Product stewardship
Because quality compounds.
I’ve been thinking a lot about stewardship1 recently. Not just caring about the craft while you’re making something, but taking care of it after it ships.
In product design, I’ve always been obsessed with the details, quality, and craft of whatever it was I was working on. I did my best to hold the line and see it through to the point where it shipped to customers.
But sometimes, things slipped through the cracks, edge cases emerged, and life happened. And by the time we found them, it was often too late—it was expensive to go back and fix things. Engineers didn’t have the time, and product was moving on to the next thing.
I don’t think our industry has been honest enough about this reality.
I think aspirationally we want to show a world where everything is pixel perfect, precise, pristine. What looks good in a post on X or cool on a portfolio. But that’s not the reality of building products. It’s messy, political, and full of trade-offs.
The cost of fixing has dropped in the last six to eight months, because AI workflows let us get our hands on much more of the work that’s in production, and the code itself. Yes, things still slip, but we can always go back and fix them, now faster than ever.
And since it’s faster and cheaper than ever, leaving it broken signals to a customer that you don’t care.
I’m going to wager that if you’re reading this post on a product designer’s personal blog, you care about this.
But maybe you’re not in a place, org, or time where this is commonplace yet? How do you get started?
If you see trash in your house, pick it up
Your professional house is your product. Keep it clean, even if it’s not in your domain. This is where it can get political, so tell the team who owns that area before you ship. Most people are glad someone picked it up.
Add quality, not vanity
Look for changes that can up-level the product experience. Typically, what’s least flashy is going to be the most impactful. Make sure it’s backed with real customer friction and data. “It looks better” isn’t the right defense, even when it’s the truth. Bring receipts.
Start small
Small ≠ minor or not impactful. Some of the smallest tweaks or moments of finesse are what separate a customer who can use a product from one who’s bogged down in it. Find something that bugs you and throw it at Claude or Codex.
Ship it, and measure the effort
If you’re in an environment where you can create merge requests, do it. Get it into production. The biggest misconception, even today in the AI-first age, is that every design change takes away resources. Track it: how long did it take you to identify the problem, come to a solution, and ship it? Who was involved? You’ll be surprised how little it takes now.
Share, and be humble
You don’t need to make noise for the sake of making noise. The best polish floats under the radar. But that doesn’t mean it goes unnoticed, especially inside companies. Add it up, show the work and impact, and credit the people who did it.
Quality compounds
One individual fix may not move the needle, but 10 fixes change how the product feels. It signals that someone took time to craft an experience for their user.
That’s product stewardship. Go be one.
- Stewardship: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. Merriam-Webster
Proof of human: Human Written, according to Pangram 4.1.