Sunday Rewind: Decisions, debt, and other dilemmas by Janna Bastow

In this 2020 keynote from MTP Engage Manchester ProdPad CEO Janna Bastow looks at how in tech, optimising debt is essential to building the perfect product.

Debt is uncomfortable to talk about, says Janna, but a product manager can’t build a perfect product without debt. Tech debt is accrued without intention and happens when there isn’t a shared understanding of how the product will be built, and usually arises outside the control of the tech team.

Janna blames deadlines – those put into a timeline roadmap for the sake of keeping people happy – for tech debt. She identifies some areas where debt has an impact, as well as ways to take control:

• Track your design debt – Design debt is the limitations of the product caused by design not matching requirements. Janna recommends usability tests to cull design debt.
• Do less – Stop trying to build a finished product
• Reduce process debt – Keep track of unscalable processes. 
• Influence culture change – Guard against short-termism. This can allow debt to accumulate.
• Treat yourself to tidy-up time –  Paying down debt is always time well spent. 

Watch the original talk: Decisions, debt, and other dilemmas by Janna Bastow