Product Band-Aids

Adapting Products Without Losing Direction

Abstracts

<300 characters:
Every roadmap looks good on paper, but reality rarely matches. Adapting to user and market signals is often a sign of growth, not failure. This talk explores how product teams can balance quick “band-aid” fixes with long-term direction, keeping stakeholders aligned and the product on course.

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Every product has a roadmap, feature plan, and strategy, but no matter how thorough, reality rarely plays out as expected. That’s not failure, it’s often a signal that adoption or product-led growth is happening and the market is shaping direction.
In this talk, we’ll explore how to respond to user-driven shifts without derailing the product vision. We’ll look at balancing short-term “band-aid” fixes with long-term goals, managing trade-offs, and ensuring teams and stakeholders remain aligned. Attendees will leave with strategies for adapting without drifting, and frameworks for making iteration a competitive advantage.

Description

A common myth in product development is that a roadmap guarantees predictability. In truth, market realities, user needs, and adoption curves often reshape priorities. This isn’t failure, it’s proof that the product is alive and resonating.
But responding to these shifts isn’t easy. Teams risk piling on “band-aids” that patch immediate pain while drifting from long-term strategy and occasionally piling up more technical debt. Businesses risk misalignment, with executives chasing short-term wins and teams losing clarity on vision.
In this talk, we’ll cover practical ways to adapt to evolving signals without derailing the roadmap. From establishing clear decision filters to framing trade-offs transparently to aligning leadership and delivery teams, you’ll learn processes that keep your product responsive and strategic.

Outline
- The myth of the perfect roadmap
- Why “band-aid” fixes are a sign of growth, not failure
- Frameworks for balancing short-term vs. long-term priorities
- Keeping stakeholders aligned when the market shifts
- Practical examples of adaptation done right (and wrong)
- Tools for staying on track
- Closing: making iteration a strength, not a distraction

Key Takeaways
- Market/user signals are indicators of traction, not failure
- “Band-Aid” fixes can coexist with long-term roadmaps when managed well
- Clear frameworks help evaluate trade-offs and prevent drift
- Alignment processes keep teams and stakeholders focused on the same north star
- Adaptation is not reactive chaos - it can be a competitive advantage

Inapplicable Textbook Cases

Why Global Product Playbooks Don’t Always Fit

Abstracts

<300 characters:
Global product strategies often borrow from Western playbooks - lean startup, waitlists, freemium, pricing hacks - but many fail in new markets with different realities. This talk explores why context and localisation matter, with examples like telco airtime balances - styled payment rails, M-Pesa

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In today’s world, we’re told that the “textbook” ways of building products - MVPs, waitlists, freemium pricing are the path to success. But outside the West, these playbooks often fail. Markets with different adoption curves, infrastructure, and behaviours require different strategies. Even global companies like Meta, Netflix, and Spotify have leaned heavily on localisation to succeed. In this talk, we’ll explore how context and local realities - from telco airtime balances - styled payment rails to M-Pesa to rethinking waitlists - can drive product design, pricing, and adoption when textbooks don’t fit.

Description

Much of product development discourse is shaped by practices from Silicon Valley: lean startup methods, waitlist validation, growth hacking, freemium pricing, blitzscaling. These are often presented as universal best practices.
But in many parts of the world, they don’t map cleanly onto local realities. Markets may have different infrastructure, cultural behaviours, or economic constraints. Adoption curves can be steeper, and pricing often has to lean on traditional systems instead of fully disrupting them. For example:
Telco airtime balances styled as payment rails
M-Pesa reshaping mobile money & fintech revolution
Azza and Swiftbon are redesigning how social commerce will go
Waitlists falling short in low-trust or fragmented markets

Importantly, even global products - from Meta to Netflix to Spotify -localise heavily when entering new markets, adjusting pricing, features, partnerships, and distribution to fit context.

This talk will explore the pitfalls of blindly adopting Western playbooks and why localisation is not an afterthought but a strategy. Attendees will learn what it means to design for the realities and context of the market they operate in.

Outline
- The dominance of Western playbooks in product discourse
- Why do they fail in different market contexts
Case examples: telco airtime styled payment rails, M-Pesa, waitlists, pricing adaptations
- How global products succeed through localisation (Meta, Netflix, Spotify)
- Principles for contextual product design and adoption
- Building playbooks that blend global lessons with local realities

Key Takeaways
- Western product playbooks often fail outside their context
- Context and localisation are not optional - they’re competitive advantages
- Global products thrive in new markets by adapting pricing, features, and go-to-market strategies
- Traditional systems (telcos, cash, distribution networks) shape adoption more than disruption
- Product leadership requires balancing universal lessons with local realities

Design Thinking for Outcomes

Abstracts

<300 characters:
Features ship, but outcomes define success. In this talk, we’ll explore how applying design thinking principles helps product leaders align teams, balance business and user needs, and redefine “done” as measurable outcomes instead of tasks.

