Product Engineering is a role that combines some of the responsibilities of Product Management and Software Engineering.
Not every software engineer is or should be a product engineer, but if your work involves building a digital product, it might be a helpful discipline.
A product engineer is aware of different parts of the product lifecycle, and depending on the team will exhibit some or all of these behaviors:
* Understands friction in the product through usage analytics and user interviews. * Has a model of how Metrics lead to Outcomes. * Can formulate hypotheses of what would improve the product. * Cares about Fit and Finish. * Has the skill to implement their hypotheses and measure their impact. * Understands how their software performs in the real world. * Understands the limits of the application, and can preempt them to maintain a consistent experience. * Understands How to Care * Understands How to Solve a Problem
There are many tools you can use to improve your engineering skills. My personal approach is to focus on **program comprehension**, and analysis. This can be aided by tools such as: