AI has made building easier.

The Product Model

But building the right thing is still hard.

Ten articles every week on what is happening across product, research, design and engineering. Curated by Rory Madden to help teams decide what to build.

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The archive

Ideas for your next step.

308 published editions

Cross-Functional #173: Timely Limits vs. Limitless Profits!

In Peter Thiel’s book Zero to One he argues that you should avoid competition because it erodes profits. Instead, it would help if you aimed to be a monopoly. While this approach may benefit companies, it may not always be in the best interests of customers.

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Cross-Functional #172: Continuous Personal Discovery

Ever notice how some people seem to be beginners even though they have years of experience? True learning doesn't come from experience alone; it emerges from reflecting on those experiences. You need to be intentional about it.

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Cross-Functional #171: Elevating Processes for 2024 - A Fresh Approach

Hello,As we step into 2024, I want to share a shift in focus that excites me both personally and professionally. This year, at UXDX, we’re diving deep into the world of process optimization. Why? Because I’ve observed that even the most skilled individuals can excel in one settin

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Cross-Functional #170: 2023 Tech Industry Review: AI Breakthroughs and Market Shifts

With all of the rhetoric in the industry about outcomes over outputs, how much of it is translated into practice? Scrum still talks about sprint commitments (outputs), SAFe has product increments, business cases are still used to define the scope and budget for what is to be buil

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Cross-Functional #169: Performance Review Time - Awesome!

Feedback can really help people identify where they should focus because we can all make improvements. But the annual performance reviews are often less about improving performance and more about a way to explain who gets a bonus and who doesn't.

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Cross-Functional #168: 2023 - A Time of Realignment in Tech

Lately, I've been mulling over the stark contrast we're seeing in our industry. On one side, there's the U.S. economy, booming. On the other, major tech players like Spotify, Twilio, and VMware are hitting the brakes hard with significant layoffs. It hits close to home for all of

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Cross-Functional #167: Technology Can Be Magic

X, (formally known as Twitter) has exploded with demos of people turning sketches into fully functional programs with complex behaviour and logic using tldraw and its ‘Make Real’ function.

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Cross-Functional #166: In the details or micro-management?

On leadership, strategy, metrics + a gift for you!

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Cross-Functional #165: That'll never work here

The status quo is working so changes have a high downside and limited upside for managers - a small bonus versus losing their job.

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Cross-Functional #164: What can't AI do?

I was blown away when I saw Javi Lopez's post about building a working game using just ChatGPT4 and Midjourney.

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Cross-Functional #163: Designs are meant to be thrown away

Linear has shared its design process and it bucks the trends of modern design approaches. (See link to article below)

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Cross-Functional #162: 4 or 5 product assumption types?

Assumptions underpin every solution we devise. However, articulating these assumptions on a blank canvas can be challenging. Marty Cagan and Teresa Torres advocate categorising assumptions into Desirability, Usability, Feasibility, and Viability to make it easier to identify thin

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Cross-Functional #161: Every Metric Can Be Gamed

One of the links this week is on the short-term gain but long-term pain of gaming metrics. One of the examples Ryan gives is about burying information to increase time on a page - but this will just create quiet resentment in customers.

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