The Product Picnic

Writing on UX and product management to connect today's discourse with classic insights that the industry forgot.

LLMs

Cognitive Pollution: Real knowledge only forms through doing the work

Aug 7, 2026

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5 min read

Cognitive Pollution: Real knowledge only forms through doing the work

What if the cure for getting a grip on this moment wasn't a pound of artificial intelligence, but an ounce of the natural variety?

Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

AI is not a substitute for knowing how to run software projects

Jul 26, 2026

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3 min read

AI is not a substitute for knowing how to run software projects

Despite execs' best hopes for automating their own jobs, technology will always remain downstream of decision-making.

Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

Thoughtless features never add up to a thoughtful product

Jul 19, 2026

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5 min read

Thoughtless features never add up to a thoughtful product

Your first idea for how to solve a problem is most likely to be a low-impact hack. Delightful user experiences require a higher level of thinking.

Pavel Samsonov

Systems Thinking

Empathy and delight mean nothing when the software is disrespectful

Jul 12, 2026

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6 min read

Empathy and delight mean nothing when the software is disrespectful

Software is now something we do TO users, instead of something that we make FOR them.

Pavel Samsonov

Systems Thinking

Jul 6, 2026

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5 min read

Trust is not built on craft alone

No amount of tooling will let product teams move faster than being trusted to own their process. That trust is earned through rigor rather than mere velocity.

Pavel Samsonov

Systems Thinking

Even with a silver bullet, you still have to aim

Jun 28, 2026

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4 min read

Even with a silver bullet, you still have to aim

Productivity gains among frontline employees can't counteract the abdication of responsibility at the executive level.

Pavel Samsonov