Notes on product thinking
The mental models I keep coming back to when building products people actually want.
Product thinking is less about features and more about problems.
The best products I’ve used all share one thing: they make a real problem feel effortlessly solved. Here are the mental models I keep coming back to.
Jobs to be done
People don’t buy products — they hire them to do a job. When I’m working on something new, I start with: what job is someone hiring this to do?
This shifts the conversation from “what should we build?” to “what outcome does the user need?”
The Kano model
Not all features are equal. Some are expected (table stakes), some are satisfiers (more is better), and some are delighters (unexpected value).
Most products waste time on satisfiers when they should be focused on table stakes first, then delighters.
Reduce friction first
Before adding a new feature, ask: is there friction in the existing flow that I can remove? Removing friction is almost always higher ROI than adding new capability.
Ship and learn
A product decision you can validate in a week is more valuable than a perfect decision made in a month. Bias toward shipping.