Can you explain your role as a Product Owner and what you do on a day-to-day basis?
My main responsibilities are managing and prioritizing the product backlog and translating product strategies to development tasks. In a nutshell, I’m the link between customer and our development team. My day-to-day tools are Microsoft teams, product management tools like JIRA and Azure DevOps. So there are a lot of communication and writing requirements every day.
What was your educational background and what experience led you to this role?
I studied electronics but I would say that it is not that relevant. Ideally, you need to get some experience in product development before you become a product owner. I started my career in IT as technical support 13 years ago. After that I changed several roles and I found product owner as the most interesting one. In January 2018 I was in Cluj, Romania for product owner certification by Scrum Alliance. It was two days of training with a lot of interactive exercises. Our trainer Simon Roberts provided a lot of interesting stories from his career. There was a final test at the end of training.
What skills and qualities do you think are important for a successful product owner in the software industry?
You need to be a team player. You will never be successful if your team won’t follow you as a leader. In my opinion, the directional way of working is in the past, but some companies still think that this is the way. I think that an agile mindset is more important — just do what makes sense. For me, this process involves collaboration and staying flexible. This way of thinking helps me and my team adapt to change quickly and tackle problems effectively.
How do you measure the success of a product, and what metrics do you use?
My favorite measurement of success is Velocity. It’s Scrum metric used to quantify the amount of work a team can deliver during a sprint. It shows us what we promise to our customer versus what we deliver. But there are lots of different ways to measure performance. For example, we are using Azure DevOps which is very similar to JIRA. This new platform from Microsoft provides a set of tools to manage software projects, from planning to deployment. You can play with data quite nicely here.
What excites you most about being a product owner in the software development industry, and how do you see the role evolving in the future?
Being a product owner is an exciting and dynamic role that involves a wide range of responsibilities. From managing and prioritizing the product backlog to acting as the vital link between customers and the development team. The crucial role is in turning product strategies into actionable tasks. Obviously, there is enormous hype about AI. OpenAI and their ChatGPT trigger an avalanche of AI products, so let’s see where it ends.
How do you work with different teams, like developers and stakeholders, to determine and prioritize product requirements?
Our client is a big corporate company so there are a lot of processes which need to be followed. Some priorities are already decided by management and teams need to adjust to it. Sometimes it is easy — there is discussion only between two teams. Sometimes between five and not that easy to align.
Can you tell us about your hobbies or how you like to spend your spare time?
I like traveling, especially during the off season when destinations are less crowded. I prefer exploring authentic cities and countries rather than bustling tourist spots on hot summer days. I used to play football, but my ankle injury ended my career. These days, I find passion in road cycling. Finally, I would like to share some nice moments from my recent trip to Naples — The birthplace of pizza Margherita. I spent one week there but ultimately it’s not enough. There are many interesting places. One of them is Mount Vesuvius in the picture. I was not able to go there because there was still snow and transport was not allowed to go up. My favourite place is Amalfi coast. There is a photo from Positano below, which is a beautiful place but crowded during the top season. The best attraction for me is Oranges. You can see them everywhere even during winter time.
Lastly, do you work remotely? If so, could you give us a recommendation for a destination that has impressed you the most?
More or less, I do. I’m based in Michalovce so I’m not that often in the office, but I got this option. If anything is needed, I can be there in one hour. I have some plans for winter. I will let you know during the next interview ☺ My favorite place in the world is south Italy as you can tell. Any place southern of Naples is beautiful. I spent some weeks in Sicily a few years back and it was fantastic. People are very friendly, food is fantastic and nature is beyond me.
We extend our gratitude to Karol for the friendly interview! Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors and looking forward to more inspiring interactions in the days to come! 😊
We would like to introduce you to our new interview format, which will be gradually added to our blog. As the first in line, we interviewed our Croatian colleague Mario Plantosar, who is a react native developer. He told us what he does in his free time, how he hacked a computer at his elementary school, and when is the best time to visit Zagreb.
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