42. A UX Designer’s Journey to Product Management With Marnina Herrmann

And then she turned to the dark side

Marnina Herrmann has had a fascinating life. Originally from Toronto, she moved to Israel some time ago with her family and started her career as a UX Designer.

She received her Ph.D. in psychology where she studied the impact of constraints on the creative process, which is probably worth exploring as a separate episode all on its own.

After a stint as a UX Researcher, she decided to make the switch to Product Manager.

As she says she makes a hobby out of trying new hobbies.

This week Marnina joins the show to discuss her career shift from UX to Product Manager.

She offers some insights into what the shift was like, what she learned about the interview process for product managers, and what she’s learned in her short time as a product manager.

Topics:
• 08:54 – Moving to PM
• 13:03 – Was the UX background valuable?
• 15:56 – The technical skills needed for a PM
• 19:28 – How Marnina approached onboarding the new role
• 26:10 – Know which jobs to apply to
• 32:32 – What skills were missing?
• 37:57 – What Marnina has learned so far
• 44:50 – Work closely with the engineering team if you’re looking to switch to Product

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Marnina on LinkedIn

Marnina Herrmann
Product Manager, UX Whisperer & LinkedIn Antihero

About Marnina

Marnina is a former Torontonian currently living in Israel with her husband, three kids, and about a million plants. While she has always loved design, her favorite part of the process has always been what happens before putting pen to paper. Eventually, she abandoned her job as a designer at a medical device company in exchange for a Ph.D. in design and psychology and has been asking way too many questions ever since.

Connect with Marnina on LinkedIn

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