Many teams remain stuck in the “Feature Team” rut, struggling to elevate themselves to “Product Teams”. While feature teams and product teams look very similar on the surface, they are dramatically different in how they operate, the level of empowerment and accountability, and especially the responsibilities of the product manager.This talk offers three ways Product Managers can leverage design techniques, and also leverage design teams and leaders to help move everyone on the team in the right direction: from being feature-focused to empowered product teams.

Audrey is a Partner at DesignMap, a product strategy and experience design consultancy that works with companies in industries such as IT, DevOps, MarTech, finance, healthcare, and many others. DesignMap’s core services include user research, market research, interaction and visual design, and front-end development. DesignMap has worked with clients like Docker, Cloudgenix, ExactTarget, Salesforce, Kaiser Permanente, Charles Schwab, and eBay.Audrey started working in the tech industry 20 years ago as an Executive Producer at Netscape, where she managed high-profile products such as Net Search and Netscape’s advertising program. Following Netscape, she worked at Dubberly Design Office for 6 years with clients like Sun, Palm, Stanford, Revolution Health, and Opsware. She also served as the Vice President of Design at The Magellan Network, where the team won NNG’s Top 10 Best UI Awards.Audrey studied Mathematics, English, and Theater during her undergraduate work. She studied design at UC Berkeley and California College of Arts (CCA).