Cagan argues the traditional product spec is broken: it takes too long to write, is rarely read, leaves hard questions unresolved, and gives false comfort that the product is on track. He proposes replacing it with a…
Marty Cagan argues that product teams should design for specific personas rather than vague generic users. Using eBay seller tools as an example, he sketches three detailed fictional people with different backgrounds…
Marty Cagan reviews Ken Kocienda's memoir Creative Selection, told from the perspective of an engineer who spent about 15 years at Apple and served as tech lead for key efforts, most notably the original iPhone…
Julie Zhuo writes a letter to her 11-year-old daughter about the value of struggling through hard work when AI can make almost anything effortless. The piece frames the problem as a question of cultivating the eye…
“Note: This is part of the product creator series of articles, based on the overview article, The Era of the Product Creator. This series is intended for anyone that wants to create a successful product, whether or not the person has had professional training or experience in product management, product design, or engineering. Overview We... The post The Purpose of…”
Marty Cagan argues that enterprise software is in poor shape: products are often hard to use, don't work out of the box, and force customers into costly professional services. He contends that good product management…
Teresa Torres marks the one-year anniversary of Steve Jobs's death by reflecting on her mixed feelings about him. She credits Jobs with an extraordinary record of beautiful, usable products and a rare dedication to…
Teresa Torres argues that API teams need product discovery because customer-facing APIs are products, and gaps in them cost adoption. She identifies six recurring usability problems developers hit when learning a new…
Ken Rudin introduces ARIA, a repeatable framework for growing a product by increasing engagement with features it already has rather than launching new ones. He argues that most growth comes from incremental…
Teresa Torres uses a product manager and designer dilemma to argue that teams waste time designing a whole near-term vision upfront, because their assumptions about being right are usually wrong. She contends that…
Teresa Torres recounts a early-career design review in which a client dismissed her work as horrible and asked to reuse an existing homepage. Her manager defused the clash by asking her to walk through her reasoning…
Marty Cagan argues that the single most valuable thing a product manager can do is run face-to-face user tests on prototypes or live products. Each test has two parts in sequence: a usability check to see whether users…
Colin Matthews explains how product teams can move beyond individual AI prototyping by building shared component libraries, using baselines and forks, and matching prototype fidelity to each stage of the product…
Marty Cagan argues that product people, despite often coming from analytical backgrounds, work fundamentally in the realm of emotion and psychology. He observes that people buy and use products mainly for emotional…
Teresa Torres and Petra Wille argue that innovation is a means rather than a goal: it matters only when it serves customers better. Using the history of the login flow, from passwords to single sign-on, Slack's magic…
Teresa Torres argues that product managers and designers should not split the work cleanly into 'PM defines the problem, designer owns the solution.' Problem definition and solution generation form a two-way feedback…
Cagan argues that beyond empowered teams hitting measurable outcomes, the best product companies also pursue a harder-to-define standard of excellence: desirability, delight, or 'spirit.' He acknowledges the tension…
Lenny Rachitsky answers a reader question on turning existing website traffic into customers, arguing that conversion work is one of the highest-return investments a growth team can make once acquisition channels are…
Teresa Torres introduces a multi-week series arguing that API teams need more product discovery, and aims to bridge API engineers and discovery practitioners. This installment explains the basics: what an API is, how…
Marty Cagan argues that product creation is a blend of art and science, though he has long leaned toward the scientific side because of his training. Reading Rick Rubin's book The Creative Act reshaped his view…
Julie Zhuo reflects on Muse, a consumer AI agent she believes could actually change people's everyday habits. The essay, which is paywalled, argues that a few specific design choices explain why personal AI might…