One year ago, an online movement on Reddit led GameStop stock to skyrocket. The moment awakened a widespread conversation about retail investment, meme stocks, and who actually has power over the markets. Now, everyday retail investors are demanding more transparency and education in investing—and they’ve embraced community to get there.  Urvin Finance Head of Design Sly Tanenbaum came from that community to his current role building The Terminal, a digital product that will connect investors and provide them with the in-demand resources they need to make smarter decisions. In this episode, Sly walks through the compelling link between digital communities and product, and how product leaders can be responsive to a new public desire for community-led products. Want to add your own take? Write a note or record a voice memo, and send it to erica.irish@innovatemap.com to join the conversation. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.  Takeaways:  Communities can lead to products “bigger than the sum of their parts.”  The challenge in creating community-led products comes in sifting through “signals” vs. “noise.”  Things To Listen For:  [1:30] Background on Urvin Finance and what the company hopes to achieve [2:30] Exploring the origins of the online investor community [5:30] Understanding how the community talks and APEs (“all people equal”) [12:00] Community is appealing because “conversations are free” [13:30] Comparing the Urvin Finance community to what Reddit is missing  [15:00] The cost to building a community outside of Reddit [15:30] Understanding the costs and benefits of building community-led products    [17:00] Identifying common pain points in the online finance community [17:30] What Urvin means by “distributed financial analysis”  [18:00] How community can create something “bigger than the sum of its parts” [21:00] How The Terminal is trying to bring data to one place  [25:00] The challenge: managing a community-led product design process [26:30] Understanding “signal vs. noise”  [28:00] “You have to push into the bubble without breaking the bubble” [29:00] “How much do you need to know about the industry you’re designing for to be good at design?” [31:00] Learn from the people who represent or have influence in the community you’re building for [36:00] How Urvin thinks about Andrew Chen’s “cold start problem” [36:30] Why education will be The Terminal’s product “wild card”

To show—or not to show—your software is a question we hear a lot working in digital product. It’s not only a big question with many answers, but one with high stakes that ultimately depends on many intersecting parts of your product process. As inspired by a LinkedIn post from Wynter’s Peep Laja, Christian & Meghan unpack the critical decision to show your product to potential users, and all the smaller choices you’ll have to make along the way around your messaging, brand, product usability, and selling potential.     Want to add your own take? Write a note or record a voice memo, and send it to erica.irish@innovatemap.com to join the conversation.  Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community. Takeaways:  You have a choice when deciding when & how to preview your product: Will you rely on good salespeople, or a good product?  Focus on conveying value, not trends, when showing off your product.  Don’t just describe the product; describe the problem it solves.  Your team should do four things before showing your product:  Make your messaging & brand tell a valuable story Make your product easy to use  Make your product easy to learn  Make your product easy to buy Things To Listen For:  [0:00] Introducing Peep Laja’s “show me the software” LinkedIn post  [2:00] A comparison to car commercials  [2:50] Why there needs to be a process to “showing the software”  [4:00] What’s different—and complicated—about previewing B2B SaaS products  [5:30] What to know about showing your product at different stages of growth  [6:00] Realtors, ghosts, and raccoons  [7:50] How most preview software is counter to product-led growth  [9:30] Messaging & brand should guide how you choose to preview a product [12:00] How to marketize your product previews  [13:00] Avoiding a bait and switch with the “uncanny valley”  [14:45] “What’s the line between marketing and catfishing?”  [15:45] Overview: The four steps to follow to preview your software well  [16:30] What to consider about messaging & brand in software previews  [17:40] But what about “design for design’s sake?”  [19:00] What to do when you need to explain a complicated product  [21:00] How to think about your product’s functionality before showing it off  [23:00] You have to be honest with your community about where your product is [23:30] Why absence can say a lot to your audience  [24:30] Why you must make your product easy to learn when sharing it  [27:30] Don’t forget to make your product easy to buy  

Social media has been called “the people’s platform.” But for all its benefits to the public, many challenges still exist. Misinformation is widespread, and for women & non-binary users, harassment is a common experience. Emma Bates, the co-founder & CEO of Diem, a “social universe” for women & non-binary people, shares the alternative answer her product is offering to those who want a better experience on social media. As she explores with Christian, much of the answers lie in how we foster empathy online and how we encourage people to “pass their power.”  This episode is part 2 of our two-episode exploration of social media products. Visit part 1 to hear Christian & Meghan’s thoughts on how social media products are evolving, and to hear what we mean when we say “anti-social media.”  Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.  Takeaways:  There’s a difference between building a “social network” and a “social universe” that values learning and intentional knowledge-sharing.  A person’s lived experience will influence how they build digital products—and it will impact how users interact with your product.  Because most social media is about “hiding our shadows,” users don’t tend to have a balanced experience.  Things To Listen For: [1:30] The story behind Diem and the motivation for building it [2:00] Why Diem isn’t trying to create a “new social network”  [3:00] Why women and non-binary people need a dedicated social space  [4:00] How Diem sees opportunity in building products that are more empathetic  [6:00] Why considering lived experience matters when building products  [8:00] If you don’t have the same experience, you have to be open to others’  [9:30] Does technology “not allow empathy”?  [10:30] Challenges on social media can be tied to what the platforms value  [12:00] What happens when most social media is about “hiding our shadows”  [13:30] How Diem is changing incentives to create a different social experience  [14:00] Why Diem is tying its “social universe” to a higher purpose: passing power  [18:00] What Diem means when it describes itself as a “social universe”  [20:00] Building community is not the same as building technology  [23:00] Why the product world needs alternative answers  [26:30] How Diem is different from social media as we know it  [29:00] Exploring the long-term vision for Diem as it continues to evolve  [32:00] How Diem is creating a brand that is “exclusively inclusive” [38:00] A reflection on how social media impacts children & teens  [43:00] How Diem is ultimately about gender & power

