Idea · carried by 1 source
Direct Customer Communication
Revolut's principle that product owners and designers must have direct, unmediated communication with customers. Delegating customer research loses the nuances — how people describe things, what emotions they feel, where they get stuck. Revolut builds tools that let POs start interviewing, surveying, or testing designs in a few clicks.
Where it comes from
Dmitry Zlokazov on Lenny's Podcast (highlights/zlokazov-revolut-pms): “I'm a strong believer that it's very important to have direct communication channel to customers.” [~24:25-24:29]
How it works
- Revolut's 50+ million customer base means product owners are themselves power users
- They receive their salary into Revolut, spend with Revolut, friends use Revolut
- Tools are built for POs and designers to access user panels via different tools — interviews, surveys, design tests — “in a few clicks”
- Delegating customer research to a separate function produces a “refined, filtered version”
- You lose: nuances of how people describe things, emotions, where they think they're stuck
- “It's very easy to lose all those important bites of information in this process”
The filtered version of customer feedback is a lossy compression. The raw signal — emotions, confusion, delight — is where the real product insights live, and only direct contact preserves it.