Product ideas
A curated collection of product thinking frameworks and observations. This is a living document - I add to it whenever I encounter a useful mental model.
The 21 Ideas
1. Five Whys
Iteratively ask "why" five times to identify root causes. Sounds simple, but most people stop at one or two whys.
2. Rule of 1/100
One complaint represents ~100 silent customers who switch competitors without feedback. When someone complains, 99 others already left.
3. McDonald's Theory
Suggest an obvious bad option to catalyze creative discussion and better alternatives. "Let's get McDonald's for the team lunch" will immediately generate better suggestions.
4. Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology
Combine mature, affordable tech in radical new ways. The iPod Shuffle and Game Boy succeeded by using "outdated" technology creatively rather than chasing cutting edge.
5. Teen UX Preferences
Teenagers favor unconventional interfaces and platforms without adult presence. If parents are on Facebook, teens go to Snapchat. Design accordingly.
6. The Feedback Paradox
"Listen to what customers tell you, but never do what they say." Use feedback for iteration, not innovation. Customers tell you their problems, not the solutions.
7. Old vs. New Features
Removing established features causes more pain than delayed new feature releases. Handle deprecation carefully.
8. Four Core Purchases
People fundamentally buy time, money, love/sex, or approval/peace of mind. Every successful product delivers one or more of these.
9. Signaling Theory
Over 90% of behavior involves status signaling through consumption choices. People don't buy luxury cars for transportation.
10. Payment Investment Effect
Users value and retain paid products more than free alternatives. They've invested money, so they invest attention.
11. Amit Kumar's Problem
Design systems handling common names across diverse markets. Facebook's India experience: thousands of users named Amit Kumar. Your database better handle that.
12. Product Blindness
Regular users miss obvious issues. Take periodic breaks and analyze competitors to restore perspective.
13. Anti-Product Thinking
Imagine opposite products to spark innovation. Anti-Facebook would forget people you've met. Anti-Spotify would play music you hate. Sometimes this reveals interesting opportunities.
14. Rock, Sand, Water Framework
Fill large time blocks (rocks) with medium activities (sand) and background tasks (water). Opposite order leaves no room for rocks.
15. Hierarchical Speaking Order
Junior voices first prevent biased thinking from leadership. If the CEO speaks first, everyone else anchors to that opinion.
16. State Change Philosophy
Product development moves audiences through awareness → consideration → usage stages. Different strategies for each stage.
17. 90/9/1 Rule
1% create, 9% engage, 90% consume content. Design for all three groups, but optimize for the 90%.
18. 10x Thinking
Pursue seemingly impossible solutions to expand creative capacity. 10% improvement gets incremental thinking. 10x improvement forces first-principles thinking.
19. Hedonic Adaptation
Happiness from achievements/purchases reverts to baseline. Timeline varies by magnitude. Plan accordingly.
20. Diderot Effect
New acquisitions trigger cascading desires for complementary upgrades. Buy a nice couch, suddenly your old coffee table looks terrible.
21. Startup Competition Reality
Early startups compete against apathy, not each other. The real competitor isn't the other app doing something similar - it's the user doing nothing.
Last updated: July 27, 2022
These aren't just theoretical frameworks. Each one has saved me from a stupid decision or helped me make a better product. Use liberally.