Jared Franklin

Dieter Rams on Good Design…

Some excerpts from Dieter Rams on Good Design As a Key Business Advantage:

“The introduction of good design is needed for a company to be successful.”

“I am convinced that a well-thought-out design is decisive to the quality of a product. A poorly designed product is not only uglier than a well-designed one but it is of less value and use. Worst of all it might be intrusive.”

“Product design is the total configuration of a product: its form, color, material, and construction. The product must serve its intended purpose efficiently.”

“Functionality must be at the center of good design… A product must be functional in itself but it also must function as part of a wider system.”

“You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people.”

Good Product Manager, Bad Product Manager

Once again, thank you Quora!!!  Someone answered the question, “What are the qualities of a good product manager?” with a link to download what could be called the holy manuscript of product management.  It was written by Ben Horowitz, of the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and David Weiden, a partner at Khosla Ventures. 

It seems to be a bit outdated (potentially written a decade ago) but most of what’s preached holds true today.  What’s most out of date is the stress on importance of PRDs due to newer methodologies such as agile that some companies want some of us to practice.

The beginning of the document is pasted below. The full doc can be downloaded here. 

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Note: this document focuses specifically on product management in the context of a “divlet” [small division] in AOL.  Related key assumptions are that there is a corresponding “business owner” in each of the brands, and that the “products” are generally online services intended for individuals.

A Good Product Manager plays critical role in a successful product.  A successful product is the highest impact contribution that anyone can make in the PD organization.  In fact, the number one criteria for selecting a Vice President is the candidate’s track record (or lack thereof) of successful products that become profitable businesses for their company.

Being a good product manager is so hard that most product managers at most companies fail to be good — and instead are bad.  Because product management is a highly leveraged position, a bad product manager leads to many other bad consequences, generally including the wrong product being built, which generally has a significant impact on revenue, morale, and reputation — of both the product manager and their company.

There are a number of straightforward principles that product managers can follow which will dramatically increase their chance of success.  Surprisingly, only very few product managers follow these principles.  Part of the problem is that these principles often are not articulated clearly, which this document attempts to address.

A final note is that product management is a demanding and high profile job.  Individuals should make sure they’re up to the challenge.

Summary points:  

• CEO of the product
• Balance all important factors
• Clear, written communication with product development
• Clear goals and advantages
• Focus on the sales force and customers
• Other key skills
• Really good product manager 

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Once again, the full doc can be downloaded here. Enjoy!

Opportunity - Real Estate

I’m knee deep in the home buying process which has been rather stressful for me (and I rarely get stressed).  I think it has been rough because I’ve never been through this process before, and the decisions made will impact me for the rest of my life in a way that no other decision to date has.  Choosing a school and eventually a job were big decisions but hardly stressful.  The home buying process has been far different. 

There are many real estate sites (Trulia.com, Redfin.com and Zillow.com) which have been very helpful.  They provide solid base information on properties but they don’t have communities comprised of valuable members.  They don’t afford me with the ability to ask a question and recieve a trustworthy response in return.  Trulia has built a community aimed at providing Q&A and Advice, but the people on it don’t seem trustworthy since every answer is accompanied with a phone number to a real estate agent begging for you to call them. I think there is serious opportunity in this space to provide a valuable platform for users willing and ready to shell out major bucks.

This has led me to appreciate Quora.com more.  Quora is a Q&A site from a few ex-Facebook employees which as of now, focuses on technology (all aspects including law.  Several legal questions/answers have been helpful for me while writing the T&Cs and Privacy Policy for ShitThatSheSaid.com). 

I was skeptical after I first tried it out, thinking it was just another Q&A site.  However, the site has grown on me with time.  That’s because it has taken some time for people to learn how to utilize it best, and for it to provide value to visitors, it needs to have a valuable user-base (smart, educated and experienced professionals) willing to share their knowledge.  That’s exactly what Quora has now and while its number of users has grown, so has the number of topics, questions and answers.  Quora is a fantastic, valuable tool but I don’t think it’s because of the functionality they provide; it’s because of its members. 

I don’t know how Quora gained such valuable users but I hope to know soon by asking that same question on the site (click here).  If Trulia had a comparably valuable user base, I’d be far less stressed about the home buying process.

Productivity Costs

I went to Wal-Mart, Target and Office Depot after work today.  I ended up with a quarter less tank of gas and a $10 pair of slip on shoes that I didn’t need.  I wasn’t in the mood to shop and I dislike driving.  I was in search of the perfect portfolio/padfolio/notepad and I’m left believing that I’m better off without one. 

I am in the middle of reading MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN by Scott Belsky.  I knew two things when I pre-ordered the book…

1. “This book chronicles the methods of exceptionally productive creative leaders and teams”
2. Scott is the CEO & Founder of Behance  

What I didn’t do was research all of the products that Behance has, thus predicting that the book was going to be one long advertisement for their $100/yr web app called Action Method. 

The methodology can be broken down very easily.  You capture a log of Action Steps, References and Backburner items.  In doing so, you increase efficiency by spending most of your time focusing on actionable tasks, instead of spending it planning potential projects which may never see the light of day.  That’s all there is to it. 

I’ve contemplated buying the app.  They allow you to create an account for free with 50 Action items.  I did this and downloaded the iPhone app as well.  Verdict - I spent entirely too much time trying to add, manage and check off my Action Items.  This process was the opposite of productivity.  Thank you Behance for allowing me to test drive your app and methodology, as I probably would have bought it if I wasn’t able to try it out for free.

“Productivity” tools can get expensive…

• $100/yr for the apps for Action Method or even more for Things on a Mac + iPhone + iPad
• The $11.69 + Shipping for MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN and the lost time spent reading that this is the best way to push ideas forward
• A quarter tank of gas and an unnecessary $10 pair of slip-ons in search of a “Perfect” writing pad
• The toll that this developed obsessive compulsiveness would weigh on myself and those around me
• The impact of not completing the single most important task that you couldn’t list when your iPhone battery was dead
• The time wasted maintaining the logs

My point - Modern “productivity” tools are too expensive for my taste.  I’m sticking with the “Just Fucking Do It” method.