Spoiler: At Pixelmatters, the Product Owners aren't machines that know everything about all the topics - and should any Product Owner be? (I guess this is a discussion for later and not the focus of this article).

Therefore the focus should be on learning and adapting to the domain we’re in. This will make a difference in becoming a subject matter expert quickly, and as a consequence, driving results more efficiently. Let's see why and how we do it.

What is “Domain Expertise”

Firstly, when I refer to domain expertise, I interpret it as the knowledge, proficiency of skills, and comparable expertise within a domain sphere. It also relates to the right amount of knowledge about the domain in which you are working since it doesn't matter if you know all of the theory if, in reality, you don't know what's needed in the context of the product.

Tips and tricks to acquire and develop “Domain Expertise”

If you explore our portfolio, you'll see that we work in various industries, from Healthcare to Education. Considering this, having industry-specific knowledge at Pixelmatters isn't essential. Instead, learning the different techniques, needs, and specificities of each is. Below, you'll see some examples of how we do it and our strategies to domain the unknown.

Tip #1: Identify and consume content from relevant resources

The internet can be overwhelming with so much information available, but it's also an excellent provider of technical and valuable information curated by experts. This is where the magic and potential are. A good strategy is to find industry experts or leaders and look for literature or articles in which they are either the authors or someone they recommend. Following them on Social Media is also a good trick, as most publish content regularly and can mention other industry experts for you to follow.

For example, in one of my recent projects related to Web3, I discovered the Odyssey DAO (a Web3 community) and their free lessons on Web3 concepts. All because I was following Peter Yang on LinkedIn, and he shared the news with the network. It was my first step in reaching for more industry-specific knowledge, and it greatly impacted how I understood the Web3 space and all its basic concepts.

Tip #2: Turn yourself into a user.

In the case of Web3, in which there's a vast great sense of community, using Discord and reading some trends and discussions available there also helped. This helped with getting more domain expertise and understanding the users of the product I was about to work with: a 2-in-1 that added lots of value to this path!

Trying to be in the trenches with the users within online communities can be a great booster. This is also valid for other areas of expertise.