The Journal
Notes on product & story
Short, practical field notes on product thinking, design, and building in the AI age, with the occasional detour into worldbuilding. A new post every Monday.
A demo needs a next step
After a demo, “looks good” is a starting point. The next question is what the person can actually do with it. Ask them to complete a relevant task with…
Give the metric a job
# Day 17: Give the metric a job
A small release needs an outcome
# Day 16: A small release needs an outcome
Write down the tradeoff
A decision is easier to revisit when the tradeoff is written down. Try a short note: we chose this option because of this evidence, accepted this…
Define the Experience Around Your AI Feature
An AI feature can produce an impressive answer and still leave someone unsure what to do next. The output is one moment in a larger product experience.…
Feedback still needs interpretation
# Day 13: Feedback still needs interpretation
The empty screen is part of the product
An empty screen is often someone’s first real encounter with a product. “No items found” may describe the state without helping the person move…
Three checks for an AI feature
# Day 11: Three checks for an AI feature
Worldbuilding meets product thinking
Writing the Scion Saga and building products share a useful question: what does a person need to understand to enter this world? In fiction, a reader…
A roadmap should explain a choice
# Day 09: A roadmap should explain a choice
Doctorally: start with the journey
Doctorally is featured on my website as an AI doctoral chair. From a product management perspective, the interesting question is how a long, uncertain…
Before the Roadmap: Write a One-Page Product Problem Brief
A feature idea can arrive with a name, a sketch, and an enthusiastic explanation before anyone has described the problem clearly. That is a useful…
Tell me about the last time
# Day 06: Tell me about the last time
Give the prototype one job
A prototype becomes easier to evaluate when it has one clear job. Can someone find the next step? Can they explain the result? Can they recover from a…
Make the next click clear
# Day 04: Make the next click clear
Urgent needs a reason
When everything is urgent, the useful question is: what gets worse if we wait? Look at the number of people affected, the severity of the problem, and…
A request is a clue
# Day 02: A request is a clue
A product begins before the screen
Before the screen, there is a decision: whose problem deserves our attention? I work across product management, product design, and building software.…