Best reads for PMs & Designers

One email every Tuesday: the best reads and one trend, picked for your work.

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Nobody asked for the sparkle button

TL;DR

From notes apps to banks, products add the same AI chat panel. The author says nobody asked for it.
It's on by default. Close it, and it's back after an update.
A better AI feature: Gmail's gray text that finishes your sentence. It waits until you type, so there's nothing to turn off.
Before you build one, ask who needs it. Launch it switched off, and count who turns it on and keeps it on.

Your move as a PM

For your roadmap: beside each AI item, write which user needs it and for which task. Drop items with no answer.

14 minJon Sabutis

TL;DR

Benchmarks are public tests that score AI tools. The author says a high score probably says little about most of your work.
The author's main reason: benchmarks get built where answers are cheap to check, like whether code compiles.
But no benchmark covers a PM's real week, like deciding what not to build.
The fix: before a rollout, pick fifty real cases from your work. Compare the tool's results with a person's.

Your move as a PM

For your next AI tool review: test the tool yourself on real cases from your work. Compare its answers with your team's.

5 minHitesh Sarda

TL;DR

Most of the best onboarding paywalls have three screens. Screen one only promises a free trial, with no prices.
Users' biggest fear, the author says, is forgetting to cancel.
So screen two promises a reminder before the trial ends. Paywalls with that screen convert much better.
Most put the buy button only on the last screen. Showing the yearly plan first there earns about 1.5x more than a choice of yearly or monthly.

Your move as a PM

For your onboarding paywall test: show half your users the yearly plan first. Compare revenue per view with your current screen.

8 minMichal Parizek

TL;DR

Speeding up a product can remove what customers pay extra for. Write that down, and check each change against it.
Starbucks' app let people order ahead and skip the line. Numbers for speed and app use went up.
But the author says people paid $6 a latte partly to spend time in the café.
No number showed if the café felt worth the price. Sales at existing stores fell six quarters in a row.

Your move as a PM

For your metrics review: list what customers pay extra for, and mark which parts no number on your dashboard tracks.

4 minTodd Gagne

TL;DR

Before a big AI job starts, show its likely cost, or a range.
People often learn the cost only when they hit a limit or get a bill.
Some AI tools count tokens, small pieces of text. But a token count can't tell you if your next job fits your paid plan.
The fix: before AI fills in 500 rows of a table, show a price range. Then people can pick a smaller job.

Your move as a PM

For your pricing page: replace token counts with a unit users can picture, like tasks, and show what each one costs.

13 minTaras Bakusevych

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