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.
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Recent editions
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» Every decision is a trade-off — deciding what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do » A good product vision captures customer, user, value proposition and links to organisational objectives » Interrogate your goals: “For this to happen, what must be true?”, then mark which are facts or assumptions » Avoid jumping on the first idea — check what problem we think it solves, then ask, “How else could we do this?”
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» User and market research is more easily accessible, yet the opinions of senior managers still bias product decisions » Confidence in an idea only truly comes from gathering evidence
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» When strategic frames grow rigid, companies, like nations, tend to keep fighting the last war » If organisations (incorrectly) view change as gradual they will have resistance to the change » The innovator’s dilemma: cater to current needs or attempt to anticipate future demands? » Many common financial tools distort the value, importance, and likelihood of success of investments in innovation
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» Match your product’s units to how your customer measures value » Changing your pricing model regularly needn’t be a bad thing — it just has to be done carefully » With usage-based pricing, help your customers to anticipate their likely costs » Care has to be taken to keep dynamic / surge pricing transparent
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» Moving to a product-led growth model takes time and will encounter resistance » A product-led model does not replace the sales-led or marketing-led approach completely » Growth loops operate on a similar principle to compound interest » Software companies with a frictionless product approach displace custom-built apps
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» Take a systematic approach to evaluating multiple solutions to the same opportunity » ‘Assumption’ is just another word for ‘things we believe’ » When there are many opportunities in contention, assess whether it’s worth solving the problem » We tend to come up with solutions before defining the problem they solve
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AI is: » accelerating the design of novel proteins, enabling a new wave of vaccines and drugs » predicting extreme weather events, helping to protect residents » listening to the rainforest and sends real-time alerts for chainsaws, trucks, cars and signs of incursion » monitoring the world’s oceans for illegal fishing activity
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» To reduce coordination cost, partition the work by time or space » Behavioural design considers customers’ levels of mental energy, cognitive biases, and their existing patterns » Successful organisations reinforce psychological safety in different ways » Adding more people to a team makes communication a more significant overhead
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» To reduce coordination cost, partition the work by time or space » Behavioural design considers customers’ levels of mental energy, cognitive biases, and their existing patterns » Successful organisations reinforce psychological safety in different ways » Adding more people to a team makes communication a more significant overhead
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» Decisions should be the result of rational and deliberate reasoning, but not all are perfectly rational » Almost every decision has associated downsides or compromises » Avoid trying to please people or to allow individuals to dominate the decision-making process » It’s easy to conflate transparency on the decision-making process, with transparency on the actual decisions
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» The best moment to teach a user to use a new feature is when it is valuable for them » Uncompleted tasks stick in a person’s memory, completed tasks are more easily forgotten » Provide a safe, controlled environment to help users experiment and learn a new skill
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» Developers and managers often have conflicting views of what constitutes value in software » Software engineers should ideally understand both what they are building and why » Unforeseen edge cases can cause headaches at roll-out, but provide valuable lessons
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» When delivering difficult news at work, you are not there to seek sympathy » Tie business impact to deprioritised work to highlight the problem to your CEO without sounding whiny » An organisation’s emotional culture governs which emotions people express and suppress at work » Many organisation equate “fixing” to basically “patching holes in the slowly sinking boat”
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» Desire paths spring up as users’ needs and goals change » The effort paradox: the effort of forming a new path versus the desire to take the path of least resistance » In digital products we use analytical tools to help us observe desire paths » When a new desire path emerges, question your old assumptions — user behaviour is changing
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» Thematic analysis identifies the main themes emerging from qualitative data, such as interview transcripts » It can be a great activity to do with your team for establishing empathy with the users and their context » Good research means being intentional, conscientious, and ethical at every step
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» A mobile phone may be all you need to record an interview » For in-person recordings, keep your setup simple and portable » The simplest way to record video calls is to use the local or cloud recording option » Consider carefully whether to record an interview or to have a dedicated note-taker
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» 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
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» 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
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» 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
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» 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