What’s new and next in the world of product?

Every so often, we ask our team to share their most inspiring, useful and interesting stories on a particular theme. This month, with the launch of our new report on product-led growth, we asked:

What product-related news, tools and resources have caught your attention lately?

How close is AI to replacing product managers? Prompt engineer Mike Taylor tested an AI tool against humans with a set of PM tasks, then used blind polls to evaluate the result. Who won? Find out on Lenny’s Newsletter. (Shared by Nicky)

Writing a product strategy is crucial. It aligns the team and keeps everyone focused. The best how-to guide I’ve come across is by Ed Biden on Hustle Badger: clear, actionable and easy to understand and use. It’s also well worth following Ed on Linkedin. (Shared by Jen)

The story of product discovery at Jira, including incubating a new product in such a huge organisation and how they avoid over-investing before they have the conviction they need. Read it on Product Growth. (Shared by Simon)

The truth about product-led growth is an honest, in-depth look about the rewards and realities of the product-driven model. There’s no one-size-fits-all and the interviews with product leaders at Mastercard and Rightmove are gold. Download the report.

Nokia has opened its design archive to the public and it’s brilliant. It contains 20 years of Nokia’s design history in a graphic, interactive portal with 700+ entries, including never-before-seen sketches, photos, videos and interviews. Nokia Design Archive. (Shared by Dean)

SVPG’s Product Masterclass complements the theory in Marty Cagan’s three influential books, including Transformed. I’ve done it and it was refreshing and validating to work with people who wanted to start with the question, “What problems are we going to solve and who are we going to solve the problem for?” or in other words, “How would you make your customers’ lives better?” A takeaway was the reminder that product teams should focus on outcomes rather than outputs. That helps build a successful culture. Details on Product Masterclass. (Shared by Alex)

AI will transform product development. In The End of Programming as We Know It, Tim O’Reilly shares his optimistic view: rather than replacing engineers, AI will reshape their jobs. As with past tech breakthroughs, it creates new possibilities and services, putting skilled developers who understand its “deep magic” in demand. (Shared by Simon)

What will gen AI mean for product teams? I agree with Marty Cagan, author of Transformed, when he says it’s better to lean in rather than away from what’s happening and try to take the technology in a better direction, even when it’s uncomfortable. Read A vision for product teams. (Shared by Mark)

Software that adapts itself. Andrew Chen says: “Right now we are in a paradigm where PMs specify behaviour that software engineers specify in code. Imagine if PMs can specify outcomes and the software is configured to automatically adapt to hit those outcomes.” This and other mind-blowing predictions in Vibe coding. (Shared by Dean)

Opinionated product managers make good products. I appreciated this article about why good product management isn’t biased but it is often opinionated and some of the toughest decisions aren’t based on data. (So sometimes it’s good to be an opinionated windbag!) (Shared by Sarah)

Designing for durability and repairability. Christopher Tidy, an advocate for sustainable engineering, has come up with a ‘Robust’ framework (Rugged, Open, Balanced, Useful, Satisfying, Transformative) for creating products that are durable, easy to repair and reduce environmental impact. (Shared by Mark)

Contributors: Nicky Ashwell, Simon Garrard, Alex Holley, Jen Jeng, Mark Webster, Dean Wilson, Sarah Frampton

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Magnetic is a design and innovation company that helps design better futures. We’ve worked with global businesses to build capabilities, products, services and transform organisations. To find out more, get in touch: hello@wearemagnetic.com.