In a recent LinkedIn post, Melissa Perri, a prominent voice in product management, announced a significant shift in the upcoming season of her podcast, “Product Thinking with Melissa Perri.” Rather than dictating content, Perri is empowering her audience to directly influence the topics covered, moving away from what she terms “feature factory thinking.” This strategic pivot aims to ensure the podcast delivers maximum relevance and actionable insights to its listeners.
Shifting Away from Assumption-Based Content
Perri highlighted a common pitfall in content creation and product development: the tendency to build based on internal assumptions rather than genuine audience needs. She elaborated on this in her post:
“Many people (myself included) often fall into the trap of building what we think our audience needs. We make assumptions based on our own expertise or what seems trending. But that’s not product thinking, that’s feature factory thinking.”
As Perri notes, this approach, while common, deviates from true product thinking. The goal of the revamped podcast format is to directly address this by centering the audience’s current challenges and priorities.
A More Focused and Relevant Podcast Experience
The forthcoming episodes are set to adopt a more concise and focused structure. Perri explained the rationale behind this change:
“The new format will be shorter and more focused, cutting out the fluff so you can dive deeper into what’s actually relevant for your work.”
According to Perri, this streamlined approach will allow listeners to extract greater value, enabling them to apply the insights more readily to their professional contexts. The podcast aims to move beyond generic advice to offer specific, applicable strategies for product professionals.
Potential Topics for the New Season
Perri outlined several key areas that are being considered for the initial episodes, reflecting current trends and complex challenges within the product landscape. These include:
- The implementation of product operating models in large corporations.
- The impact of artificial intelligence on product teams.
- The distinctive challenges faced within the FinTech industry.
By presenting these options, Perri is actively engaging her audience in the content curation process. She is seeking direct input to determine which of these pressing topics will be the focus of the very first episode of 2026.
Audience Engagement Drives Content Strategy
The decision to solicit audience preferences marks a departure from traditional content planning, where creators often rely on their own judgment or market research. Perri’s method emphasizes a more collaborative and responsive strategy.
“Which topic would be most valuable for your current challenges? Help us choose what we tackle on our very first episode of 2026 👇” Perri posted, directly inviting interaction.
This approach underscores Perri’s commitment to serving her audience effectively. By allowing listeners to vote on the topics, she ensures that the podcast remains a vital resource, directly addressing the most pertinent issues faced by product leaders and practitioners today. This listener-driven model promises a more engaging and impactful season ahead.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Melissa Perri on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on January 5, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →