Reading Notes - Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

Summary

• This is now my go-to book when thinking about the "right" way to do product design. Tony Fadell generously shared the frameworks and thinking he used when designing the iPod & iPhone - mentioning the importance of the story of the product, the time it takes to reach profitability, how to really do marketing, and how to think about your career.

Notes

• Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
• The best way to learn is to surround yourself with people who know exactly how hard it is to make something great.
• Every product should have a story that explains why it needs to exist and how it solves your customer's problem.
• It takes time for the company and customers to learn about a new product.
• When Hiring, Tony uses a 3 crowns framework. crown 1 is the hiring manager, and Crowns 2 and 3 are the internal customers.
• In the interview, you should be interested in 3 basic things: who they are, what they've done, and why they did it.
• The problem is usually at the top, team leader can keep only so many projects in their head, they can focus on 3 - 5 projects, and after that their brains are fried. You will need to break your org into product-specific groups so products get the attention it deserves.
• The only way to make the product is to dig in, analyze customer's needs, and explore all possible options. no perfect designs, but choose the best of all options
• Beginner's mind - make it for the people who have never experienced digital music
• Marketing should be involved in the beginning of the product design, and be involved in prototyping #marketing
• The best marketing is just telling the truth, especially finding the best way to tell the true story.
• Product Marketing = Product Management - figure out what the product should do and then create the spec as well as the messaging, then they work with every part of the business (engineering, design, customer support, finance, sales, marketing, etc.) to get the product spec, built, and brought to market.
• Product manager or product marketing manager—Product marketing and product management are essentially the same thing—or at least they should be. A product manager’s responsibility is to figure out what the product should do and then create the spec (the description of how it will work) as well as the messaging (the facts you want customers to understand). Then they work with almost every part of the business (engineering, design, customer support, finance, sales, marketing, etc.) to get the product spec, built, and brought to market.
• Apple, Frog, David Kelley, and IDEO, elevated design in the software space in the 90s. Design schools were founded and stopped reporting to engineers.
• Product manager = voice of the product. Project manager = voice of the project. Customers need a voice on the team, and that's the job of Product Manager Engineering to build with the latest technology. Sales want to build something that makes money. PM focuses on the right product for the right customers
• Empathy is the true superpower of a product manager. You not only understand the customer, you become the customer.

A good product manager will do a little of everything and a great deal of all this

1. Spec out what the product should do and the roadmap for where it will go over time.
2. Determine and maintain the messaging matrix.
3. Work with engineering to get the product built according to spec.
4. Work with design to make it intuitive and attractive to the target customer.
5. Work with marketing to help them understand the technical nuances in order to develop effective creative to communicate the messaging.
6. Present the product to management and get feedback from the execs.
7. Work with sales and finance to make sure this product has a market and can eventually make money with customer support to write necessary instructions, help manage problems, and take in customer requests and complaints.
8. Work with PR to address public perceptions, write the mock press release, and often act as a spokesperson.