⫹⫺ Product Thinking

For the Creators, Makers & Doers - CMMN WLTH 033

Sep 06, 2021

Hello my friends,

If you design, develop or engineer a physical product - profession or pastime - I’m guessing the past eighteen months have been the least physical and most virtual of your life.

While 3D and VR tools are becoming ridiculously good, there is no substitute for holding a prototype in your hands, discussing improvements with your team.

Ask yourself:

Are you getting better at identifying product opportunities?

Are you relying on conventional wisdom to make decisions?

Working virtually, it’s difficult to maintain a high level of Product Thinking.

What is Product Thinking you ask?

Product Thinking is a natural understanding of which features and benefits will make a product popular with consumers.

Think about an occasion when you were required to create a feature you hate, but it provided value to your consumer.

That is Product Thinking at its core.

Over time, Product Thinking develops through observation and inquiry. Methods that typically rely on in-person interaction with consumers.

With Covid restrictions, this remains challenging, but it got me thinking:

Can you improve your Product Thinking while working from home?

Here is my (work in progress) framework:

Buy a competitor's product or service.
First Moment of Truth -
- What do you like about the product visually?
- How does it feel the first time you use it?
Second Moment of Truth -
- How was the user experience?
- What makes you happy?
- What would you change?

You’re searching for non-obvious answers to why certain products take off and some don’t.

Send me your findings in the comments or reply to this e-mail.

Let's get into it.

— Andy

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