If I learned anything from ProductCon SF earlier this year, it’s that we all have a bias towards framing, so if I tell you that this summary of last week’s ProductCon NYC, put on by Product School, was amazing, you’re more likely to believe it. So…

Here’s a WORLD CLASS summary of the talks that were given by the experts at this year’s ProductCon NYC, along with timestamps and links to videos. Enjoy!

For those of you who read my summary of ProductCon SF, this one is a little different in that I’ve ordered them with my favorite talks first.

Building Products with AI

Chris Butler (follow him!) — Director of AI @ Philosophie Group. Video 1 (58:10)

“a machine algorithm helps us exist towards our purpose, and nothing else” — Chris Butler

My favorite talk of the night, Chris expertly highlights the complexities of AI that we don’t think about as often, the relationship that it has with humans.

For all of you out there that have wondered why it’s difficult to implement AI, Chris makes it very clear that it’s not implementation that holds most product teams back. The key to success in AI implementation is in understanding the reasons that users trust and interact with AI.

Purpose-Driven Product Development

Jesse E. Owens II — Director of Product @ MasterCard. Video 1 (11:06)

Jesse’s personal mission statement is

“To empower communities around the world to live in a progressive and frictionless society through technology”

Though there were some issues with the audio in his intro, Jesse’s talk centers on the idea of finding a place where you can build product that’s meaningful, both to yourself and to the world.

As Jesse’s mission statement might suggest, there’s a lot to be said about figuring out a place where you can find an “insatiable desire to delight users”. Jesse tells us that, in order to do that, a great product manager must understand how people think and feel, and they have to deliberately seek out opportunities to grow into larger, more impactful opportunities.

Hooked

Nir Eyal, Author of Hooked. Video 4

We join this talk in progress to hear Nir Eyal talking fairly fast about the concepts from his best-selling book Hooked. Nir can help you understand your user and their motivations, and can help you design a user experience that will help you create an experience that users love. He talks about the brain chemistry that causes us to crave things like kissing and chocolate and facebook apps, and gives a couple of strategies for stimulating craving in users.

“It’s not the best product that wins. It’s the product that can capture the monopoly of the mind that will capture the market”

The talk is centered around a lot of really compelling historical research and science, and really activated my inner nerd’s desire to hack the brains of the people around me to make them love the things that I’m going to build.

Building Minimum Viable Products

Jori Bell, Product Owner @ Spotify. Video 3 (0:49)

You’ve probably heard the word “MVP” before, it’s a popular buzzword, but this talk seeks to disperse some of the fog that hangs over this concept. MVP’s are subjective, and it’s not always clear where to start, or what principles your team is going to use to guide your product along these roadmaps to its ultimate destiny.

Jori delivers her message through an amazing example of how to progress along these signposts of product success, and how her and her team’s work on serving artists, labels, and managers have helped guide them to Spotify for Artists. It’s a clear example of how understanding users and building one thing at a time can save your team time, money, and brainpower.

The Past, Present, and Future of Personalization

Chris Maliwat, Chief Product Owner at Artnet. Video 3 (1:01:14)

Warning: there is no audio for the first half minute or so of this talk, but is still worth seeing post-technical issues

Imagine you were visiting a city for the first time, and you walked into a bar that you’ve never been to before. You walk in, and the bartender already knows your favorite drink and can make recommendations, your favorite song starts to play, and a mobile app on your phone can make suggestions on which people at the bar you might want to talk to, based on common interests.

This is the sort of future that Chris Maliwat envisions, where products and companies have more personal relationships with their users. Products do this by intelligently gathering input intelligently and responsibly, making decisions on how what information you’re going to structure your algorithmic personalization systems, balancing selection vs recommendation, and ultimately understanding what it means to create an experience that steeps a user’s values and interests in the experience a company is curating.

Importance of Communication

Karl Sluis, Founder at CityAtlas. Video 1 (2:26:35)

In this talk, Karl sets out to share some “brass tacks” tips and tricks for improved communication. Having a limited view of the world, it’s difficult for teams and organizations to maintain a consistent vision for their world, and it’s vitally important to have communication frameworks and practices in place in order to achieve shared understanding.

Perhaps the best point that he sets out in this talk is to kill TLA’s (Three Letter Acronyms), pronouns, and jargon — they are exclusive, especially in the context of cross-functional communication.

Growing as a PM

Kevin Gu, Sr PM @ Etsy. Video 3 (23:15)

Navigating the path to the more senior ranks of product management can be a daunting task. Kevin helps to provide a road atlas for the mile markers on the path to product leadership.

From Associate PM’s focusing on executions, to Staff PM’s navigating the cross-functional relationships necessary to enable complex and impactful product strategies. He closes out with some solid recommendations and insights on how to progress your PM career.

Thanks for reading! My name is Jack Moore, and I love writing about making great product that changes peoples’ lives for the better.

If you liked this, then I’m thinking you’ll like these too!

Main photo credit — Stig Ottesen on Unsplash