it's just really about observation and it's about curiosity and can start by first observing yourself."
Kayvon Beykpour
"The best cheat codes for getting better at building products is just being a voracious user of products... There's just no replacement for that."
Karri Saarinen
"Then we think you can much more use your intuition or thinking to do those decisions so you don't have to use data or metrics to back those things up."
Seth Godin
"I define good taste as knowing what other people want just before they do."
Shreyas Doshi
"Taste is about the ability to identify what is really good, without needing to see its results."
Naomi Gleit
"A PM cannot outsource their perspective or delegate their thinking through people and process."
Tamar Yehoshua
"You need to understand motivations in people for building products... why does somebody want to click on a button, why does somebody want to join your team?"
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