The Product-Minded Engineer

In the fast-paced world of software engineering, developing technical skills often takes precedence. However, if you're seeking career advancement, enhancing your technical skills alone is not enough; you also need to deepen your empathy for users--a skill frequently overlooked in traditional engineering roles. Understanding user needs and the broader impact of your work will not only lead to better products but will also help your career grow and flourish.
Drawing on over 20 years of experience, including in roles at Microsoft, Facebook, and Stripe, author Drew Hoskins guides you through the essential strategies to bridge the gap between engineering prowess and product insight. Whether you're building consumer products, tools for professionals, or internal platforms, this book is your gateway to becoming a well-rounded engineer who anticipates and innovates according to user needs. By the end of this book, you will learn to:
- Simulate and predict user interactions to enhance product usability - Sharpen your focus on the specific needs of your target audience - Engage with users effectively to gather impactful feedback - Integrate product thinking seamlessly into your technical tasks - Design features that minimize user issues and maximize benefits

Formerly a senior staff-level engineer, Drew Hoskins has built a wide range of innovative products and platforms for world-class software companies Microsoft, Meta, and Stripe. He invented and built internal platforms like Meta's main ORM, EntSchema, and the workhorse of Stripe's asynchronous services, Workflow Engine. He also made critical contributions to Stripe's massive Connect product and Oculus's store and developer platform. And he improved Stripe's API Review, the process which is a key reason why Stripe's APIs are renowned. Throughout, he has excelled at inventing new products, establishing product market fit, and delighting his customers. He has most recently switched to a product manager role, and is at Temporal Technologies, an innovator in distributed systems, engaging with their awesome community and guiding their core product.