In this episode, we chat with Michelle Parsons, Chief Product Officer at Hinge, the dating app designed to be deleted. Michelle takes us through curation vs authenticity in product, the importance of a strong product vision, changing up the product leadership approach, and more.

‎For the Love of Product 💙🎙 on Apple Podcasts
‎Business · 2021

Key talking points:

  • A systematic way to approach user problems and produce big metric gains.
  • How a shared context and shared buy-in can foster collaboration and progress.
  • The power of self-reflection when choosing your path in product.
  • Advice for breaking up the standard operating approach to product leadership.
  • How developing deeper empathy is effective for building cohesive teams.

A little bit about the guest

Michelle currently works at Hinge as the Chief Product Officer, where she leads the product, design, and research teams across Growth, Core Experience, Recommendations, and Engagement Messaging.

Previously, she was the Product Innovation Lead for Global Kids & Family at Netflix and a Product leader in the Personalization group at Spotify, where she led a cross-functional team focused on improving the recommendations that power much of Spotify.

For 2.5 years before that, Michelle served as Head of Product for Hotels at KAYAK. She has a passion for design, user experience, and machine learning, specifically as they relate to improving search, discovery, and personalization. Fun fact, Michelle met her partner of five years on Hinge and is excited to lead the way in creating more intentioned space for LGBTQ+ daters.

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