1. The Undercover Discovery Work

    Every time someone with power requests you a feature with no research to base it, don't argue with them. Instead, ask them...

  2. The Vision Ends Today

    You found a compelling problem to solve. There's a considerable audience that wants it solved. Your solution is decent, and people...

  3. How I Start Product Research

    A product starts with an idea, an insight into how something could be better. If something has room to improve, then...

  4. A Valid Solution Needs a Valid Problem

    There are two ways of building a new feature. You build them because someone told you so, or you build what users need, and the latter...

  5. A Simple Limit

    A common request from clients is that they want the product to look clean and simple. That's also my goal. I love symmetric...

  6. First Steps Uncovering the Problem Space

    All I need to start running research is to remember that any product answers a problem. The first step then is making it...

  7. Value Mapping Starts by Recognizing its Key Aspects

    Not much imagination is needed to think about value for a company. Mainly, it will circle increasing existing and new revenue...

  8. The Most Practical Product Design Framework I've Ever Used

    It doesn't matter how advanced or powerful the product is. If the desire is not there, things will be difficult...

  9. Feature Evaluation Requests

    What if we replace feature production requests with feature evaluation requests? Here's a checklist I try to apply...

  10. Product Design is the Business of Improving Lives

    Products exist to fix problems. But problems don't live in a vacuum. They're tied to people. If people have a problem, they...

  11. The Ancient Human Aspiration that Inspires Better Features

    The desire to be better is a core part of human nature. One way of thinking about a new feature is to consider it a power-up...

  12. One Product Metric to Rule Them All

    The Jobs-to-be-Done framework states that a given product or service is hired by someone for solving a problem or achieving...

  13. Two Questions that Connect Product and Marketing

    Product people are primarily concerned about creating the right product for people who want and can use it. The latter...

  14. The Not-So-Easy Birth of Features and How to Raise them Properly

    New features and feature improvements would only come to life in an ideal world if tied to a legit user problem. The reality...

  15. Why Products Need Innovation and Conformity

    A product experience is about three quadrants. Here's how the first go. You go to this restaurant, and the food is fantastic...

  16. Questions Every Subscription-Based Business Should Know the Answer For

    Four questions define most subscription-based products' success: • How does someone become a user? • How does a user...

  17. Shaping a Product's Soul

    Great products have a point of view, a way of doing things. Consistency is their thing. You learn to do something once; you learn it forever. They have a clear sense of identity...

  18. Journey Mapping: The Path to Great Experiences

    People experience products all the time. Ours is just one more. Naturally, we will be judged based on the user's previous experiences. So, we need to understand expectations and...

  19. Unleashing an Unexpected Source of Possibilities

    A client will tell me about the business goals. Its users will reveal the problems they face. By researching competitors and other similar products, I'll have an idea about the usual solutions...

  20. The Invisible Product is the Product

    An orchestra is not the sound it produces, but how different musicians, with distinct specialties, articulate themselves to produce a result. Similarly, a technology product at its core is not the interfaces...

  21. United States of UI: Tackling the Unusual

    If good design is what happens when the unusual happens, then it's crucial to think about states. The term is fancy, but everyone works with states. The default state, for example, is the context in which you...

  22. Starting with the Beginning in Mind

    I explored this in-depth a while ago, but every time someone tries your product, there's a promise involved. We can also call it an expectation. A confrontation starts once the user sees the first interface. People will....

  23. Success Requests

    Whenever a client sends me a feature request or user story, I reshape it as a success request. Although I continue to view a feature request / user story as valid, especially to make sure I address all the client's concerns...

  24. The Font Opacity Level Developers Want

    Variables could be defined as slots to store data. That makes it possible to reuse data in multiple places. Colors are no exception. So, to save time and improve the code's structure, developers create variables that store colors.

  25. How a Time Machine Will Make a Product Better

    People buy and love products that help them build a better future version of themselves. Therefore, how would you design your product so people become stronger? Or faster? Or better connected? Or happier? Or more productive?...

  26. Feature Discovery: Avoiding Wasted Work

    It doesn't matter the features you have in your backlog. Every one of them is most likely based on assumptions. That's why, unless you're sure about the value a feature will bring and its format...

  27. Principles on Effective Onboarding

    Onboarding is not about your company. It has nothing to do with making users complete their profile or asking them to invite their friends. It's about their success, how they will reach their...