#product thinking

[kmsigma]

We’re not short on data. We’re short on understanding. This series explores how complex systems become something people can actually use, combining observability, product thinking, and a focus on user education. Basically, turning technical garble into understandable stories.

Systems, Stories, and Signals

[bdarfler]

Shift From “Product First” to “Product Last”

“Product first” was supposed to deliver what best serves customers. It’s now mostly feature factories & order taking. Let’s fix it.

A good reminder as someone who tends to jump into the details.

"Don’t start with product, features, ideas, or hypotheses. Start with a good understanding of target audiences’ tasks, experiences, and pain points. Be solution-agnostic early in your process. Avoid the feature factory and order taking."

[ithora]

No, Average People Will Not Build Their Own Software With AI

There is a narrative gaining traction in tech circles, on social media, and in breathless conference keynotes that goes something like this: AI will soon let anyone build their own software. Need a budgeting app? Just describe it to an AI and it will create one for you. Want a custom CRM for your small business? A few prompts and you are up and running. Personal software, built on demand, by…

[bestsoln]

Most people quit after a failed startup. Stewart Butterfield did something smarter.

He shut down a failing video game and noticed one thing his team couldn’t live without. A simple internal messaging tool. That tool became Slack.

The lesson is simple. Pay attention to what actually works, even if it was never part of the original plan. Some of the best companies are born from pivots, not pitches.

Sharing a short video on how failure quietly built one of the most used workplace tools today.

🎥 https://youtube.com/shorts/2i4PF_rri-Q

[dominaexmachina]

The cult of process vs the heresy of results

(or: why AI isn’t cheating, unless you’re allergic to output)

I keep encountering fascinating creatures on Tumblr. Some of them believe that using AI for anything creative is “cheating” — but not using brushes that paint grass, or circle tools, or copyrighted textures from some app’s material pack. Those are fine. AI though? That’s a bridge too far. Suddenly, we’re “asking someone else to draw something for us.” Apparently.

What’s fascinating here isn’t just the logic gymnastics. It’s the mindset. These people aren’t thinking in terms of results — they’re still deep inside the cult of process. If you skip the process, you’re cheating. If you get a result too fast, too easily, too beautifully — that result must be illegitimate. The holy grail isn’t output. It’s suffering.

I get it. Some people find meaning in the struggle. But here’s the thing: I work in a product team. In IT company. Where we have deliverables. Deadlines. Users. Releases. If we launched something fast and it worked? That’s a fucking win. No one ever says: “Well, we could ship it now, but let’s delay three weeks so the designers can suffer more and the developers can touch more pixels manually.”

If you come to your stand-up and say, “We’re not ready — but we explored 14 dead ends and hand-coded everything from scratch,” the room doesn’t applaud. The PO doesn’t throw confetti. You don’t get bonus points for inefficiency. We’re here to build something that works, not to cosplay 18th century oil painters.

And that’s why arguments like “AI art is cheating” feel so disconnected from how real creative work happens in tech. We don’t fetishize the method — we care if it ships. We care if it solves a problem. We care if it lands.

If you’re angry that someone finished their illustration in 30 minutes while you’re still sketching the same eye for the third day — maybe the problem isn’t their tool. Maybe it’s your expectations.

Because you think this is a test of patience. They think this is delivery.

Welcome to the difference between process-driven thinking and product thinking.

[lizeng]

The gap between visual and product design

What is the gap to close if switching from visual to product design? This is a familiar question from graphic designers who intend to transit.

I taught visual design for 5 years before I switch to the industry. Initially I was doing web and UI design as well. Little did I know UI is far different from UX design. Working as the solo designer at a startup helped me to be well rounded, but the best way to learn product design is to join a company with a group of designers who have built great design systems or elegant products.

I worked for 3 startups from different stages and I learned many different things from each company. If I have to summarize the gap that I have to close, it’s interaction design and product thinking.

Interaction design

Interaction design doesn’t come natural to designers with a graphic background. It is beyond just hover and click state. It’s not just about one user’s interaction, it’s also about many users interaction if the product allows. Interactive variation spread across time, users and device, meaning each element can affect the way how people interact with the product differently.

For those who may find the above explanation vague, here’s one example (on Facebook like bar) as to how to dive deep into the interaction design.

Visual designers may be able to come up with the above design, but there are a lot more things to consider from the interaction perspective:

What does it look like when there’s no likes? Do we hide the bar?

What about 1 like? Do we highlight the person’s name?

What about 2, 3, 4, 5 and 25 likes? What’s the maximum number of emojis we want to show?

What if the like emojis are the same? What if they are all different?

Whose name were to appear on the line of text? How many people’s name can show up on the line of text? Full name or just first name?

Do we count the number by including everybody or exclude the name listed?

Should we show everyone’s name in a hover or click state?

Is there a max number we show (like 2k+, instead of 2341) if reaching certain threshold ?

Is each element clickable? If yes, what happens when hovering over and clicking?

I am sure there were more to consider. As a product designer, my head is spinning the whole time, resulting a complete spec sheet answering all the questions I just wrote. Engineers will rely on the spec to understand the logic and details. Now, if you are interested in learning about the like bar interactions, go to Facebook, click and scroll around.

Product Thinking

A company can have great product people and designers, but they may not know how to think lean or strategically when launching product or features. The consequence is months of efforts building something that’s not as desirable.

Why do we need product thinking when launching product or features? Because there’s always limited time, efforts or resources. How to get most impact with a MVP (minimal viable product) as early as possible? That’s the question product managers and good designers think about all the time.

Using the same Facebook like bar feature as an example. That is a bar featuring liked emojis and number count after people interacted with the 7 emojis. What to consider when displaying it?

Do we need this at all? If we can get the same impact without building this bar, that’s the most efficient way. In this case, we need a place to capture the selection, otherwise no social proof or impact will come out from the previous interaction.

What’s the minimum to build? Initially, maybe just capture the first 3 emoji and the total number of people who reacted to the like bar (see image below). Move all of the following to next phase:

Dynamically featuring the top 3 clicked emojis Display names of people who clicked different emojis Display full name along with the line

How to test the effectiveness of the feature before launching, during and after launching? What are the metrics we are using to measure the success?

That being said, data is one of the most powerful assistance product designer can get when it comes to making good design decisions. Leverage existing data when improving a feature, or research market data when designing a new product. Many product ideas from designers can be very powerful if backed with meaningful data.

This is just a small part when it comes to launch a product. There are a lot more research and development work that goes into launching. Great product designers should be aware of the lean development process to be most effective and helpful. If visual designers were able to grasp the above two with project/work experience, they are not far from becoming a good product designer.

[dianas]

The Power of Product Thinking

In many design, product management, engineering, or even venture capital interviews and pitches, you’ll be assessed on a dimension called “product thinking,” sometimes also called “product sense.” If you’re a builder aspiring to create something new and valuable (or someone who invests in such builders), having well-honed product thinking will help you — and the... Read More

[lizeng]

Lessons from tech, leadership, and parenthood

Came across Deb Liu’s blog on Substack recently. Wonderful articles about career, life and tech. I went to one of Deb’s talk before COVID-19 and I found her a very humble Asian female leader. Definitely was excited to see her open up her perspectives through blogging.