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We track Product so you don't have to. Top Podcasts summarised, the latest AI tools, plus research and news in a 5 min digest.

Hey Product fans!

Welcome to this week’s 🌮 Product Tapas. If you’ve been forwarded this you can sign up and check previous editions here.

What’s on the menu this week? 🧑‍🍳

📰 Not Boring - Dive into this week’s whirlwind of tech and AI developments. Apple has greenlit retro game emulators globally, while Spotify’s new AI playlists hint at a promising start. TikTok’s gearing up to launch an Instagram-esque app, and the former Wirecard COO's spy allegations thicken the plot. Your future broadband might stream from satellites, and Instagram’s new safety feature blurs unsolicited nudes for minors. Whilst Google has been industrious with launches like Google Vids for enhanced video creation, Gemini Code Assist, and a plethora of AI-driven tools enhancing Workspace and more.

⌚ Time-Saving Tools & GPTs - Discover Brave Leo AI, a privacy-first AI assistant built into the Brave Browser, and Osum for swift, deep market research. Beam and Dokkio are also on our radar, simplifying decision-making and file management. Plus take a peek into a whole host of Product-specific AI innovations with a selection from Lenny’s latest newsletter.

🍔 Blog Bites - Learn from Pinterest’s paradoxical growth strategies that significantly boosted their user base by fostering exclusivity. Dive into a quick video offering three tips for engaging remote UX workshops and see how GitHub engineers harness Copilot to boost productivity.

🎙️ Pod Shots - This week features a workshop by Tim Herbig, discussing the essentials of crafting a product strategy and converting it into effective quarterly OKRs. From understanding the core values to identifying actionable OKRs, Tim covers practical approaches to guide you and your teams to strategic success.

Have a great week! 🚀👇

📰 Not boring

• Apple changes App Store rules to allow retro game emulators globally 🕹️ 

• Spotify rolls out AI playlists, the latest addition to its suite of AI features. Spotify insists that prompts can reference all sorts of things (colours, things to do etc.) as well as artists and music genres. 1st pass looks OK so expect it to only get better from here.

• TikTok Confirms New Instagram-Like App Is Coming Soon

• Ex-Wirecard COO accused of being Russian spy 👀 

• Your broadband could be coming from space soon

• Instagram will blur nudes in messages sent to minors

• Google launched/announced a bunch of things

  • Google Vids - AI tool for video creation workflows. This is particularly interesting as it’s targeted more at professional (business) users for creating more engaging stories and presentations. It lets you add AI-generated voices and other assets to create interactive videos and storyboards - interesting for sales and product demos perhaps…

  • Gemini Code assist - Enterprise AI code companion (think GutHub copilot enterprise)

  • Workspace gets a stack of AI additions e.g. voice prompts to kick off “help me write” in Gmail on the go, turn email drafts into a polished message, docs are getting tabs (i.e. tabs in a single doc which sounds useful )👀 . Subscribers get these 1st and Google is looking to monetise two new features- AI meetings/messaging note-taker (including translation) and AI security to help admins keep Workspace content secure

  • Imagen 2 (now less offensive) image generator for Gemini

  • Loads more e.g. Vertez AI agent builder, Gemini 1.5 pro, chrome Enterprise premium, Nvidia Blackwell addition to Google cloud, generative AI-powered security/telemetry, Gemini for databases… they have been busy bees

• Intercom introduces Fin AI Copilot (seems copilots are the hot new thing) to help turbo-charge agents with AI support

• UserTesting has released increased AI capabilities for conducting user research

• Finally amongst all the AI will take over the world news, Meta’s AI chief talks about how LLMs will never reach human-level intelligence

Want even more news?? View more here → 

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🤖 Time-Saving Tools & GPTs

• Brave Leo AI - Brave Browser’s native AI assistant. Ask questions, summarize pages, create new content, and more. Privately.

• Osum - “Perform deep market research on any product or business in seconds”

• Beam gives users tools to make better decisions and brainstorm

• Dokkio - “find, organise and understand all your online files”

• Great selection of AI tools contained within Lenny’s recent newsletter. It’s a subscriber only paid version, but you get about 10-15 links in the free section here

🍔 Blog Bites - Essential Reads for Product Teams

Strategy: Pinterest’s Growth Paradox

Find out how Pinterest used 3 counter-intuitive tactics of “invite only”, limiting virality, and bypassing network activation to supercharge their growth here.