<600 characters:
In product development, teams juggle competing demands: business requests, user feedback, A/B test results, release cycles, and technical constraints. It’s easy to lose sight of what success really means.
This talk explores how design thinking can anchor teams around outcomes & impact, not just outputs. We’ll cover how to reframe challenges, define “done” and quality in measurable terms, and foster collaboration across design, engineering, and business. Attendees will learn how processes could be designed to transform noise into clarity, ensuring that what gets built aligns with both user value and business goals.

Description

Modern product teams face constant tension: business and operations push requests, engineering balances delivery pace, users generate feedback loops, and analytics produce endless signals. In this chaos, features can get shipped without clarity on whether they drive real impact.
Design thinking provides a way forward, not just for UX, but for product leadership. By focusing on empathy, reframing problems, and co-creating solutions, product managers can guide teams toward outcomes that matter.
In this talk, we’ll explore how to apply design thinking to product delivery and organisational alignment. From redefining “done” as measurable outcomes, to designing quality as a team standard, you’ll learn frameworks for cutting through the noise and focusing on results.

Outline
- The challenge: outputs vs. outcomes in modern teams
- Where team dynamics break: business pressure, user feedback, release pace
- Applying design thinking to product leadership
- Redefining “done” and quality with outcomes in mind
- Tools for aligning business, design, and engineering
- Examples of outcome-driven product success
- Closing: shifting culture from delivery to impact

Key Takeaways
- Design thinking isn’t just for UX - it’s a product leadership tool
- Teams often confuse outputs (features) with outcomes (value)
- Defining “done” around quality and impact improves alignment
- Empathy + reframing helps balance business, user, and team needs
- Outcome-driven practices create clarity and lasting success

Invisible Auth Experiences

Secure, Seamless, and User-Centric

Abstracts

<300 characters:
Getting users signed in and active quickly is critical to adoption, but traditional auth flows often come with friction. This talk examines invisible authentication strategies - such as FIDO, passkeys, OTPs, and device fingerprinting that reduce churn while ensuring user safety and compliance with data protection laws.

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The modern product playbook depends on getting users in, signed up, and active fast. But clunky authentication flows often cause drop-off and churn. Invisible authentication - using FIDO, passkeys, OTPs via WhatsApp/Telegram, and device fingerprinting - offers a better path.
In this talk, we’ll explore how to design seamless identity flows that respect data protection laws, match user mental models, and keep security uncompromised. You’ll learn how to balance business goals with user trust, and why onboarding design is one of the strongest levers for retention.

Description

User adoption begins at the front door: sign-up and sign-in. The tension between security and simplicity is one of the hardest design problems in modern product development.
While traditional authentication methods can feel secure, they add friction - leading to churn before a user even engages with the product. Modern strategies, from FIDO and passkeys to OTP via reliable channels like WhatsApp and Telegram, to device fingerprinting, are reshaping the way we think about identity.
Invisible authentication and profile setup experiences ensure that users can start engaging with your product immediately without feeling burdened or unsafe. But designing them requires a careful balance: protecting user data, aligning with compliance laws, and respecting existing user mental models.
This talk will explore frameworks, examples, and best practices for building invisible auth experiences that reduce churn, build trust, and improve long-term retention.

Outline
- The problem: why authentication is a bottleneck for adoption
- Traditional auth flows vs. invisible auth experiences
- Overview of modern approaches: FIDO, passkeys, OTP, device fingerprinting
- Balancing UX with compliance (data protection, consent)
- Designing for user mental models and trust
- Case examples: invisible flows done right
- Closing: onboarding as the foundation of retention

Key Takeaways
- Authentication is part of product design, not just security
- Invisible auth flows reduce churn and improve adoption
- Modern methods (FIDO, passkeys, OTP via reliable channels) balance UX with safety
- Profile setup should feel natural, not burdensome
Onboarding is the strongest retention lever you control

Staggered product releases: Serving your users better experiences.

Abstract:

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, where rapid product launches and outperforming competitors are imperative for gaining a larger market share, product teams face the challenge of accelerating the development process while meeting business requirements and minimizing technical debt.
The average product team's backlog often resembles a complex maze of tickets, with a significant portion never making it to sprint planning.
This talk delves into the reality of this situation and explores effective strategies for managing staggered product releases. By examining real-world challenges and practical solutions, the presentation aims to empower product teams to optimize their processes, enhance user experiences, and stay ahead in the competitive market.

Description:

This talk offers valuable insights into managing staggered product releases, a common scenario faced by product teams in today’s competitive business environment. It addresses the challenges posed by extensive backlogs and explores strategies to prioritize, plan, and execute product releases effectively.

The presentation will cover real-life case studies, best practices, and actionable tips for product managers, developers, and anyone interested in the tech/product space. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how to streamline their development process, deliver superior user experiences, and maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Outline:

Overview of the challenges faced by product teams
Understanding the Backlog
Prioritization
What is a Staggered Release
Staggered Release Strategies
Technical Debt
Optimizing User Experiences
Real-life Case Studies

Key Takeaways:

Prioritization Techniques
Staggered Release Strategies
Understanding Technical Debt
Utilising User Feedback

Notes:

- This talk is tailored for individuals at all technical levels, including newcomers in the tech/product space.
- Attendees will have access to the presentation slides during and after the talk for reference and further exploration.

