Creating Experiences - All Things Product Podcast with Teresa Torres & Petra Wille

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What makes an event truly unforgettable — and what can product teams learn from it? In this episode, Teresa sits down with Petra Wille to explore how Petra and her co-organizer Arne design experiences (not just events) at Product at Heart and their Product Leadership gatherings. From a candlelit speakers' dinner in a rosemary-covered greenhouse to a disco ball that appeared for exactly 20 seconds, Petra shares how intentional design, sensory details, and a little bit of goofy magic help attendees shed their corporate armor and open up to real inspiration and connection. Teresa draws the parallels back to product design — from designing for delight and awe, to the classic question of who you're choosing to serve.

In this episode, Teresa and Petra explore the art of creating experiences — whether at a conference or in a product — and why the details that seem extravagant are often the ones that matter most.

Topics covered:

  • How Petra and Arne designed the Product at Heart Leadership Event across one and a half days, including a farm excursion, and a leadership improv workshop

  • Why you can't curate an experience that makes everyone happy — and what to do instead

  • Designing for choice: self-select paths, the "Hard Problems Club," and how to serve niche audiences within a broad event

  • The role of sensory experience in unlocking inspiration — rosemary, zucchinis-as-instruments, and a three-meter disco ball

  • What Petra calls "serendipity moments" — creating space for people to shed their corporate armor and make unexpected connections

  • Teresa's reflections on the World Domination Summit and the concept of designing for awe

  • The difference between novelty and awe — and why awe takes people out of the mundane and expands what feels possible

  • How all of this translates directly to product thinking: who are you serving, how are you designing for delight, and when is it worth the extra investment?

Key quote:

"If we can get through that armor and shut off the business reflexes, then inspiration is more likely to hit." — Petra Wille

Resources & Links:

Mentioned in this episode:

Petra Wille