PRODUCTHEAD is my free curated newsletter of the best articles, videos and podcasts from product leaders and commentators all over the world. All neatly packaged up in a weekly email delivery for your reading, viewing and listening pleasure. Curated by Jock Busuttil (jockbusuttil.com).
» Ask your team: what do we actually need to know, by when, and how confident do we need to be?
» Don’t ask users what they do. Ask them for an example of a time they have done something, and then ask if it was typical
» When recruiting participants, say what the study is for, how long it will take, and what’s in it for them
» Ask “why” to understand the other side’s position and interest
» All negotiations involve both rational and emotional elements
» Whatever decision you make as a product manager will disappoint some people
» Teams benefit from a shared understanding of the trade-offs of decisions
» Asking about a specific problem causes people to ignore the other problems they have
» Make time for product discovery in small steps, not all at once
» Biases reduce cognitive load for our brain when it processes new information
» An opportunity solution tree is a way to externalize your thinking
» Don’t specify rigid requirements to your delivery team, have a collaborative conversation instead
» Try out lots of different solutions to the same problem
» Don’t be pressured to rush through discovery and prototyping
» Share knowledge around your team
» Avoid misunderstandings through constant communication with stakeholders
» ChatGPT’s inability to produce exact quotes from web pages is what makes us think it has learned something
» The biggest problem for AI chatbots and search engines is their propensity to generate bullsh*t
» It can aid a team’s progress to make lots of small bets, rather than one large one in a quarter
» Separate your outputs in a release plan from the outcomes in your product roadmap
» Parkinson’s Law: work always expands to fill the time available
» Frameworks help to spur thinking; they don’t provide the answers
» “I would be nothing without my dev teammates, but my devs would probably get on pretty well without me.”
» Use frameworks with discretion – and expect a bit less of them
» When there is a financial incentive, people will industrialise technology to automate money-making activities
» Authoritative-sounding yet factually inaccurate content generated by AIs is harmful
» Product managers should be primarily concerned with what is best for users from an ethical point of view
» A good product roadmap needs good leaders and clearly articulated goals
» Make every roadmap goal specific and measurable
» Ensure your team owns your roadmap as much as you
» Rarely can we attribute inventions in digital technology to one individual or company
» The best ideas can’t be copied — it’s all in the execution
» Guides to patenting inventions in the UK and US
