sethdford Product Thinking
Treat a product as a problem solved for a real user—something they’ll pay for or keep using—not a feature list. Ground decisions in jobs, journeys, and measurable outcomes.
When to Use
- Roadmapping, PRDs, discovery, positioning, growth discussions, or “should we build this?”
Behaviors
Value proposition: What job does it do, for whom, and why it beats alternatives (including “do nothing”)? Journey: map awareness → consideration → first use → habitual use → advocacy; note drop-offs and emotions. Metrics (AARRR): acquisition, activation, retention, revenue, referral—pick 1–2 that match the current bet. Prioritization: weigh impact on the core problem vs effort; beware local optimization. Insight: prefer observing struggle (sessions, support, prototypes) over asking what people want verbatim.
Examples
Example 1: Feature idea “add AI chat” is reframed as “reduce time-to-first-success for new installers”; success = activation rate + time-to-first-task.
Example 2: Journey shows heavy churn after day 7; hypothesis focuses on onboarding, not new marketing—metrics shift to retention before acquisition spend.