Changing a company or product name in a rebrand is a big decision. That’s because renames are usually seen as a way to cement a changed identity. But what if we told you that names are only as valuable as what we build around them? We’re exploring the concept through the recent Square-to-Block rename, and what to consider when putting a name to your own product.  Want to add your own take? Write a note or record a voice memo, and send it to erica.irish@innovatemap.com to join the conversation.  Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.  Takeaways:  Names are significant, but what you build around them matters more.  It’s the burden of brand & positioning to make a name mean something.  Big Tech names are trending towards generic words—but does that actually limit creativity for others?  Things To Listen For: [1:00] How Meghan & Christian got their own names  [2:30] A name change isn’t just about a word; it’s about an evolved identity [2:50] What really matters to a name is the strength of your brand & positioning  [3:00] Good names don’t have to make sense, but they should be memorable... [4:00] …and what you do with your name usually matters more than the meaning [5:20] Introducing the Square story through a book, The Innovation Stack  [6:20] Why Square chose the new name Block [9:30] An established name should influence how you think about brand & product  [10:20] Why there’s no “one way” to name your company  [11:00] It’s the burden of brand & positioning to make names mean something  [11:15] Revisiting the Mailchimp & Surveymonkey rebrand  [14:00] Names don’t always reflect the product—and that’s OK  [15:00] Names tend to evolve with how they’ll be used  [15:45] When it might be time for a company to consider a rename  [17:00] Understanding how names and renames can influence growth  [19:00] Are current trends in Big Tech names “land grabs”? 

Social media is one of the most popular and well-used kinds of digital products out there—but of course, it’s not without its problems. That’s why we’re talking about a new trend in the social media world, where digital product creators are building alternatives to the Facebooks and Twitters of the world. In these “anti-social media” products, creators are paving the way for a new future and building distinct communities through tech.  This episode is part 1 of our two-episode exploration of anti-social media. Listen to part 2 when it releases on Jan. 25.  Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community. 

We saw a LOT happen in product in 2021. After digital products responded to the immediate problems of 2020, this year, we saw them innovate on unexplored opportunities, build communities, and in some cases, just have fun. Today’s episode brings us Meghan & Christian’s observations from the year, and their predictions about how current trends could continue to show up in 2022.  Want to add your own take? Write a note or record a voice memo, and send it to erica.irish@innovatemap.com to join the conversation.  Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.

2021 was the year cookies died, and the year the public started paying more attention to how their data was being used online. These movements also introduced new considerations for product leaders who rely on data to make their digital products better and informed by users. Take it from Justin Bauer, senior vice president of product for Amplitude Analytics. Amplitude went public this fall after expanding as the leading data analytics tool for product managers at GoFundMe, Intuit, and others. Justin shares more about Amplitude’s growth path and how it’s helping product managers find “insight to action” opportunities. Listen to Justin’s first appearance on Better Product from 2019.  Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to see the latest in Better Product, a show part of the Better Product Community powered by Innovatemap. The community is the connection point for product leaders & practitioners to learn and share what it takes to design, build, market, and sell better products. Learn more at betterproduct.community.

You’ve probably heard of, or even used, the widely popular mindfulness app Headspace. And even if you haven’t used the product to meditate, it’s likely you’ve encountered the brand elsewhere—through its Netflix series, perhaps, or through partnerships with other health products. Frank Bach, lead product designer at Headspace, has been part of the company’s growth for the last five years. He reflects on how the Headspace brand made mindfulness mainstream, and looks to the horizon for how Headspace will provide users with more support & guidance around mental health.

What do you do when your voice isn’t recognized by the healthcare industry? From a lack of Black physicians to clinical trials not having enough Black participants, the odds are stacked against Black patients seeking care from a system that wasn’t built for them. Tiffany Whitlow co-founded the product NOWINCLUDED as a new answer to this systemic problem—one that hopes to build “generational health” for Black families everywhere. As Tiffany explores in this episode, NOWINCLUDED creates real change by serving as a digital community where individuals can share their healthcare stories with industry leaders looking to make more inclusive decisions.

When Elizabeth Burstein began enduring chronic migraines, she struggled to find access to quality care when she needed it most. Like the thousands of other people with serious neurological conditions, connecting with professionals who could help was a persistent challenge. So she and her partners founded Neura Health, an app that connects patients to neurological health specialists while also empowering them with the education they need to advocate for solutions.  In this episode of Better Product, Elizabeth shares Neura’s plan to scale in communities where neurological health solutions are needed most, helping to close a critical gap in access.