The Experience Edge Ep. 65 - Power users hate magical experiences - Adam Towne
Adam Towne, Director of Product for Skilled Analytics and Funds at LSEG, began his career on an 11-hour help desk shift before moving into account management and ultimately product leadership. Now building analytics and API products for asset managers, banks, and hedge funds, he brings a rare perspective: customer support is not a cost center, it is a growth engine.
In this conversation, Adam reframes customer experience for sophisticated power users. Instead of chasing “aha” moments, he argues for monotony, reliability, and invisible excellence. From role-based access control pitfalls to the “tiny dot” reality of product in a larger ecosystem, he explores how product leaders can own CX without creating more silos.
Guest Bio
Adam Towne is Director of Product for Skilled Analytics and Funds at LSEG, where he leads data analytics and API products serving institutional clients including asset managers, banks, and hedge funds.
He previously spent seven years in fixed income analytics at Citi, transitioning from help desk to account management and product management. Adam is a CFA charter holder and holds an engineering degree from Cornell University. His expertise spans power-user product design, financial analytics, and building reliable systems for high-stakes environments.
Takeaways
- Customer experience is not a department, it is a product in itself and a shared responsibility across the organization.
- Power users do not want “aha” moments. They want reliability, monotony, and infrastructure they never have to think about.
- Good friction can exist in setup and onboarding for sophisticated users, but integration friction must be minimized.
- Feature creep for power users should be managed through primitive building blocks, not endless configuration options.
- Product leaders should own customer experience by aligning product decisions with support, sales, and operational metrics, not just revenue.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Adam Towne and LSEG
02:09 Lessons from starting on the help desk
03:55 Why customer experience is a product
06:18 What real customer centricity looks like
10:23 Designing for power users vs classic CX
13:34 Good friction vs bad friction
15:10 Trade-offs of focusing on power users
19:32 Enabling the broader organization around product changes
23:48 Visualizing cross-user journeys inside a customer
33:55 The “tiny dot” reality of product in a larger ecosystem
39:27 Who should own customer experience?
44:33 Product culture vs additional management layers
50:54 The measurement gap between product and CX