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When the pandemic hit, and suddenly people were forced to work from home, there was chaos. As a freelancer who works remotely full time, I have many people asking me how you do it? How do you stay productive and not go crazy? I shared a few tips on coping based on my experience but did not have a good explanation of why there was chaos in the first place. Is it a personal thing? Are some people just not good at working remotely?  Distributed Work's Five Levels of Autonomy MATT MULLENWEG Reading Matt Mullenweg's Distributed Works Fivel Levels of Autonomy was an aha moment. Successfully distributed teams rely on one key concept: asynchrony. Companies that reach level four and operate in a genuinely asynchronous manner allow people to work in a mode and context optimized for their productivity and prioritize a culture of trust and autonomy. They experience increased employee retention and satisfaction and can leverage the global talent pool effectively.
Moving toward asynchronous operation requires a shift in focus from in-person or synchronous meetings to written communication and asynchronous feedback. This approach does not mean eliminating phone calls, but rather prioritizing asynchronous conversations over scheduled meetings. Decision making via written discussions may be a slower process, but the outcomes are intentional and more inclusive. Assume positive intent if there are questions about tone and bring conversations to a close by summarizing key results and decisions. KeyTools for an Asynchronous Environment
Check out the full discussion on the podcast Making Sense with Sam Harris #194 - The New Future Of Work (with Matt Mullenweg) or via YouTube.  The quote above popped up in my LinkedIn feed and comes from a Forbes article published in May 2020. It resonated with me as something Product Managers should keep in mind at all times, not only in a downturn economy. Many products lose their core value because they include too many nice-to-have features, and none of them are well executed. They go down the rabbit hole of adding "improvements" that "make it easier" for consumers to do XYZ and end up introducing so may failure cases that the primary benefit is lost. Think of the software you use every day. For each tool, what percentage of available features do you use? 100%? 80%? 60%? Less? Yes, there are power users, but for most users, the primary value comes from a minimal set of features. There may be hidden value in those unused features, but customers don't benefit because discoverability is too difficult amidst the noise. How much more would you like the tool if it only contained the most used features and executed them flawlessly? Focus on core features that provide the most value to the highest number of customers and nail the execution of those features. Even for established products, maintain the mindset of an MVP. For each new feature, evaluate if it furthers the core value of the product. Does it solve a real need, or is it a solution looking for a problem? Does the incremental benefit outweigh the disruption?
Skip the nice-to-haves, focus on the must-haves, and put your customer first.  A popular concept for driving growth and measuring product success is the North Star Metric. My knee jerk reaction to this concept was that it was another buzz term and a waste of time. There is no one size fits all metric that will tell you the value your customers receive from your product. As I researched the topic, I started to understand how a North Star Metric could be a useful tool.
The logic behind this concept is to create a metric to measure progress against a vision statement, and everyone will align their efforts to further a single goal. It's flashy, all the big kids are doing it, it's a vital part of a product-led growth strategy, but is it the right thing to do? Sean Ellis from Growth Hackers is quoted frequently in discussions regarding the North Star Metric. According to Ellis, "The North Star Metric is the single metric that best captures the core value that your product delivers to customers." Mixpanel summarized it succinctly as a metric that must "lead to revenue, reflect customer value, and measure progress." Everyone in the organization should optimize to advance this metric. If you're not sure what to do to add value, follow the North Star. Sounds good to me. What's the problem? Let's take a step back. In recent articles, I've talked about cognitive bias and how it impacts our perception of data. We use metrics to mitigate cognitive bias and objectively inform us of the outcome of our experiments. Unfortunately, these same cognitive biases can lead us to define wrong metrics. Pitfalls of focusing on a single metric are:
How can we compensate? Use your North Star as an anchor and then create metrics around it to provide additional context. These input metrics should fall into four dimensions:
Amplitude has a great illustration of how to tie product initiatives to dimensional KPIs that support the North Star. A North Star Metric can be a helpful tool. It makes a good story and is a quick way to determine if you're still on the right path. Make sure you're getting the whole story by creating a framework of sophisticated metrics to provide insight on multiple dimensions. Keep it simple and be prepared to adjust if your metrics are telling you the landscape has shifted. I have heard great things about the Design and Prototyping tool Figma so I decided to see if I could figure out how to use it in an afternoon. I picked an app from my Social Distancing App Ideas for Smart Watches post and went to town. Don't Stand So Close to Me - Aka Bubble Breach (now you know why I'm not allowed to name anything anymore) This app intends to create awareness of what a six-foot radius looks like when you're in the middle. The app will alert the user whenever someone has entered their personal bubble and provide visual cues for direction and number of interlopers. Basic features include:
It's not the slickest app, but the goal was to see if I could use Figma to create a basic UX flow and prototype without any prior design skills. It's a bit rough, but here is the final result Please forgive fit and finish issues as my primary focus was to learn a new tool. I haven't quite figured out the best way to organize my frames for easy consumption, but that's a project for another day. Overall, Figma was pretty to use. I was up and running after a couple of YouTube videos and spend most of my time struggling with assets. If you are looking for a free, easy to learn tool to pull together designs, prototypes, or even generate high-level code, take a look at Figma.
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