To do the best design ...
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: August 8 2019
“To do the best design you have to live and breathe the product.”
~ from the book, Jony Ive, The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products
product
The first release of a product or service doesn’t have to be great
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: March 4 2019
If you ever think you have to be perfect with a product or service in its first release, I encourage you to watch the Match Game tv series on Amazon Video. The first episodes of Match Game 73 were horrible; Gene Rayburn wasn’t comfortable, the writing was extremely poor, and all the celebrities (except for Jack Klugman) seemed uncomfortable. Then flash forward to Match Game 75 (or 78) and you’ll see a much better show.
For another example, take a look at the original iPhone and compare it to what’s available now. It was revolutionary, but it was also a minimum viable product.
Deliver to the world what you would buy
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: April 11 2018
“Deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.”
~ Charlie Munger
Ship and iterate
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: February 13 2018
A note from this long article about Google’s Rick Osterloh:
Former CEO Eric Schmidt calls this system “Ship and Iterate,” and in his book How Google Works he makes a consistent case for not even trying to get things right the first time. “Create a product, ship it, see how it does, design and implement improvements, and push it back out,” Schmidt writes. “Ship and iterate. The companies that are the fastest at this process will win.”
My notes from the book “Jony Ive, The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products,” by Leander Kahney
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: February 17 2018
These are my notes from the book, Jony Ive, The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products, by Leander Kahney. They may not make sense if you haven’t read the book yourself, but they’re the notes from the book I want to remember.
Facebook: You Are The Product
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: September 5 2017
Here’s a long read about something most techies know: At Facebook, you are the product.
This is a page from my book, “A Survival Guide for New Consultants”
If you just don’t like selling
“When the soul becomes the warrior, all fear melts,
as the snowflake that falls upon your hand.”
How to design products you’ll love (inspired by Jonathan Ive)
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: March 5 2018
Introduction: Recently I was talking with some people recently about “design”, and as an effort to show how the design process works, I used the process of designing a coffee mug as a way of explaining the process. This article walks you through this process, though the actual designs are up to you.
Balancing development desire with product goals
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: July 17 2016
This oreilly.com article about balancing quality and product features (from the perspective of a CTO/CIO) is a good read. The editor’s note states, “This is part of a series exploring the trials and tribulations of first-time managers. Camille Fournier, former CTO at Rent the Runway, is often asked for advice on how to make the transition from an individual contributor to a manager.”
Lesson learned from Apple: Keep innovating, or die
By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: March 31 2018
One lesson learned from Apple recently is that if your products stagnate people will start to look around, and when they do that they may spend their money elsewhere.
As just one small example of this, iOS got boring for me, so I started looking around and bought an Android tablet instead of a new iPad. These days the Mac and macOS feel stagnant — or worse than that, moving in the wrong direction by removing features like Spaces — so I’m looking at desktop alternatives as well.
2018 Update: As a result of macOS moving in the wrong direction (IMHO), I now have have a laptop and desktop that run Linux Mint.