Product
This chapter covers lessons on how to improve your product and the value you provide. It’s useful for the CEO and CTO.
Deciding what not to build is nearly as important
A gauntlet of questions to decide whether a new initiative is worth it
Two approaches to product design
Help the user do what they want, or make them do something you want. If you find yourself focusing on the second, your business is in trouble.
Copy blatantly
Instead of redesigning standard features, pick comparable role models and copy theirs.
Minimum viable process
Software is a supporting component in a process that accomplishes something useful more efficiently than others.
You might get customers that you weren't planning on
Listen closely to their feedback because they are actively looking for a solution to a problem.
Understand your value to your users
Make sure that you know all the benefits of what you're selling, not just what you intended.
Don't overreact to weak signals
It makes you build poorly thought out and potentially wrong things.
Not everyone's opinion is equal
Don't ask an accountant about routing algorithms.
Learn the correct jargon and use it consistently
To effectively communicate with your team and customers, you must learn the correct jargon and use it consistently.
Observed users personas
When you are observing users interacting with your app, they take on a different persona
Don't half-ass many things
Half-ass one thing many times.
Think about how new things can affect what you already have
In particular, consider whether new things you're working on can destroy what you've already built.
Consider the complementary interaction
Sometimes creating the opposite interaction can have an even more powerful effect
Internal product management directly improves your company's efficiency
Your team should be given a similar level of attention as your external users.
Separate the trackers for admins
That way main user data won't be polluted, but you'll still have a window into what the admins are doing.
Each job should have a custom dashboard
That dashboard would show all and only the information and actions that they need.
Build a simple flexible dashboard for viewing stats over time
Include the ability to select start and end dates, period lengths, and the number of periods prior and following.
Simple user permissions are very useful
They're not just about control but also a tool to design a simpler and less error-prone product.