October 12, 2024

AI will impact almost every sphere of life as we know it. If your life changed with the advent of the smart phones, internet, or social media, you can bet changes will be far more profound when we embrace self-driving cars, robotic assistants, digital clones, neurotechnology, and more.

Though it may take time, a decade if we’re lucky, we will still have to deal with more elementary use cases of AI in the shorter-term. For instance, jobs that can easily be automated to save resources in exchange for a higher return on investment.

What happens to cashiers, translators, customer service, factory workers, or data entry folks? How do they compete with the future of AI?

A few years ago, I commented on a LinkedIn post about the impact of AI on jobs. A professor from a prominent US university was quick to chime in that more jobs would be created because of AI and that my view was in error.

While it’s true that more jobs will be created, these jobs will essentially be new to market. So, what do we do in the short-term as AI capabilities are released, proliferate, and scaled? The major burden will fall on those who have passed a point in their life where they can “try something new” or will typically require significant time to re-skill.

Sure, we will cleverly package this as “up-skilling” the masses. But, where’s the plan? Shouldn’t we have one before rather than after? The last time unemployment levels spiked severely was just after the Great Depression in 1929. The effects of which were felt around the world. That episode delivered Hitler to us. What sort of revolution can we expect this time?

September 15, 2024

Sitting through user feedback meetings can be a bit overwhelming. This is particularly true when you have either too little or too much feedback to go over. But, what is the right amount? Fact is, there is no definitive answer. We would need to evaluate, both, quantity and quality of feedback as well.

Too little feedback could mean you have a wonderful product with little scope for improvement, But it could also mean you have a product that users don’t care much for. Too much feedback either means your product has a lot of holes in it or you have a very passionate user base demanding more from you.

The trouble I have with feedback is largely concentrated around its source. Is it coming from the most valuable users or from those brining up the rear? Don’t get me wrong. It’s possible that low adoptive users may turn into prospective enthusiasts if their needs were catered to. And that’s a judgement call.

Yet, I find PMs and UX folks impulsive in addressing any sort of feedback. Perhaps it expands their jobs to be done. But, acting on any feedback could swing things the other way for other users who didn’t take issue.

So, to me, the origin of that feedback is equally important, if not more. And unless we know where that’s coming from, acting on any and all feedback can be counter-productive.

Having said that, there are still a few gems that creep in from the most unexpected sources. In my opinion, it’s worth socializing questionable feedback with your loyal users before building upon it.

August 13, 2024

Presentations can be polished, informative, and visually stimulating. But, they tend to become an avalanche of one-way information dumps, especially when attendees are not fully aware of the intricacies driving the flow. The devil is always in the details.

By contrast, conversations spark ideas, and ideas garner more conversation which makes for engaging meetings. That’s why I prefer a one or two pager, socialized a couple of days prior. It gives attendees an opportunity to form a perspective, to think deeply, to raise intelligent questions, and build on a topic of discussion.

Alas, formality and rigid tradition will always deliver an outcome of pseudo-agility, pseudo-productivity, or pseudo-innovation.

July 15, 2024

Prioritization is a skill in time management and decision-making, ensuring that the most important and impactful tasks are addressed first. But, this reasoning is predicated on being in control of the variables related to those tasks.

What happens when those variables aren't yours to control? How do you prioritize when the variables pertinent to you are flexible for others?

For prioritization to work, one must have control over what influences the goal or at least have a goal that's shared with dependent stakeholders. Else, prioritization is just another plan with good intentions.

June 01, 2024

I believe that all product should have a positive impact on the individual, the community, and the environment.

Product is an outcome of design. And design is an outcome of thought, an idea. If an idea is compromised, it finds its way into the product.

Designing for good demands purity of intent. It includes byproducts of a product's application, even its disposal.

Designing for good shifts the focus from selfish commercial interests to positive outcomes, again, for the individual, the community, and the environment.

May 22, 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can add value to many industries like healthcare, finance, transportation, education, home automation, manufacturing, analytics, and more.

Its introduction into our world was predicated on the enhancement of human life and context. Removing repetitive, non-productive, or labour intensive tasks, while improving efficiency and accuracy, is widely acknowledged as an inevitable outcome.

Moreover, AI is intended to augment human competence. It is not supposed to be a substitute for human ineptitude.

Take job applications for instance. Social media is rife with curated GPT prompts for resume or cover letter optimisation. But, aren’t we essentially pitting the AI of an optimisation engine against that of an application tracking system?

The bigger question is, “What’s the game plan when you show up for the interview?”

May 01, 2024

Product managers need to be objective in their decisions. Eliminating one’s personal beliefs, choices, or preferences from what’s evidently right for the user and product is a difficult task.

Objectivity ensures selfishness, prejudice and bias are held accountable by factual evidence. But, basing decisions on fact alone is not enough because objectivity need not be morally, socially, or environmentally grounded. Therefore, objectivity requires an ethical compass.

Objectivity and ethics serve as beacons of integrity, guiding us toward actions and judgments that are both fair and morally upright.

March 10, 2024

Product managers are portrayed to be custodians of a product, nested within some sort of multi-functionary network of dependent relationships.

Experts call them mini CEOs, managing the lifecycle, setting priorities, problem-solving, balancing needs of users, business, technology, performing research work, managing stakeholders, and ultimately, leading without authority. But, what do they do most of the time?

