Build a Noticing Habit: Product Management Templates & Tips

Hey friends!

We product managers obsess over frameworks, roadmaps, and backlogs, but honestly? None of that matters if we miss the real problems.

The skill that I touched on in last week’s issue that I think separates good PMs from great PMs is Noticing.

🧐 Noticing friction before it’s a blocker
📊 Noticing patterns before they become churn
🕳️ Noticing gaps your users don’t even have words for (yet)

This isn’t a process. Its a habit, and when done well, a culture.

Where to Start

💬 Make “Hmm…” a Team Ritual

Instead of only tracking bugs or metrics, encourage your team to share small, weird moments: confusing steps, skipped tasks, little annoyances.

These often seem harmless… until they snowball. Daily standups are a great place to surface these, or a dedicated Slack channel.

 💡 Pro tip: Have a rotating “Hmm” champion each week to keep it alive.

📓 Hmm list template (updated with new columns)

Spotlight Ivisiabe Wins

Celebrate when someone prevents a problem just as much as when they solve one. This helps to build a team muscle around proactivity. We’re all wired to celebrate the big, shiny launches. But quietly preventing a problem before it grows? That’s underrated.

Make it a habit to shout out moments of early intervention in retros or team updates. This shifts the focus from firefighting to foresight.

🏁 We use a public channel for our entire product group and post these wins on Fridays.

📁 Audit Your Backlog for Clarity

Look at 3 random items in your backlog. Can every teammate explain, in plain language, what user pain each one solves? If not, that’s a red flag.

👉 Tip: Try a “backlog clarity audit” once per quarter.
Bonus: involve a designer or support rep to get fresh eyes on clarity gaps.

Slow Down the Kickoff

Next time you start a new initiative, spend an extra 30 minutes asking, “What else might be true here?” Make space for early-stage reflection before rushing to solutions.

Reflection prompts like:

• 🔍 What problem are we solving?

• 🧭 What assumptions are we making?

• 🗺️ What else might be true?

• 🛑 What’s the riskiest part of this plan?

• 🌀 What do we need to notice early to pivot fast?

👉 Tip: Use a pre-kickoff checklist that includes framing questions to expand your team’s thinking before you start building.

📚️ Continue reading: How to Map a Critical User Journey: Backed by Real Examples

Build a ‘Noticing’ Checklist

Add a standing agenda item in your weekly reviews to reflect on questions like:

• Where are users pausing unexpectedly?

• What feels unintuitive, even if it technically works?

• Are we dismissing any signals as noise?

• What hacks/workarounds are cropping up?

• What feedback keeps coming up, even if it seems small?

👉 Tip: Rotate ownership of the checklist review so everyone builds their noticing muscle.

The best products aren’t just well-built, they’re well noticed. That starts with you, but it grows when you make it part of the culture.

I’ll keep sharing lessons (and templates!) to help build that mindset.

I’ll catch you next week!