Design: 3 tips for More Engaging Remote UX Workshops

Short 3 minute video on how to “break the virtual barrier in remote UX workshops by incorporating tangible objects, using different virtual spaces, and varying participant contribution methods.” If you want the TL;DR

• Incorporate tangible objects to provoke participation

• Send people to different “spaces”

• Vary your contribution menthods

Productivity: 4 ways GitHub engineers use GitHub Copilot

If your business is signed up to Copilot but not sure what to do with it, this GitHub blog can help give you some ideas of how to increase efficiency for engineers e.g. automating repetitive tasks, staying focused, and more

🎙️ Pod Shots

Today we cover a recent Tim Herbig workshop where he discussed the practicalities of developing a product strategy and translating it into quarterly OKRs.

⚒️ From Product Strategy to OKRs

🎥 Watch the full episode here 

📆 Published: April 12th 2024

🕒 Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes. Time saved: 48 minutes🔥 

🎯 Clarifying the Core Value of Product Strategy

Understanding the Fundamental Value

Product strategy should fundamentally guide the product team on what opportunities to decline, focusing efforts over a period of 6 to 18 months. This strategy is typically informed by user and market data along with company priorities.

Key Insights from the Field

The essence of a strong product strategy lies not in adhering to rigid frameworks but in crafting a strategy that acts as a genuine guide. As Tim explains, the goal is not to follow a set path but to adopt principles that allow for flexibility and strategic refusal.

Practical Tip: Tim recommended articulating a strategy that enables teams to say no to things over a specific time frame, based on user data and company priorities.

🛠️ The Building Blocks of a Robust Product Strategy

Integrated Choices and Winning Moves

A robust product strategy involves making integrated choices that align with the company's vision and goals, ensuring coherence across all levels of strategy—from company to product to features.

Atomic Strategy Components

Breaking down the strategy into 'atomic' components can simplify the process. Key components to consider are:

• Strategic Narrative: Why us? Why now?

• Playing Field: Who are we serving?

• Winning Moves: How will we reach and serve them effectively?

Practical Application

Utilising these components, product teams can define their unique strategy narratives, identify their target market, and determine the distinct actions that will enable them to outperform competitors.

📈 From Strategy to OKRs: Bridging the Gap

The Role of OKRs

OKRs serve as a bridge between high-level strategy and daily tactics, allowing teams to measure progress towards strategic goals through specific, actionable objectives.

Developing Effective OKRs

Effective OKRs are realistic, influenceable, detectable, linked, and linked to evidence-based metrics. They should be revisited and adapted regularly to reflect ongoing learnings and adjustments.

Practical Tip: Tim suggested a transition from lagging proxy metrics to leading indicators to drive progress towards strategic goals. He recommended reverse engineering the customer journey to identify measurable actions or behaviours that lead to changes in lagging indicators.

🎭 Case Study: Implementing Strategy at AutoCircuit

Scenario Overview

Using the fictional example of AutoCircuit, a luxury car marketplace, Tim illustrates how to apply these concepts in practice. The company focuses on expanding to the US market and differentiating through exceptional service.

Strategic Choices

For AutoCircuit, key strategic decisions involve choosing specific customer segments (e.g., luxury car owners in the US) and defining unique selling propositions that align with overall company goals.

Translating Strategy into OKRs

Tim also discussed potential leading indicators such as the number of registered US sellers, number of started intake processes, and number of cars vetted. These leading indicators would drive the lagging indicator of the number of ready-to-sell cars on the platform.

By identifying specific metrics that reflect the success of their strategic choices, such as the number of luxury cars listed from selected segments, AutoCircuit can set relevant OKRs. These OKRs help track progress and make necessary adjustments to align with their strategic vision.

Conclusion

Transforming product strategy into effective OKRs is not just about following a formula but about understanding and implementing a strategy that resonates with the company's goals and market dynamics. By focusing on strategic alignment, clear value propositions, and adaptable OKRs, PMs and leaders can ensure their teams are not only aligned but also primed for success.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the journey from strategy to OKRs is iterative and requires continuous refinement. Encourage open communication and regular feedback within your team to enhance the effectiveness of your strategic plans.

Want to know more quickly? Just ask the episode below👇️ 🤯 
or if you prefer, 🎥 Watch the full episode here 

📅 Timestamps:

• [00:01:04] Product strategy fundamental value.

• [00:05:14] What product strategy is.

• [00:07:31] Fundamental product strategy patterns.

• [00:10:10] Product strategy funnel concept.

• [00:15:59] Company and team context.

• [00:19:23] Unique product strategies for segments.

• [00:22:16] Differentiating with no touch vetting.

• [00:25:22] Product OKRs and strategy.

• [00:29:48] Strategy choice and metrics.

• [00:33:18] Specific metrics for strategy goals.

• [00:38:08] Potential leading indicators.

• [00:41:41] Understanding buyer emotions vintage cars.

• [00:44:11] Changing company culture mindset.

• [00:49:03] OKRs in traditional companies.

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Alastair & the Product Tapas Team 🍽️.