The more I assess my workdays, the more I’m led to believe that it comes down to a never-ending story of gut feels and calculated decision making.

February 25, 2024

Addressing the significance of a Product Requirements Document (PRD) in product development may seem elementary, yet it's often overlooked or left insufficient.

This artefact outlines the vision, feature list, priorities, scope, risks, and purpose for the team and beyond. It becomes a living document, a communication tool, a source of truth, and the glue that keeps people on the same page.

I must admit, I have been guilty of negligence when it comes to the PRD. I therefore say, for the sake of humanity, this document needs to be signed-off before commissioning a project. If not, I’d advise brushing up on a few seasons of Law & Order, Boston Legal, or Suits.

January 29, 2024

When we build anything, it is imperative that we have a vision. That vision becomes a blueprint that guides the project.

When we hurry through the process, we risk building for the short term with a somewhat inferior foundation. Inevitably, the pressure to accommodate more value within its compromised structure increases exponentially as the product grows.

We need to think long and slow before committing to development. Perhaps heed Albert Einstein - “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions”.

December 1, 2023

“When the listener is totally present, the speaker often communicates differently…Sometimes we block the flow of information being offered and compromise on true listening. Our critical mind may kick in, taking note of what we agree with and what we don’t, or what we like and dislike. We may look for reasons to distrust the speaker or make them wrong.

Formulating an opinion is not listening. Neither is preparing a response, or defending our position or attacking another’s. To listen impatiently is to hear nothing at all.”

- Rick Rubin

I couldn’t agree more. Often, we evaluate, decide, and formulate before the information we receive is given an opportunity to be considered. We listen to judge and respond, hardly ever to consume and comprehend.

November 15, 2023

We must adopt a child-like curiosity in product development. We fill gaps in understanding with cultivated assumptions based on our personal biases and experiences.

Children have the luxury of no preconceived notions, limited experiential exposure, and therefore exhibit an openness to question the obvious, the very obvious adults take for granted.

It’s really the ‘silly’ questions that make a profound impact.

October 15, 2023

I dare say that the amount of help resources we create for our products is a good indication of its level of usability.

That does not mean the absence of helpful content is a sign of great product work either.

I just mean that the more dependent we are on users learning how to adapt to a product, the further we are from building something truly worthwhile.

October 01, 2023

I’ve always believed that a product is built with the implicit understanding that it will be improved upon. There is always a functionality, an experience, or a metric that can be pushed a little further.

Product development is about building and updating a product to address the evolving needs of users, extending it across segments or borders in the interest of growth.

But, when saturation creeps in and innovation begins to dry up, it’s not just the product that needs to evolve.

September 15, 2023

You’d think that most people would appreciate change, especially when it’s for the better. But, just because it’s better does not mean it’s necessarily welcome.

Somehow, change is interconnected with peoples comfort zones and vested interests. When these spaces are threatened by the possibility of change, people don’t always react positively.

It’s almost as if change is encouraged to knock, just as long as it’s at someone else’s door when it doesn’t suit us.

August 30, 2023

For some time now, I’ve been struggling to understand the relationship between people and elevators.

We have the affordance, we have the signifier. Yet, some of us call the elevator to us and others tell the elevator in which direction they wish to go.

It wasn’t supposed to be rocket science. Yet, I’m consistently greeted by the all too familiar, “Is it going up or down?”.

Interpretation is such a crucial part of design. While we can plan for almost every obvious circumstance, there is always someone who sees it differently.

June 9, 2023

Minimalism is the absence of distraction for the sake of clarity, purpose, and focus. As a lifestyle if encourages us to seek simplicity and meaning over consumerism. It guides us to be truly appreciative of what matters most - relationships, peace, experiences, time, space, and so on.

In design too, it is the omission of the non-essential. It is a conscious decision and a difficult path at that. It demands restraint, confidence, and concerted effort. It drives us to make mindful choices, to focus on outcomes over sophistication and tradition.

August 10, 2023

I created my first social media account more than a decade ago. To me, it served as a mechanism to share updates, stories, and memories with the people I considered important to me.

But, somehow as humans, we’ve turned an incredible opportunity to connect into a disruptive path to instigate, tarnish, bully, cheat, mislead, and more. We’ve managed to create alternate realities, divide ourselves, and inspire distrust.

When I think of impressionable minds being subjected to idealism, aggression, destruction, and just plain stupidity, it worries me. Worse, algorithms endorse content that keeps users engaged. Strangely, audiences are drawn to aggression, violence, sex, and division.

That motivates more production of trending content and the vicious circle continues, expanding with every iteration.

The solution lies at the brittle intersection of personal creative freedom, choice, and business value. Ironically, these very concepts may have been the foundation on which the good intentions of social media were built on in the first place.

July 25, 2023

Ignorance and negligence are acceptance to those who hide behind checkboxes.

Checkboxes are sometimes mischief-makers in our digital explorations. They can get us into hot water with unwelcome emails, sales calls, malware, and mysterious subscriptions.

Very often, they hide in plain sight with dark intentions nested in extended documentation. Most people do not change the defaults, preferring to believe that we live in an ideal world.

So, who do we blame - the business that disclose their intentions for us to peruse albeit with some difficulty, or us, for being so gung-ho to dive in that we just crossed our fingers and hope for the best?