For those of you less familiar with MVP Summit, it is a week where Microsoft brings together the global group of MVPs (aka Most Valuable Professionals – people recognized for their expertise and active contributions to the tech community through an annual award) for direct conversations with the Product Groups building the products we use every day. We can attend in person at the Redmond campus or online and all discussions take place under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
The intent is to create a safe space for transparent dialogue about product direction and strategy. It’s a mix of sessions, open discussions, and smaller feedback meetings where MVPs get a closer look at where things are going with the opportunity to share our real-world perspectives from working with the tools in practice across industries, company sizes, and regions.
This year was my 5th MVP Summit. I distinctly remember working toward the MVP award and the overwhelming excitement when the package arrived as it was the moment it all felt real. I truly never imagined I would make it to 5 years to earn the special blue disk for my crystal award that I proudly display on my desk (when I am not doing the digital nomad thing and actually have one). Over these 5 years my interactions at Summit have grown from silent observer in awe to a more vocal advocate of challenging user experiences. One thing that has never changed is my belief in the product and my genuine desire to see it succeed.
Why so negative lately?
First, I want to address my blogs over the past six months and the shift from highlighting primarily positive features to more directly addressing concerns around product decisions.
As a user experience practitioner, I find this to be one of the most important parts of my job. My role is to act as an advocate for the end users who do not have the benefit of knowing how a system or solution was intended to work. Most of my projects with clients begin with user research so we can measure attitudes and actual behavior to inform our implementation decisions. I am paying attention to where friction shows up in a workflow, where something is technically functional but not intuitive, and where decisions made at a product or system level don’t fully translate to how people actually work. Yes, this applies to solely out of the box implementations too!
After research is complete, I translate these observations back in a way that’s actionable by helping clarify why it matters and what impact these choices have on real people trying to get their jobs done. This isn’t always comfortable work. Sometimes I have to ask harder questions, challenge existing assumptions, and, ultimately, I need to be willing to share findings that might not align with executive perceptions or strategy.
One of the most exciting parts of becoming an MVP was being invited to the product strategy and feedback conversations with Microsoft. We aren’t here just to celebrate what’s working. As MVPs, we also surface where things aren’t landing as intended and advocate for improvement based on real-world usage.
The most important point I want to make about my role as an MVP is this: it’s far easier to evangelize unendingly than it is to challenge thoughtfully. I deeply care about the product and its ability to empower people to do more, and I want it to succeed. To me, that means engaging in the kind of dialogue that pushes it forward. I’m aware that mine is just one perspective that is shaped by experiences with clients, the environments I work in, and the challenges I’ve seen firsthand in organizations. I am truly thankful I get to contribute to the narrative by adding what I see to the broader set of voices and unending expertise that ultimately makes the product better for us all.
My intention has never been to be negative. I want to advocate for the people who aren’t in the room. The ones navigating these tools without context, without workarounds, and without a direct line to influence how they evolve. If I’m doing my job well, that perspective is always present in the conversation. I want to share a sincere thank you to Microsoft for creating a program that supports this dialogue.
Feeling heard
Sometimes as MVPs, it can feel like feedback is being shouted into a void or going unheard. Feedback loops remain open without resolution. I genuinely don’t believe this is ever Microsoft’s intention. Their teams are balancing multiple strategic priorities, ambitious workloads, and competing demands that we can’t always have visibility into as MVPs. At the end of the day, everyone in this community is also a person who needs to shut off at the end of a long day. Choosing balance and prioritizing your life means sometimes leaving things unanswered or unsolved which can be disappointing. Both experiences are valid and we all need to continue the work in a way that’s actually sustainable.
Amidst all of this, something Microsoft continues to do well is listen, respond, and pivot. This includes navigating the Product Team/MVP relationship. In sessions, side conversations, and feedback meetings this week I felt and saw Microsoft show up intentionally and thoughtfully in a way that modeled inclusion of the MVP perspectives. This is hard work and it deserves an applause.
MVPs were provided with clear pathways for feedback and continued discussion. Hard questions were welcomed and met with thoughtful, considered responses. For me, this week delivered on everything Microsoft promises through the MVP program: the opportunity to be part of ongoing dialogue and to contribute meaningfully to the future of these products.
Feeling excited
You may know I haven’t always been the first to advocate for AI and I’ve shared many of my perspectives on product restraint and prioritization. The biggest shift in my experience with the Microsoft roadmap this week was a reminder that, as end users and even as MVPs, we don’t have full visibility into where the product is headed. More often than not, we’re seeing early stages of the implementations or changes and making judgements on things that can feel disjointed or even misdirected. The truth is these are actually small steps along a much longer path that hasn’t been fully revealed yet.
I don’t envy the challenge Product Teams face working in the open during a time of rapid change. I wouldn’t want public feedback on my project implementations midway, and this is something the Microsoft teams navigate every day.
While I can’t share anything specific about what’s coming next, I can say there are areas within AI that I am very optimistic will address challenges I’ve seen clients navigating manually for years. One of my favorite parts of this week every year is renewing that feeling, and gosh, do I really feel it.
So where does this leave us? I promise to continue to show up as an advocate for end users. Microsoft will continue to hear a wide breadth of perspectives and do the hard work of balancing them to build something that works for all of us. The challenge for us all will be continuing this momentum and feedback loop until next year.
Thank you to every single person involved in making MVP Summit this year from the Product Teams and engineers to program managers, moderators, event coordinators, operations staff, security teams, facilities, IT support, catering, and cleaning crews. The experience is only possible because of the collective effort behind the scenes, and it does not go unnoticed 🫶
I’m hopeful I’ll have the opportunity to be part of this conversation again in 2027 in-person, instead of joining from the mountains in Patagonia. As for this year, thank you again for making the online experience as rich as if I was there with everyone in Redmond, enabling me to make the same sustainability choices to prioritize life alongside a career in tech. This ends my week of #SummitsForSummit.
Emily Mancini 