Time Spent
1 hour
Outcomes & Reflections
Finalized “Injecting a healthy dose of ‘WHY’ into the ‘HOW’” talk for UCSC Climate Week.
Recognized that engineers, EMs, and PMs will merge into a purpose-first, AI-powered hybrid role.
Reaffirmed that defining “Why” before “How” anchors product purpose, metrics, and optimization.
Roadmap & Next Steps
Why Statement
Draft a guiding “Why” for the portfolio.
Goals & Personas
Define product goals tied to target personas.
Feature Alignment
Map goals to features and prioritize backlog.
Metrics Setup
Create simple survey metrics per feature.
PRD & Timeline
Generate a PRD and feed to Copilot for a micro-agile timeline.
Vibe Coding
Execute features one-by-one via AI-assisted development.
Field Journal
Presentation Prep
Tomorrow I present at UCSC Baskin Engineering for Climate Week: “Injecting a healthy dose of ‘WHY’ into the ‘HOW’.”
Too often we ask “how?” before “why?”. In my years of engineering, design, product, team-building, and art, “Why” has become the guiding question:
Why am I making this feature?
What are these tests really testing for?
Why am I learning this?
Why am I working at this company?
Implementation Pause
Today is dedicated to drafting and practicing—not coding.
Vibe Coding Realization
Yesterday’s AI pair-programming (“Vibe Coding”) crystallized the future: spend most time on “Why,” then leverage AI to ship and AB-test features rapidly.
Optimization Mantra
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Know what you’re making.
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Know who you’re making it for.
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Measure and optimize in production with real users.