PRODUCTHEAD
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.
To ensure you receive your subscription, please add
jock [at] mailtrain [dot] productpeo [dot] pl
to your Safe Senders list.
Recent editions
-
» Change in your organisation may be inhibited by a small number of constraints » Your product, your company is always part of a wider ecosystem » A product strategy needs to be clear on what metrics to focus on and how to move them » Finding product-market fit is the beginning, not the end
-
» Identify the key stakeholders whom you need to trust you and collaborate with you regularly » Understand the real reason for anger – whether in others or ourselves » Remember where stakeholders’ help starts and ends » To be trusted, you need to demonstrate your competence
-
» Problems come and go, but culture is forever » Psychological safety presents a new set of social norms » Product managers should be at the forefront of helping organisations to do things better for people » The corporate vision explains why the company exists » Open forums and communication lines between teams helps to maintain alignment
-
» Customers are seeking more value from digital technologies — “liquid experiences” » Services by nature don’t always fit current organisational structures » Service design and business analyst roles require a different type of focus and mindset » Key to becoming a service designer is not finding a new job, but transforming your current job » “Seamless services” means bringing together people from across professional boundaries
-
» Product managers must understand the impact of their products on society as a whole » Now is the time to push for broader product management accountability » No company, individual or set of activities, yet provides a clear-cut example of ethical best practice » What we build must not be at the cost of another group’s needs » Nothing in traditional product training prepares you for making ethical decisions
-
» Avoid waste by by first researching “shallow” user personas then progressively elaborating as needed » Product managers can and should conduct user research when demand outstrips the researchers available » Connect user personas to people’s actual goals for more emotional impact » Good interviewers listen, not talk
-
» Keeping your users’ attention means minimising cognitive drain » Customer onboarding is a continuous process » Video games use contextual nudges to teach players how the game works » A new customer success team builds trust by prioritising people, then process
-
» Use sensitivity analysis to identify the make-or-break metrics for your business » Your analytics approach needs to change over time to keep up with your evolving product » Blindly copying best practices results in an imperfect copy » Analytics tools don’t do the thinking for you
-
» A milkshake is really just a way to pass the time and stave off hunger on a long drive » Users struggling to use your product to complete their tasks have unmet needs » Christensen emphasises the higher order goal, Ulwick the task at hand » Jobs To Be Done is often misunderstood, making it difficult for some to begin applying it
-
» Amazon warehouses are gradually moving towards full robotic automation » Greater automation creates new types of work, but not necessarily for people » Smart contracts are already automating financial transactions, but can be susceptible to coding flaws » Increased use of machine learning in insurance places greater burden on regulators to ensure fairness
-
» Emotional intelligence is more important than technical skills » Hire people who will increase your rate of learning » A head of product needs prior experience as a product manager » Good candidates have initiative and passion to pursue their opinions
-
» “Requirements” is another way of saying “just shut up and build it” » A user story is deliberately sparse on detail to provoke a team conversation about the user’s goal » We often incorrectly assume everyone does something the same way » The mental model to describe epics, user stories and tasks can be clarified with visual artefacts
-
» Don’t ignore technical debt » Devote time for removing some debt in every sprint » Debt can be a prudent choice in some situations » It’s harder to read code than write it — so resist the temptation to start the code base again from scratch
-
» Recommendations of product podcasts
-
» User research needs to be proactive as well as reactive validation » Some research techniques are more useful than others at different stages » You must safeguard the welfare of your user research participants » There are many ways to recruit participants for your research without outsourcing » Use a simple format for sharing research findings memorably
-
» A product manager works at the intersection between business, technology and user experience » A product manager is not a replacement for absent specialists » The product manager is accountable for ensuring the solution is both valuable and viable » Product managers use their knowledge of user needs and business goals to frame problems and set priorities for their delivery teams
-
» Remove the timelines from your product roadmap » Use roadmap themes to focus on solving user problems » User outcomes are more important than delivering features » Roadmaps help to make strategic decisions when there’s low certainty » Rethinking your roadmap approach can help when managing mature products
-
» Constraints that motivate and focus are most effective » Boredom can trigger a creative and productive state of mind » It’s important not to stave off boredom immediately with distractions » You can optimise your working environment for greater productivity on different types of task
-
» Pricing determines the structure of the business that produces it » Start with consumer research to determine potential demand and feasibility of the product » A step-by-step guide to pricing software » Scalpers have made $82M in sales of consumer tech in under three months
-
» Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed » DeepMind’s AlphaFold solves a complex protein folding problem in days rather than years » Netflix and the BBFC automate age certifications for content with a staff-trained algorithm » YouTube’s recommendation algorithm has the unintended consequence of creating echo chambers » An algorithm widely used in US courts for predicting future criminality exhibits racial bias » Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya explores the impact of biased facial recognition algorithms on human rights