Starting with a customer's problem
Andie Zhang develops product strategy for industrial robots at ABB Robotics. She describes visiting factories and asking what people need a robot to do before deciding which features to build. A technically impressive machine is not enough if it does not solve a problem that matters to its users.
What user testing can reveal
Zhang recalls tests that brought attention to left- and right-handed users and people with different colour vision. These details helped her explain why varied perspectives matter in a product team. Asked whether diversity makes work more efficient, Zhang broadens the point: it can help a team see the problem differently and design a better product.
More than one way into robotics
With engineers as parents, engineering felt like a natural direction, although she also enjoyed art and design. An internship supervisor pushed her with increasingly difficult problems and later helped bring her back to the company. Zhang also describes colleagues entering technology through design or communications. She distinguishes feeling overwhelmed by rapid developments from doubting that she belongs, and suggests taking time to read deeper analysis rather than following every announcement.