Speaker Bio & Summary Folder
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hj7GZGGg_ZwHx3f2pOLO235CrF-Wo1O8?usp=share_link

Making a case for usable products; User Onboarding.

Abstract

While accessibility (A11Y) has gained prominence in product development, the crucial aspect of user onboarding often remains overlooked, leading to challenges and missed opportunities.

This talk delves into the intersection of accessibility and user onboarding; emphasizing their pivotal roles in product usability. Exploring the core benefits of accessibility, we dissect the anatomy of seamless user onboarding processes, illuminating how they impact customer acquisition and user retention.

Description

Usable products excel in solving problems efficiently while minimizing the cognitive load on users, regardless of the complexity involved in achieving their goals. Usability forms the bedrock of sticky products, fostering continuous user engagement.

However, the journey towards a great product experience begins with user onboarding – the make-or-break moment where users decide the fate of a product.

This talk uncovers the essence of accessibility and its transformative power in making products usable. It also navigates the intricacies of crafting exceptional user onboarding experiences, enabling attendees to optimize customer acquisition and retention strategies.

Outline

Understanding Accessibility:
Beyond Compliance
The Critical Role of User Onboarding
Accessibility in User Onboarding
Crafting Seamless Onboarding Experiences.
Supercharging Customer Acquisition

Key Takeaways:

Comprehensive Understanding of Accessibility
Strategies for Effective Onboarding
Enhanced Customer Acquisition:
Continuous Improvement
Real-world Examples

Notes
- This talk caters to a general audience of all technical levels more beneficial to builders and product people who have shipped products or launched side projects that went mainstream.
- Attendees will have access to the presentation slides during and after the talk for reference and further exploration.

Speaker Bio & Summary Folder
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hj7GZGGg_ZwHx3f2pOLO235CrF-Wo1O8?usp=share_link

Barebones chassis, what MVPs actually are.

Abstract

The product and technology industry remains abuzz with trendy acronyms and words with the most popular one being MVP which stands for Minimal Viable Product it was meant to be a guiding compass for introducing a product to the consumer quickly but over time a simple validation tool has turned into a complex maze of moving parts which has somewhat rendered the word Minimal in MVPs obsolete.
In this talk, we will look at how can we return to the core fundamentals where products start as barebones chassis.

Description

Many ideas for solutions to problems start with the best intentions and game plan to get it out there to prospective users quickly, get feedback and improve then possibly get a financial return for the effort & value created.

But as typical for most humans, solving problems for everyday issues can get complicated fast because of how our brains tend to kick into overdrive with things we are passionate about and we can stall progress as a result of this and not get anything done at all.

To combat this issue the MVP product development framework to help move that mental load quickly and get the job done then get feedback for improvements - rinse and repeat but that same simple hack has now itself been made complex by humans. In this talk, we will talk about product ideation, and MVPs and then finally go over how to peel the layers of a product down to its barebones chassis, where its MVP lies.

Outline

What is product ideation & development?
How complexity is the enemy of product development
Origins and basics of MVP framework
What does barebones chassis mean
What to do after your MVP launches
Examples & Further Learning

Key Takeaways

Understanding the product development cycle
How MVPs should be designed to be and what to do after your product MVP goes live

Notes

- This talk caters to a general audience of all technical levels and also new entrants in the space.
- Attendees will have access to the presentation slides during and after the talk for reference and further exploration.

Speaker Bio & Summary Folder
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hj7GZGGg_ZwHx3f2pOLO235CrF-Wo1O8?usp=share_link

How to nuke a product; Sunsetting.

Abstract

Modern product development processes have become very sophisticated in the last couple of years and a lot of effort has been put into making it easier to launch & onboard users and get needs solved but not much is said about what to do when a product’s lifecycle ends. This talk is all about what to do when a product is at the end of its life - a sunset.

Description

Launching a product and getting users is often the main conversation on the internet for builders and product people and it’s often a core focus for most individuals but for every happy path, there is an unhappy path. In the case of a product launch, it’s a product decline or end of life.

Sunsetting is the process of phasing out and retiring a product or software. This is an important part of the product lifecycle and all builders need to understand how it works and the steps involved to ensure both the product team and the users have the best experience.

In this talk, we will go over the strategies and processes involved in a product sunset that all product builders should know and how to pick the sunsetting steps relevant to their product and its user base.

Outline

Stages of Product Lifecycle
What is sunsetting a product
Steps involved in a product sunset
What happens afterwards
Examples & Further Learning

Key Takeaways

Understanding the product lifecycle
How to decide when to sunset a product
Priorities when it comes to a product sunset

Notes
- This talk caters to a general audience of all technical levels more beneficial to builders and product people who have shipped products or launched side projects that went mainstream.
- Attendees will have access to the presentation slides during and after the talk for reference and further exploration.

Speaker Bio & Summary Folder
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hj7GZGGg_ZwHx3f2pOLO235CrF-Wo1O8?usp=share_link