customer feedback Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Bhavin Shukla: The Adaptable Product Owner — How Progress Over Perfection Drives Real Value in Scrum

In this episode, we refer to story mapping as a key tool for maintaining focus and alignment.

The Great Product Owner: Embedding Prioritization as a Daily Discipline

“She had this section called ‘Not Required Anymore.’ Every time, it was a very subtle and a very respectful way of saying to the team: great idea, but the goals changed. We don’t need it anymore.” – Bhavin Shukla

Bhavin describes a Product Owner who turned prioritization into a living discipline. She built a culture of co-creation where everyone contributed ideas to the backlog, but she also saw the biggest risk coming early: misalignment from siloed ideas. Her approach was to use story maps extensively in refinements and planning, communicating weekly with customers to collect feedback.

When the direction changed — and it regularly did — she articulated the shift clearly: “Goals changed, here’s what we’re doing now.” Her stroke of genius was a section on the story map called “Not Required Anymore,” where deprioritized ideas landed respectfully. Nobody felt offended; they understood customers’ needs had shifted.

This created a culture where people kept contributing ideas courageously, knowing that even if priorities changed, their input was valued. The result was a team that could adapt without chaos, maintaining focus while embracing change.

Self-reflection Question: How does your Product Owner communicate changes in direction? Is there a respectful, transparent mechanism for showing the team what’s no longer needed — and why?

The Bad Product Owner: The No-Feedback Product Owner

“I was looking for those keywords — a change in priorities, a change in the roadmap. Those conversations were missing. And when I asked about the roadmap, I got crickets.” – Bhavin Shukla

Bhavin shares the story of a Product Owner who was brilliant at articulating value in the backlog — customer-centric stories, well-structured work. On the surface, everything looked great: goals were being met, the team was delivering. But something subtle was wrong. The roadmap never changed. Priorities never shifted.

There were no conversations about customer feedback changing direction. When Bhavin got curious and asked to see the roadmap, he realized it was a static delivery plan, not a living document. The Product Owner wasn’t collecting feedback from customers, so there was never a reason to adapt.

The team was essentially building in a vacuum — shipping features nobody was validating. It’s an anti-pattern that’s easy to miss when the team is performing well on internal metrics but disconnected from real customer value.

Self-reflection Question: Is your team’s roadmap a living document that changes based on customer feedback, or has it become a static delivery plan? When was the last time a priority genuinely shifted based on what you learned from users?

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About Bhavin Shukla

Bhavin joins us from Australia. Bhavin is driven by unlocking potential and helping people thrive in ambiguity through clarity, honesty, and discipline. He believes growth comes from truthful conversations, thoughtful experimentation, and learning from failure. Guided by ownership, confidence, kindness, and purpose, he focuses on what matters most to build meaningful progress for himself and others.

You can link with Bhavin Shukla on LinkedIn.

Ellen Grove: Why Feedback Loops Are Essential for Agile Teams

Ellen shares a story about coaching a team in a public sector enterprise working on a website project. Despite their commitment to Agile, the team’s disconnect from user feedback led them to build features that missed critical functionality. This stealthy anti-pattern—assuming “what should be done and why” without user input—resulted in wasted effort and budget. Ellen emphasizes the importance of direct feedback loops with real users, even for internal products.

Self-reflection Question: How can you ensure your team receives continuous feedback from real users to avoid building the wrong product?

Featured Book of the Week: Humble Inquiry by Edgar Schein

Ellen highlights “Humble Inquiry,” a transformative book that stresses the importance of relationships over tasks in solving problems. The book encourages leaders to build trust and respect through better questioning techniques. It challenges readers to rethink their interactions and adopt a stance of curiosity, fostering collaboration and understanding.

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About Ellen Grove
Ellen is a skilled business agility coach, trainer, and facilitator, helping teams and leaders foster collaboration, productivity, and meaningful change. With expertise in Agile, Scrum, Lean, and systems coaching, she partners with diverse organizations—from startups to global enterprises—to navigate complex challenges, build resilience, and drive impactful organizational transformations across all departments.

You can link with Ellen Grove on LinkedIn.

BONUS: Mastering Product Management in a Remote World, Insights from Tuple’s Head of Product, Eli Goodman

NOTE: We want to thank the folks at Tuple.app for being so generous with their stories, and supporting the podcast. Visit tuple.app/scrum and share them if you find the app useful! Remember, sharing is caring!

In this episode, Eli Goodman, Head of Product at Tuple, shares insights from his extensive experience in software development and product management. Having transitioned from engineering management to product leadership, Eli reveals the key strategies Tuple uses to develop its remote pair programming service, which is trusted by companies like Figma and Shopify. Tune in to discover how Tuple handles remote team dynamics, customer-driven development, and balances tech debt with client needs, all while maintaining a customer-centric focus.

Introduction to Tuple and Why It’s Unique

Tuple, a remote pair programming service designed by engineers, solves a pain point that its founders, all pairing enthusiasts, experienced firsthand. They were unsatisfied with generic screen-sharing tools that disrupted the flow of coding collaboration. Tuple’s product philosophy is about staying “one inch wide, one mile deep” to ensure the tool stays focused on enhancing the pairing experience without getting in the way.

“The details matter. Generic screen-sharing tools just don’t cut it for productive pairing.”

Managing a Remote Team at Tuple

Managing a distributed team across the U.S. and Europe comes with its challenges. Eli highlights the importance of alignment and ensuring everyone is on the same page, despite working remotely. He emphasizes the role of Product Owners as “connective tissue” and the power of connecting team members with key initiatives. Through personal conversations, Eli uncovers what motivates his team, allowing him to support them without micromanaging.

