Notes on Product Mental Models
Mental Models
Mental models are simple expressions of complex processes or relationships that help make better decisions.
Latticework of Mental Models
A collection of mental models from different domains that can be used to cross-check and improve one’s thinking.
Figuring Out Where to Invest
Allocate resources, prioritize efforts, and invest time and energy in product management. It includes models that help product managers evaluate opportunities, assess risks, and determine the most impactful areas to focus on. Some of the specific models in this category are: Opportunity Cost: Understanding that choosing one option means forgoing another, and evaluating trade-offs. Marginal Utility: Considering the additional benefit gained from each incremental unit of effort or investment. Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule): Recognizing that a small portion of inputs often leads to a large portion of outputs. Risk-Reward Trade-off: Balancing potential gains against potential losses when making decisions. Market Sizing: Estimating the size of the target market to assess its attractiveness.
Designing and Scoping
Working Backwards (Inversion): Start at a perfect solution and work backwards to today in order to figure out where to start. Confidence determines Speed vs. Quality: The confidence you have in the importance of the problem and the correctness of the solution should determine how much you’re willing to trade off speed and quality in a product build. Solve the Whole Customer Experience: Customer experiences don’t end at the interface. What happens before and after using the product are just as important to design for.
Shipping and Iterating
The third category of mental models in the web page is Building & Iterating. This category is useful for when you’re building, operating, and iterating an existing product. It contains six mental models:
- Diminishing Returns: The amount of customer value created over time will diminish for every unit of effort.
- Local Maxima: The point where incremental improvements creates no customer value at all, forcing you to make a step change in product capabilities¹[1].
- Version two is a lie: Don’t bank on a second version ever shipping²[2]. Make sure the first version is a complete product³[3].
- Freeroll: A situation where there is little to lose and lots of gain by shipping something fast⁴[4].
- Most value is created after version one: You will learn the most about the customer after you launch the product, don’t waste the opportunity to build on those learnings⁵[5].
- Key Failure Indicator (KFI): Pairing your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with metrics you don’t want to see go in a certain direction, to ensure you’re focused on healthy growth⁶[6].