We divide ownership neatly: PMs own features, engineers own code, designers own UX. Then we wonder why products feel fragmented.

The traditional model fails at every handoff. When requirements flow from PM to designer to engineer, context evaporates. Engineers see better solutions but aren’t “allowed” to suggest product changes. When things break, everyone points to their silo: “My part works fine.”

The Better Model

What if the entire team owned the outcome?

Not features delivered — actual user results. Not lines of code — product success. Small teams (3-8 people) owning complete product areas: frontend, backend, data, everything.

This changes the conversation. Instead of “Build a dashboard with these 5 widgets,” it becomes “Increase user engagement by 20%.” The team figures out how.

Engineers attend user research. PMs join technical reviews. Everyone feels the pain when users struggle. Everyone celebrates when adoption climbs.

What This Requires

Engineers must care about user outcomes, not just clean code. PMs must understand technical tradeoffs, not just business requirements. Organisations must measure team success by user value, not story points.

The sweet spot isn’t individual ownership (knowledge bottlenecks) or collective ownership (diffused responsibility). It’s squad-level ownership — small teams with deep domain expertise and clear accountability.

The Shift

Stop optimising for organisational convenience. Start optimising for user outcomes.

When teams truly own their products, features ship faster, quality improves, and users are happier. The question isn’t who owns what — it’s whether your ownership model serves users or just makes org charts look tidy.