13-Year Journey to Create the World's Best ProductㅣFigma, Yuhki Yamashita
EO・19 minutes read
Storytelling in product management is essential to motivate teams and focus on the right problems. Yuhki Yamashita, the Chief Product Officer at Figma, emphasizes the importance of transparency, collaboration, customer listening, and aligning everyone around a compelling story to drive the creation of compelling products and prioritize features based on user needs.
Insights
- Effective storytelling in product management motivates teams and ensures focus on key problems, as highlighted by Yuhki Yamashita's emphasis on transparency, collaboration, and aligning design with everyone's needs.
- Yuhki Yamashita stresses the importance of deeply listening to customers, categorizing decisions as one-way or two-way doors, and building a strong connection with users to prioritize features based on their input, underscoring the significance of customer-centric approaches in product development.
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Recent questions
Why is storytelling important in product management?
Storytelling is crucial in product management as it motivates teams and ensures they focus on the right problems. By crafting a compelling narrative around the product, managers can inspire their teams, align everyone around a common goal, and communicate the value of the product to customers effectively. Storytelling helps create a shared understanding of the product's purpose and vision, driving innovation, problem-solving, and prioritization of features based on user needs.
What tools does Figma offer for digital product design?
Figma offers tools like FigJam for brainstorming, Figma for design, and dev mode for final product development. These tools cater to different stages of the design process, allowing teams to collaborate seamlessly, iterate on designs, and transition smoothly from ideation to development. By providing a comprehensive suite of tools, Figma supports designers and product teams in creating innovative and user-centric digital products.
How did Yuhki Yamashita transition into product management?
Yuhki Yamashita transitioned from a background in graphic design and publication design to product management due to a desire for a role that encompassed various business aspects. His experience in design provided him with a unique perspective on user needs, aesthetics, and creativity, which he leveraged in his transition to product management. Yuhki's journey highlights the importance of diverse skill sets and a multidisciplinary approach in navigating career transitions and pursuing new opportunities.
What challenges did Yuhki face at Uber?
At Uber, Yuhki faced challenges like changing the pricing model to enhance user experience and transparency. These challenges required strategic thinking, data-driven decision-making, and a deep understanding of user behavior and market dynamics. Yuhki's experience at Uber underscored the importance of operational efficiency, adaptability, and innovation in addressing complex problems and driving business growth in a competitive market.
Why does Yuhki emphasize deeply listening to customers?
Yuhki stresses the significance of deeply listening to customers, understanding their needs, and disrupting industries with creative solutions. By prioritizing customer feedback and insights, product teams can build products that resonate with users, address pain points effectively, and differentiate themselves in the market. Yuhki's emphasis on customer-centricity highlights the value of empathy, user research, and continuous iteration in creating successful and impactful products.
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Summary
00:00
Yuhki Yamashita: Design, Product, and Storytelling
- Storytelling is crucial in product management to motivate teams and ensure they focus on the right problems.
- Yuhki Yamashita is the Chief Product Officer at Figma, a platform for digital product design collaboration.
- Figma offers tools like FigJam for brainstorming, Figma for design, and dev mode for final product development.
- Yuhki has a background in graphic design and publication design, finding satisfaction in creating widely seen work.
- He transitioned from computer science to product management due to a desire for a role encompassing various business aspects.
- At Uber, Yuhki faced challenges like changing the pricing model to enhance user experience and transparency.
- Yuhki values operational efficiency and hustle, learned at Uber, and believes in the overlap between design and product management.
- Yuhki joined Figma to promote transparency and collaboration in design, aligning with his belief that design is for everyone.
- He emphasizes the importance of pursuing interests and storytelling in shaping one's career narrative.
- Yuhki stresses the significance of deeply listening to customers, understanding their needs, and disrupting industries with creative solutions.
13:03
Strategic decisions, customer connections, and storytelling in product management.
- Decisions can be categorized as one-way doors or two-way doors, with the former requiring more consideration as they are irreversible, while the latter allow for experimentation and learning.
- Building a deep connection with customers is crucial for product teams, encouraging them to engage with users, gather feedback, and prioritize features based on customer input.
- Creating a product that people love involves being passionate about it, building something to be proud of, and fostering a culture where adding delight and magic to the product happens naturally.
- In startups, aligning everyone around a compelling story is essential to focus resources on the right priorities and get people to believe in the vision and philosophy behind the product.
- Effective storytelling is crucial for product managers to motivate teams, solve problems, and communicate value to customers, ultimately driving the creation of compelling products and prioritizing features based on user needs.
