It’s back! “What Did I Read This Week?” has returned with new gems of knowledge I’ve mined from the stimulus & information overload that is the internet. So, check out these links and maybe you’ll even bookmark these finds for your own to-read list.
I remember coming to the realization as a child that it was impossible to ever know everything. When you’re young enough that your parents still always have the answers, it seems an achievable goal to know everything. Then it hit me. I will die knowing a fraction, a tiny tiny infinitesimal percentage of the world’s knowledge. (I also remember the first time I fully realized we all die one day in preschool but that’s a more macabre story for another day...) The idea that I will die before reading all the books I want to read, traveling all the places I want to go (so on and so forth) haunts me to this day. There is absolutely nothing scarier to me than wasted potential.
So, I make lists.
I make lists of books I want to read, places I want to go, and films I want to see. I refer to these lists constantly in the hopes of shrinking them. It’s a one step forward two steps back situation however, and every time I finish a book I add four more. My newest curiosity extends to Product Management, UX design, entrepreneurship and all their cousins. So, this “What I Read This Week?” series is 1) designed to share gems of knowledge I’ve mined from the stimulus and information overload that is the internet; and 2) a way for me to check off some of the hundreds of articles I bookmark as “to-reads.”
So! Check out these links and my takeaways. Maybe you’ll even bookmark these finds for your own list.
1. Article: “E.l.f Cosmetics, Chipotle embrace buzzy digital channels for makeup collab” by Robert Williams
Focus: Marketing, Social Media & Business Development
So, what’s going on in the world of marketing right now?
Chipotle and E.l.f Cosmetics are collaborating on a makeup set and limited edition menu item known as the “Eyes. Chip. Face” bowl. I actually first learned about this collaboration through a random influencer on my Tik Tok FYP even though it’s not at all similar to the content I watch. Both companies are promoting the collab on various SM channels including Clubhouse. I recently joined Clubhouse and I am very excited to explore the platform. In fact, I got so excited following different groups/platforms when I initially joined that the platform temporarily suspended my activity in case I was a bot. Opps! I do feel the app should recognize the activity pattern of new users going on following sprees but I digress…
The rise of restaurant & cosmetic brand collaborations is a curious phenomenon. According to the article, they are much more commonplace in China. This Marketing Dive article also introduced me to NTWRK, a mobile-first video shopping which has seen a massive increase of sales with people staying at home due to the pandemic.
Although I won’t be digitally running out to buy the palette I am intrigued to see how Clubhouse and NTWRK affect digital marketing strategies going forward.
2. Article: “How to Present Design Work to a Billionaire and Not Look Like an Idiot,” by Mike Curtis
Focus: Design, Presentation Skills
How do you present design work to a billionaire and not look like an idiot?
Turns out the answer is intuitive: preparation and practice. This article is chock full of strategies to elevate your presentation game. Below are are a few of my favourites that I will carry with me:
- Avoid design jargon, big words are often used to dress up bullsh*t
- Stay focused on the big picture, avoid stakeholders derailing the conversation by talking in circles about the UI of a button
- Speak to the motivations of the stakeholders: Does you design aspire to onboard more customers? Increase revenue? Now’s the time to show data (if you have it) to back up your claims
- Always print your slide deck, bring a backup Bluetooth speaker, etc. A great presentation can be sabotaged by technical difficulties
- The author emphasizes that you should present your work in person whenever possible (vs. attached in an email)
Improving my presentation skills is a major career focus this year for me as I find myself giving more presentations than ever in my role as a Product Manager. This article gets bonus points for including one of my favourite quotes, see below:
If you think that good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.
— Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO Jaguar
3. Article: “Know When to Kill Your Brand,” by Denise Lee Yohn
Focus: Product Management, Business Strategy
How do you know when it’s time to say goodbye? Pro tip: If you’re offering cheap licensing or aggressive discounting, it may be time to shut the product line down.
In this article, Denise Lee Yohn looks at two deceased brands: Blockbuster & Radio Shack and analyzes their respective demises. Yohn argues Blockbuster was too slow to pull the plug: “its managers should have euthanized that brand long before it drained shareholder value and became the butt of jokes.” On the other hand, Yohn claims Radio Shack may have jumped the gun:
Radio Shack’s biggest misstep was its failure to stay true to its original purpose - equipping electronics DIY-ers and tinkerers. Today, fulfilling that purpose could look different, but it would still be important. The maker movement continues to expand, and demand for lower-cost electronic parts, products, and accessories remains strong.
— "Know When to Kill Your Brand" by Denise Lee Yohn
Still not sure if a brand has met its time? Yohn advises you should look at a brand’s purpose (not profit) when deciding if the time has come to say goodbye. Try asking yourself the following questions:
- Is the brand’s purpose relevant?
- Can the brand fulfill its purpose harnessing a competitive advantage?
- If you answered NO to the above, can the brand pivot to a new purpose using its existing assets?
Learn more about killing brands here! (Exclamation point seems a bit too joyous here…)
4. Article: “Grant Sanderson Channels His Passion for Math Into Marvelously Intuitive Explainer Videos” by Anthony Wing Kosner
Focus: Social Media, Product Sense
What does it mean to be a great math educator?
As a student I never hated math, but I never loved it either. I was generally apathetic with the exception of Trigonometry which I found incredibly fun for as yet unknown reasons. This article introduced me to Grant Sanderson, a Youtuber, who runs the channel 3Blue1Brown which is dedicated to explaining math using layman’s terms and graphics.
You have to be pretty engaging for your math videos to compete with the millions of prank videos on the platform. Sanderson argues that his videos don’t bother to answer the perennial question “when will I use this?” [e.g. when will I need to use the quadratic formula?], but rather appeal to emotions - a sense of mystery and wonder. Sanderson structures his videos as a story arc with the viewers as detectives trying to solve a problem.
