The Product Experience

In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily and Randy dive into the nuanced world of team collaboration with Jenny Wanger, product ops consultant. Jenny challenges the overuse of RACI matrices in product teams, arguing they often obscure deeper organisational issues rather than solve them. They discuss better alternatives, the root causes behind requests for RACI, and the value of prioritising human relationships over rigid frameworks. Chapters 0:00 – The accountable vs. responsible dilemma 0:37 – Meet Jenny Wanger: Product ops and Reforge 1:20 – RACI: A quick explainer 3:16 – Why RACI falls short in product teams 7:00 – Infantilisation and territorialism 9:18 – The flaws in the terminology 10:14 – The consulted conundrum 11:05 – RACI as a conversation starter 12:01 – Better alternatives: Rapid and others 14:20 – When RACI might be useful 18:01 – Team dysfunction and RACI misuse 23:00 – A case study in resolving collaboration issues 26:00 – RACI as scaffolding, not infrastructure 28:02 – AI, documents, and relationships 30:05 – Diagnosing the real problem behind a RACI request 32:38 – Job descriptions vs. RACI 35:25 – Everyone’s a bit of everything 37:04 – Focusing on mission and collaboration 39:57 – Final thoughts and where to find Jenny’s work Key Takeaways — RACI isn't a cure-all: It often signals deeper dysfunction like poor team structure, unclear mission, or lack of trust. — Healthy teams don't need RACI: When collaboration and communication are strong, formal frameworks become redundant. — Use RACI as scaffolding: Let it initiate conversations, but don’t enshrine it as a permanent solution. — Language matters: Terms like “accountable” and “responsible” are often confused, making the framework less clear than intended. — Consider better alternatives: Frameworks like RAPID offer more clarity around decision-making without creating silos. — Prioritise relationships over roles: Documents don't build culture—conversations and mutual understanding do. Featured Links: Follow Jenny on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennywanger] | Jenny's RACI feature at her website [https://jennywanger.com/articles/raci-charts-are-stifling-collaboration/] | Dave Johnson's page [https://thepragmaticagilist.com/category/book-reviews/] at The Pragmatic Agilist  Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant [http://outofowls.com]. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles [https://www.cpo.social/]), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether [http://www.pita.social/]) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 [https://outofowls.com/book]. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

We revisit our conversation with Frances Ibe, Chief Experience Officer at Tide. Frances shares invaluable insights on her journey from developer to product leadership and how to avoid common pitfalls during the discovery process. Chapters 01:07 – Meet Frances Ibe 02:05 – Common Discovery Pitfalls 03:34 – Embedding Continuous Discovery 04:51 – The Myth of Talking to 20 Customers 06:38 – What is a Data Prototype? 08:03 – Building Confidence in Product Bets 10:42 – Sharing Insights Across the Business 13:52 – Keeping Sprint Reviews Engaging 15:49 – Discovery Through Observation 17:21 – Responding to Data-Driven Disruption 18:30 – The Power of Storytelling 20:49 – Training Teams in Storytelling 22:36 – Maintaining Message Consistency 23:48 – Collaborating Across Disciplines 25:01 – Francis' Game-Changing Advice Featured Links: Follow Frances on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiibe/] | Tide [https://www.tide.co/] | 'Six things we learned at the Pendomonium and #mtpcon roadshow - London 2024' feature [https://www.mindtheproduct.com/six-things-we-learned-at-the-pendomoniummtpcon-roadshow-london-2024/] by Louron Pratt Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant [http://outofowls.com]. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles [https://www.cpo.social/]), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether [http://www.pita.social/]) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 [https://outofowls.com/book]. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

Erica Wass, Principal Product Consultant at Brainmates, joins the Product Experience podcast to share pragmatic tools for building strategic foresight into your roadmap. From horizon scanning to backcasting, this episode explores how product teams can harness future-focused techniques—bolstered by generative AI—to improve decision-making, resilience, and impact. Chapters: 0:00 – Why foresight matters in product 1:00 – Introducing Erica Wass 2:30 – How product is changing 3:45 – The value of strategic foresight 5:00 – Clarifying the term and its importance 7:00 – Who owns foresight in the product org 10:00 – Techniques: Horizon scanning, scenario planning, backcasting 14:30 – Horizon scanning in action: Google & Android 16:00 – Scenario planning for resilience 21:00 – Tips on running scenario sessions 23:45 – Backcasting: Vision-first roadmapping 26:00 – Using AI to accelerate foresight 30:00 – Product team dynamics in the AI era 33:00 – Mistakes to avoid and balancing action with foresight 37:00 – Wrap-up and takeaways Key Takeaways — Horizon scanning helps teams identify early, weak signals that may grow into significant trends. — Scenario planning enables resilience by preparing teams for a range of plausible futures. — Backcasting flips traditional planning by working backward from a long-term goal to define near-term milestones. — Generative AI can democratise access to foresight tools—when used with critical thinking and proper validation. — Product professionals should take a proactive role in guiding strategic conversations, regardless of their title. — Avoid extremes with AI: neither fear it nor over-rely on it. Use it as a pairing partner rather than a replacement. Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant [http://outofowls.com]. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles [https://www.cpo.social/]), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether [http://www.pita.social/]) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 [https://outofowls.com/book]. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

Featured Links: Follow Brigitte on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigitte-west/] | DrDoctor [https://www.drdoctor.co.uk] | European Commission Public Health 'Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare' feature [https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/artificial-intelligence-healthcare_en] Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant [http://outofowls.com]. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles [https://www.cpo.social/]), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether [http://www.pita.social/]) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 [https://outofowls.com/book]. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

In this episode of The Product Experience, Lily Smith and Randy Silver speak with Dee Miller, Director of Product Strategy and Insights for Product Equity at Adobe. Dee shares her personal journey into inclusive design, and discusses how Adobe is moving beyond accessibility compliance to build genuinely usable, inclusive, and emotionally accessible products.  Featured Links: Follow Dee on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdeemiller/] | The Adobe Accessibility Checker [https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/using/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html] | Listen to [https://www.mindtheproduct.com/building-accessible-products-jonathan-hassell-on-the-product-experience/] previous The Product Experience episode: 'Building Accessible Products' with Jonathan Hassell (CEO & Founder, Hassell Inclusion)  Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant [http://outofowls.com]. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles [https://www.cpo.social/]), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether [http://www.pita.social/]) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19 [https://outofowls.com/book]. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.