Finest-5 Product reads #9
Rise of the No Code MVPs, product thinking and other hand-picked reads
Happy Saturday,
Ambiguity has been my word of the week. I was looking into product problems and realized: A PM’s fundamental job is to understand the ambiguity and provide a structured way to diminish it as much as possible.
Even with this Newsletter, there are uncertainties I have no definitive answer to. It is only to experiment and figure out. Hence, Today’s hypothesis: “If the subtext has context on articles, the open rate will go up”. If any thoughts, please write to me.
Subscribe, if you haven’t. There is a lot of value for free.
Product Discovery or Product Delivery: How do you Decide
Is it when you feel confident enough, move to product execution or do you skip discovery in pressure, while uncertainty lead you to not so noble end? Acknowledging risk early not only makes you better at product but also at your job. Continue reading..
Key Takeaways:
Degree of uncertainty determines whether you do product discovery or delivery.
In case of many unknowns, don’t promise deadline, but to discover answers first.
Types of risk: Value Risk, Usability Risk, Feasibility Risk and Business Viability Risk.
The Rise of No Code MVPs
We expect a lot out of an MVP and everyone loves to talk about it. So, the talk of the town is no-code MVPs, just a perfect thing for non-tech founders. A set of drag and drop and Tada!! there you have a functioning prototype. Continue reading..
Key Takeaways:
You can now recreate entire products like Uber and AirBnB with No Code.
Number of platforms allowing to no-code Mash-up MVP is rising everyday.
Cost, time and capabilities needed to do a software Mash-Up MVP are rapidly plummeting.
The Power of Product Thinking
Another thing, there is a lot of noise about is Product thinking. Well, sometimes it feels like a superpower that makes an extraordinary PM. Whereas, it’s just a combination of observation, practice and constantly asking why. Continue reading..
Key Takeaways:
Product thinking is the skill of knowing what makes a product useful and loved
Product thinkers seek answers to why a product might work or not.
Asking the “why” behind your observations leads to the other practice necessary for developing a product thinking mindset
Why Figma wins?
As we see what product thinking is, let's ask more whys and dive into the product strategy of Figma, the design tool everybody is in love with these days. Figma has killed the sophistication of design tools and made itself handy for non-designers, while scaling through the N/W effect. Continue reading..
Key Takeaways:
Figma nested on the sequencing loop and outgrew its core product.
Figma was quick to recognize, design’s constraint was people not pixels.
Making loops a core part of ecosystem helps outgrow saturation
Shreyas Doshi on Minimum Lovable Product, Why Strategy is a Misunderstood Word & Benefits of Being Clueless
The last interesting thing this week is not a read, but it is the podcast between two veteran product people I admire and constantly follow on twitter. Amit Somani and Shreyas Doshi sit together to discuss product and all that comes out during these 45 mins is pure gold. Continue listening..
Key Takeaways:
Don’t address any problem, address ‘the problem’ (Importance of problem)
Being curious about stakeholders’ function makes you better at product
Book recommendation: Games People Play, The Courage To Be Disliked
Product of the week: Adalo
We all know, PMs constantly ask for more developer capacity and that is where the most cost goes for entrepreneurs today. But what about a no-code platform that lets you build a substantial amount of functionalities and amazing designs without code? The way we do MVPs is changing.