Great product leaders preserve the time to explore lots of possibilities. They pick a couple of them, get feedback on them, refine them further, and then present them to the team ("These are 2-3 things I think we should do").This process is a function of time: Assuming you have the skills, how much time do you have to explore new possibilities for your product?

Preserve the time to explore lots of possibilities

Everyone's time is already allocated. They don't have time for your app.

In the first 30s of using a new product you are lazy, vain and selfish. You want to feel successful very quickly. You don't want to watch tutorials, read anything, or endure any learning curve whatsover.If you manage to get people through the first 30s, then you get the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with them and show them your mission and the full potential of your app.

Nail the first 30s of the onboarding process

As your product evolves and gains more traction, you should adapt your onboarding process because you'll attract new kinds of customers. For example:<ul><li>Early users are more willing and forgiving</li><li>Whereas later stage users are more skeptical, less forgiving, and less willing to deal with your friction</li></ul>Photoshop used to cost hundreds of $, but now it's accessible to anyone with creative desires for as little as $10/month. These new users lack the skills or the tolerance to develop them, so Photoshop had to redesign the onboarding experience to acommodate them.

Adapt the onboarding process for new types of users

You need to understand how your app fits into the daily life of your customer — how they are using it amidst everything else that's happening in their lives e.g. watching Netflix; taking care of their kids; commuting; during breaks from work; etc.

Understand the context in which people use your app

Scott shared some insights on building B2C apps

Brought to you by ⁠Braintrust⁠—For when you needed talent, yesterday | ⁠Eppo⁠—Run reliable, impactful experiments | ⁠Rows⁠—The spreadsheet where data comes to life — Scott Belsky is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and currently Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Design and Emerging Products. He founded Behance, an online platform for creative professionals to showcase and discover work, and served as CEO until its acquisition by Adobe. Scott is an early advisor and investor in several businesses at the intersection of technology and design, including Pinterest, Uber, Warby Parker, Airtable, and Flexport. He is also the author of two nationally bestselling books and founded 99U, a publication and conference focused on productivity in the creative world. In today’s episode, we discuss:   How to strengthen your product sense   Why you should only do half the things you want    What it takes to build a successful consumer product    Why you are probably underinvesting in onboarding    The future of AI and how to prepare for it    Advice for founders and PMs who are feeling stuck    Why resourcefulness will take you further than resources    Adobe’s current priorities and their exciting path ahead    Find the transcript and references at: ⁠https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-on-building-product-sense-navigating-ai-optimizing-the-first-mile-and-making-it-through-the-messy-middle-scott-belsky-adobe-behance/#transcript  Where to find Scott Belsky: • Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/scottbelsky⁠ • LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbelsky/⁠ • Blog: ⁠https://www.implications.com/⁠ • Website: ⁠www.scottbelsky.com/⁠  Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: ⁠https://www.lennysnewsletter.com⁠ • Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/lennysan⁠ • LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/⁠  In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Scott’s background (04:50) Why Scott shifted roles at Adobe (08:29) Advice for PMs looking to build product sense (10:43) The first mile (13:18) How to develop more empathy (16:33) How to build consumer products that work (20:42) Scott’s philosophy that you should “only do half the things you want to do” (26:15) Scott’s optimism about how the world will look in five years with AI (29:44) How AI will impact product teams (32:55) How the PM role will change as a result of AI (35:09) How Adobe is leveraging AI tools (36:59) What the term “golden gut” means (38:15) Advice for PMs to stay ahead of the new AI trends (41:02) How to start writing more (41:49) The messy middle (47:03) What Scott looks for as an angel investor  (50:16) Why resourcefulness will take you further than resources  (52:41) Adobe’s current priorities and the path ahead (54:58) Lightning round   Production and marketing by ⁠https://penname.co/⁠. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email ⁠podcast@lennyrachitsky.com⁠.  Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

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Preserve the time to explore lots of possibilities

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