PMs With Researchers Create More Value Than PMs On UX Teams

Peter Deng believes that product success comes from understanding which details truly matter and which don't. He emphasizes that obsessing over product craft must be balanced with the wisdom to recognize when certain details won't meaningfully impact users.

This perspective emerged from his experience at Uber, where he discovered that despite all the UI refinements his team could make, what users truly cared about were price and ETA. The digital product itself sometimes mattered less than the core value proposition. This realization led him to focus on solving fundamental human needs rather than perfecting every pixel.

When building Uber Reserve, Deng's team identified that the core user need wasn't a beautiful interface but peace of mind—knowing a car would arrive reliably for important events like early flights. By focusing on this essential need rather than superficial features, they created a service that grew into a $5 billion business.

For product teams, this means regularly stepping back to ask whether you're optimizing the right things. Are you spending weeks perfecting UI elements when users actually care more about reliability, price, or core functionality? The most impactful work often addresses fundamental human needs rather than surface-level improvements.

Deng also advocates for a systems-thinking approach when scaling products. Once you've found product-market fit, resist the temptation to move fast and break things. Instead, thoughtfully architect systems that will support scale. At Facebook, his team carefully designed the News Feed sharing loop—from posting to notifications—which is why its core architecture has remained largely unchanged for over a decade.

For leaders, this means allocating resources using a portfolio approach rather than binary thinking. Consider what percentage of your team should focus on immediate wins versus building sustainable systems. The right balance depends on your company stage, but ignoring either can lead to short-term gains that create long-term technical debt.