Friday Links: Product Edition
Friday Links: Product Edition
Here are the most interesting links this week from our product department. Thanks to Tyler Strand. Collated by Chloe Olewitz.
- “A minimum viable product is not a product, it’s a process”
Many startup teams understand a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to be an early product version, stripped down and with half the features. Yevgeniy Brikman argues that MVP is not a product at all, it’s a process that successful teams repeat constantly, experimenting with risks and assumptions and using the findings to improve. (via Shawn Medero) - “What do you do, exactly?”
Self-link! Postlight Director of Product Management, Tyler Strand, examines what it means to be a product manager in the face of conflicting job descriptions across the industry. “Above all else, a PM has to keep things moving forward, even if that means deviating from this set of core responsibilities.” (via Tyler Strand) - NYCgo Relaunch
New York City has gotten its very own brand update, designed to reflect the city’s energy and liveliness. “A color palette derived from the City itself — yellow from taxicabs, green from the Statue of Liberty and the blue of NYC’s Greek coffee cup.” The City got a couple of its own custom typefaces, too. (via Paul Ford) - “Crafting the first mile of product”
“The onboarding, default, and empty states are rarely highlighted when thinking about building great product, but these are often the very things that drive success. While it may seem wise to focus on core features and power users, you might never get the user base you’re designing for without that great first impression. And as you grow, remember that there are always new kinds of new users, and new ways to engage them.” (via Cody Cowan) - “She Created Netflix’s Culture And It Ultimately Got Her Fired”
“While at Netflix, McCord was tasked with telling hundreds of employees when it was time to ‘move on.’ In 2001’s dot-com bubble burst, followed by the 9/11 attacks, Netflix laid off a third of the company’s 120 employees. The company’s inner-sports team-like workings meant that even hardworking people got cut and ‘players’ could change from time to time without it supposedly getting personal. In an interview with NPR, McCord mentioned letting go a product testing employee who ‘was great,’ but eventually lost her job to automation: So I called her up. I’m like, what part of this is a surprise? … And she goes, yeah, but, you know, I’ve worked really hard; this is really unfair. I’m like, and you’re crying? She’s like, yeah. I’m like, will you dry your tears and hold your head up and go be from Netflix? You’re the — why do you think you’re the last one here — ’cause you’re the best. You’re incredibly good at what you do. We just don’t need you to do it anymore.” (via Paul Ford)
Happy Fourth of July from Postlight! See you back in the office next week.