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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» 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
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» 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
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» 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
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» 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
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» 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
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» 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
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» Reflecting on product management in 2022 » The most opened PRODUCTHEAD editions of 2022 » Back in the new year :-)
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» Some people think about problems directly; others think through the problem via potential solutions » Organisations often jump straight into action without establishing a foundation for coping with uncertainty » If one group has all the decision-making power, others cannot properly contribute
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» The wording of your product manager job description could be putting off good candidates » Listing excessive requirements for the role will deter risk-averse candidates » Think about why you’re hiring and the candidate attributes you need most » Don’t copy-and-paste other job descriptions — they won’t describe what your organisation needs
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» Humility and authenticity go a long way in building trust » It is hard both to share data when expected, and to do so in a way that is trustworthy and acceptable to the public » “Nobody ever read a simple sentence and thought ‘well, that was too easy to understand.’” » With care it is possible to create valuable products with user data while maintaining trustworthiness
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» Create space for your engineering team, understand the ebbs and flows of work, and help them to avoid burn-out » Work to understand the technical complexities facing the engineering team » Engineers typically focus on a small number of large tasks » Product and engineering overlap: clarify who does what
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» Encourage continual scrutiny of your product’s central flaws — talk openly about the elephants in the room » Cognitive biases lead us away from rational thought and objective truth » Research and evidence help us to neutralise biases
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» A common language about research is vital for building a team’s capability » Customers are only reliable sources about their own experiences » The way we think about product is determined by the language we use
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» Focus helps to reduce cognitive load without losing sight of the underlying complexity — it is different to simplifying » The challenge of simplifying a complex legal process was to find simpler language that didn’t sacrifice essential points of law
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» Work continues after the project ends — plan for the ongoing support of your product » A support team deals with user queries, incidents and ongoing improvement of the product » Great user support is an expectation, not a nice-to-have » Feedback from user support can identify areas of product improvement
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» Treating symptoms may provide short-term relief but does not alter the status quo » Root cause analysis helps us to systematically prevent future issues or to repeat successes » Impact maps help to connect what we choose to build and why we choose to build it
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» In case you missed it: recap of the communication toolkit
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» To earn trust you need people to know what you’ve achieved » Weeknotes are a way to work in the open, reflect and attain a sense of achievement » Being trusted makes it easier for you to carve out the space your team needs to succeed
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» Celsys are going to start charging for software updates to their popular Clip Studio Paint product » The way Celsys communicated this to their users caused outrage — some of which was justified » Fog Creek found themselves trying to monetise their viral product Trello, which it had promised would be free forever » Fog Creek had first mover advantage on an easily copied product, which it exploited by a timely sale to Atlassian
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» In solving their own internal scaling problem, Amazon inadvertently created the building blocks for the AWS platform » Stripe’s founders didn’t shy away from tackling an unattractively difficult problem » Platforms connect different sides of a market, even if they have dramatically different needs and capabilities » Twilio’s founder prioritised the developers who’d implement his API, not the managers who’d pay for it