“What makes you proud? What brings you shame? Understanding these emotions helps uncover what drives our team.”

Ensuring Effective Communication in a Remote Environment

Effective communication is the backbone of remote work, and Eli shares some of the practices that have helped Tuple’s team stay aligned and collaborative. From using spontaneous pairing sessions to fostering a culture of checking in, Tuple has created a remote work environment where conversations are naturally sparked, and collaboration is effortless.

“We have more space in our schedules for spontaneous pairing, which keeps collaboration flowing.”

Lessons Learned from Pairing Remotely

One of the key insights Eli shares is how Tuple has evolved its remote pairing process. In the past, pairing might have felt like a formal meeting, but now it happens more spontaneously. Tuple’s app facilitates this by offering the metaphor of a phone call—engineers can call each other at any time, making collaboration easy, especially when someone is deep into a task and needs quick support.

“At Tuple, engineers only have three meetings a week, leaving the rest of the time open for pairing and creative work.”

Pairing Beyond Programming Tasks

While pairing is typically associated with programming, Eli explains how Tuple uses pairing for other activities, like design or planning sessions. This practice has extended beyond coding, fostering a culture where team members collaborate on various tasks that benefit from shared perspectives and live problem-solving.

“We’ve expanded pairing beyond coding, using it for activities like design reviews and project planning.”

Balancing Customer Feedback with Product Vision

Responding to customer feedback is vital, but it can also lead to losing focus. Eli explains how Tuple balances this by capturing as much feedback as possible, using tools like Product Board to keep track of customer requests. However, instead of building every requested feature, Eli focuses on synthesizing broader patterns and emotional triggers that align with Tuple’s long-term vision.

“Focus on discovery as a product person. Understand the emotional context behind customer feedback—that’s what drives great products.”

Tuple’s Ideal Customer and Core Value

Tuple’s ideal customers are teams that value deep collaboration through pair programming. The platform’s most important offering is the ability to make remote pairing seamless and intuitive, something traditional tools fail to deliver.

“Tuple is built for teams that believe in the power of collaboration and want a tool that enhances their pairing experience, not disrupts it.”

Roadmapping: How to Prioritize the Right Work in Product Development

Looking ahead, Eli shares Tuple’s plans to continue investing in quality and lowering the barriers to remote pairing. One exciting potential direction includes creating a “social layer” within the app to help users feel more connected with their teammates. Another idea is incorporating non-human pairing agents that could assist with specific tasks.

“We want to see if we can make it feel like you’re right there with your teammates, lowering the barriers to start pairing.”

Recommended Resources

Eli recommends The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, a must-read for anyone working in product management. The book teaches how to talk to customers in a way that gets honest, useful feedback rather than polite responses that don’t help improve the product.

“I thought caring about people was enough to talk to customers, but The Mom Test taught me what not to do during customer interviews.”

About Eli Goodman

Eli Goodman has been working on software teams for 17 years. He’s been a full-stack developer and engineering manager at both large and small companies, including Etsy and Headspace. A few years ago, Eli transitioned to product management and is now the Head of Product at Tuple, a remote pair programming service used by companies such as Figma, Shopify, and many others in the software industry.

You can link with Eli Goodman on LinkedIn, or email Eli at Eli@Tuple.app.

Anita Kalmane-Boot: The Feedback-Driven Product Owner

The Great Product Owner: The Feedback-Driven Product Owner

Anita highlights a Product Owner who actively sought feedback and applied it to improve their work. This PO demonstrated humility and a commitment to growth, earning respect and trust from the team. Anita reflects on the importance of openness to feedback, regardless of experience level.

The Bad Product Owner: Disconnected Decisions, A Product Owner’s Communication Challenge

When we talk about PO anti-patterns, Anita describes a Product Owner who failed to communicate with customers or colleagues, making decisions based on assumptions. This anti-pattern led to a disconnect between the product and customer needs. Anita advises to work with the PO and find ways to better understand and incorporate customer feedback.

The Ultimate Guide to Supporting Product Owners as a Scrum Master

Are you having trouble helping the team work well with their Product Owner? We’ve put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO’s collaborate.

About Anita Kalmane-Boot

Anita is a neurodiversity advocate and considers herself European, not bound to one single country. Anita is passionate about Agile but is losing hope in corporate organizations and their adaptation of Scrum.

You can link with Anita Kalmane-Boot on LinkedIn.

Meena Venkataraman: Customer Feedback Loops – Key to Building the Right Product, the Agile Way!

The Great Product Owner: Customer Feedback Loops: Key to Building the Right Product, the Agile Way!

In this segment, Meena describes a great product owner who was very effective at product discovery. This PO paired hypothesis with metrics to ensure that what was being built was what the customer wanted. He focused on feedback loops, using customer interviews to learn about the flow and using that feedback to inform delivery decisions. The PO also involved the team in interpreting the numbers, which helped the team understand how to build the right thing.

The Bad Product Owner: Technical Leadership Challenges in Product Ownership, leaving the tech lead role behind

Meena shared a story about a product owner who transitioned from being a senior developer and was unable to let go of technical leadership. This resulted in the PO intimidating the team by providing specific solutions and telling them exactly what to do, creating an unhealthy dependency. Meena gave one-on-one feedback to the PO, and appealed to the PO’s human relations ability. She emphasizes the importance of coaching and giving feedback to the PO, and not just focusing on the rules.

About Meena Venkataraman

Meena is an Agile & Lean coach who helps organizations and teams transition to Agile ways of working. She is passionate about the neuroscience behind team dynamics and is interested in organizational design and the application of Agile principles across different business domains. Meena enjoys speaking at conferences and is an avid learner.

You can link with Meena Venkataraman on LinkedIn.