Drippie on Product Management

Teams are increasingly over-investing in refining AI-generated designs because the polished output looks like "real work," often leading to the dangerous practice of polishing untested assumptions rather than validating them with users. 1
The role of the "vibe coder" is emerging as a legitimate career path, where product builders focus on high-level planning and system alignment to ship production-quality software without traditional coding backgrounds. 2
Effective leadership in high-stakes pivots requires creating clarity out of ambiguity by translating complex product mechanics into predictable business liability curves for stakeholders. 3
The AI rivalry is moving into the mainstream as Anthropic and OpenAI prepare for a Super Bowl showdown, set against a backdrop of nearly $700 billion in projected tech AI spending this year. 4 5
A hardware counter-trend is emerging as designers rethink smartphone interfaces by reintroducing physical buttons and tactile feedback to improve device utility. 6

The convergence of massive AI infrastructure investment and hyper-efficient prototyping tools has created a speed paradox: teams can iterate faster than ever, but the risk of building the wrong thing beautifully has never been higher. Success in 2026 hinges on the ability to distinguish between artifact quality and actual business certainty, requiring product managers to act as translators between technical speed and strategic risk.

Quick hits

Scientific methods to improve text scannability ensure that users process critical information in digital products. 7
The "Design Vibeshift" is seeing more designers treat code as a primary canvas for creative expression rather than a static handoff artifact. 8

The Polish Trap: Navigating High-Fidelity Risks

Further reading

Confusing artifact quality with certainty

Getting paid to vibe code: Inside the new AI-era job | Lazar Jovanovic (Professional Vibe Coder)

What Managing up Actually Looks Like

Super Bowl Matchup: Anthropic vs OpenAI

AI Spending, CPU Waits, UX Trends, AI Feuds, and Happiness

Bringing buttons back: rethinking how smart your smartphone should be

How to make any text scannable

The Design Vibeshift