I strongly recommend watching his Ted Talk. After watching, I immediately fell down the rabbit hole and learned all about the Fourier Transform. Will I ever use it? Probably not, but I’m sure glad I learned what it is. Needless to say, 3Blue1Brown has earned a new subscriber.
Lots of links! Link to the article! Link to the TED Talk! Link to the YouTube channel!
5. Article: “Designing for Crisis: 5 Learnings From Developing Trauma-Informed Products” by Annie Wu
Focus: UX Design, Customer Segmentation
This timely article immediately caught my attention as I was scrolling through the Airbnb Design Blog. I learned a little bit about designing for crisis in my architecture undergrad while learning about temporary shelters and refugee camps but I’d never thought about its application to digital design.
According to the article, Airbnb has launched a service for frontline workers to find places to safely self-isolate. Author Annie Wu describes the 5 principles of trauma-informed design that Airbnb considered while building the Frontline Stays Program:
- safety
- transparency
- choice
- mutuality
- equity
For example, users always have the option to decline/exit user flows. This is designed to avoid the burdening feeling of being pressured into an experience and thus exacerbating trauma for the users. Interestingly, Wu notes making feedback prompts optional has led to an increase in the quality of the resultant user feedback.
Whenever possible the userface has been simplified to reduce the mental load of a medical worker using the tool after a long, grueling shift. Airbnb has shifted the language for its support ambassadors from “I can...,” to “Let’s,” to promote a sense of partnership.
Let’s learn more about trauma-informed design
6. Article: “Behind Every Great Product” by Marty Cagan
Focus: Product Management, Product Sense, Product Lifecycle, Launch Strategy
Disclaimer: This article is from 2016 and the information may be less relevant today.
In this article, Silicon Valley-based product expert Marty Cagan brings to light the true stories behind several iconic products and their product managers. Cagan cites case stories from major powerhouses such as Netflix, Google‘s Adwords, Apple’s Itunes, etc. (also all the product managers mentioned are women so yay for representation!).
Key takeaways from the article on how to build a great product:
- It’s important that a product manager takes true ownership of a product instead of relaying decisions to the CEO or through stakeholder committees
- Cagan notes, ”There’s little as powerful as a marketing person that’s also strong at product. The combination is amazing.”
- Long but worthwhile quote, paraphrasing here would be akin to butchering:
Like a successful CEO, the successful product manager must be the very best versions of smart, creative and persistent. By smart, I mean using new technologies to reach new audiences or enable new business models. By creative, I mean thinking outside the normal product box of features to solve business problems. And persistent - as in pushing companies way beyond their comfort zone with compelling evidence, constant communication and building bridges across functions in the face of stubborn resistance. Being a great product manager means having extraordinary grit.
— Marty Cagan
For further reading, check out the article - “Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager” by Ben Horowitz - which Cagan cites as inspiration for writing his own.
7. Article: “Please Make Yourself Uncomfortable: What Product Managers Can Learn From Jazz Musicians” by Ken Norton
Focus: Product Management + jazz
In his Mind the Product conference talk (and respective article), Ken Norton makes the case that jazz music is an apt comparison to the field of product management. The ability to improvise is crucial in both fields. Three lessons that product managers can ‘steal’ from jazz:
- patterns
- empathy
- uncertainty
Norton notes that even improvised jazz starts somewhere, generally with loose patterns. For digital product sprints, it’s helpful to start with loose constraints, however, if you decide too much up front you risk trapping yourself in a box from the start.
Norton also speaks to the importance of active listening and empathy. As a product manager, this is an important skill to cultivate for conversations with users and among your product team. As for uncertainty, reprioritization and pivoting are nothing new to product managers. Don’t fight the uncomfortability of innovation Norton advises, if you’re uncomfortable you’re probably on the right track.
To learn more about how PMs can learn from jazz, check out Norton’s book “Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz.” This book is included on my long-term reading list which you can check out here.
Get comfortable and watch the talk, or read the article
8. Article: “What is Tik Tok? Why Is It So Popular?” by Daniel —
Focus: Social Media, Product Sense
I am one of the countless Gen Zers who adopted Tik Tok with the onset of the pandemic and stifling cabin fever at hone. I even have a friend who’s grown an impressive following on the platform, Jackie Todd, check out her content here!
What is Tik Tok?
Tik Tok is the latest social media platform to capture the zeitgeist of an age. I remember when its predecessor, Musical.ly, was promoted by Youtubers but it seemed stunted for the pre-teen demographic. Tik Tok offers something for everyone from Taylor Swift super-fans (#kaylor?) to people looking for career advice, from cat grooming tutorials to real estate tours of luxury condos.
Why is it so popular?
Tik Tok satisfies the customer demand for micro-entertainment. It offers something to watch while you wait for an uber or in the airport lounge before boarding a plane. Like many, I find Tik Tok highly addictive and frequently uninstall it for a tech detox before redownloading it during a particularly dry pandemic lockdown weekend (Netflix? Again?!). The key ingredient to Tik Tok’s astronomical success: it’s FYP (the “For You Page”) algorithm. It’s almost disconcertingly intimate how well Tik Tok knows what I want to watch.
Bonus readings I read this past week if you just can’t get enough from the above suggestions
- Article: “Why a Great Individual is Better Than a Good Team” by Jeff Stibel
- Article: “The 5 Superpowers of Outstanding Product Managers” by Ken Sandy
- Article: “10 Brands That Brilliantly Differentiated Themselves From the Competition” by Bethany Shepard
**Note: Article originally posted on March 23rd, 2021 on brandcereals.com, migrated to Mirror in Jan 2022