10 great product development content from 2023
2023 was another great year for product development writing, and this year we decided to resume our tradition of listing 10 notable pieces. There are plenty more great articles out there, making it hard to choose only 10. All the authors on this list have written numerous other articles, so please check them out. Also, we'd be happy to hear about your favorite articles and authors from 2023.
Anyway, here are our top 10 in no particular order:
Product Reality Fit, article by John Cutler
Product-Market Fit (PMF) is a well-known term in product development. John discusses what happens after PMF and defines Product Reality Fit as understanding why your product has been successful in the first place and ensuring that you stay on course while growing your business.
Brian Chesky’s New Playbook, podcast episode & summary article by Lenny
A significant topic for 2023 was the change in the product management function at Airbnb. Like it or not, it created a lot of discussions about the role of product managers and their usefulness. In this podcast, Lenny chats with the CEO of Airbnb about the changes.
Everyone is Hating on Product Managers. These YC Companies Didn't Hire One, article by Cristina Bunea
Following the changes at Airbnb, Cristina offers a hot take on product managers and wrote an article about some YC companies that don't hire any.
Alternatives to Product Managers, article by Marty Cagan
Another article following the changes in the product management function at Airbnb. Marty explains how the work of the product management function is still needed in businesses, and how not having any shifts the work onto other people in the organization.
Roadmap Transformation, article by Peter Hilton
Peter wrote this insightful article on how teams stuck in “project management” mode – confusing roadmaps with project plans – can transition to an outcome-based roadmap. It's a great read for teams needing to rethink how they approach roadmapping.
How Design Works at Supabase, article by Jonny Summers-Muir, Marijana Pavlinić, and Francesco Sansalvadore
At Kitemaker, we love “how we work” articles. Our friends at Supabase wrote this piece about how design functions there. It's a great read to get inspired by a real-world example of how design can work in a product team.
Measuring Developer Productivity? A Response to McKinsey, article by Gergely Orosz and Kent Beck
Measuring productivity is a significant topic in product development. There are toxic ways of doing it, some healthy ways, and there should always be discussions on the value of measurement. I'm a big proponent that value creation is more important than productivity, but that value creation cannot exist without productivity. Gergely and Kent wrote a response to a (possibly) toxic take from McKinsey. Worth a read for all Engineering Managers for sure.
10 Years Wiser: Lessons Learned from Scaling Wise, summary of a talk by Nilan Peiris at MindTheProduct
Nilan, the CPO of Wise, shares the journey of how Wise grew through word-of-mouth, that they still have autonomous/empowered teams at scale, and how you need to build something 10X better than the alternatives. The talk was given at MTP Con in London.
Secrets You Can Learn from Your Customers, Y-Combinator chat with Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel
Talking to users is at the core of product development, regardless of whether you are a startup, a growth company, or an established enterprise. Dalton and Michael discuss some of the secrets you can uncover by talking to them.
The Predictability Trap, article by John Cutler
This is core to many teams. You try to move faster and, in doing so, attempt to make product development more predictable through careful estimation. Since innovation is unpredictable, you end up with an organization moving slower, working more waterfall, and the product outcomes deteriorate. John wrote a great article about this productivity trap. Worth a read for everyone involved in product development.
Missed any articles that you loved? Tell us! 2023 was the year generative AI gained a foothold in tech, but unfortunately, we couldn't find any great articles on its impact in product development.
Also, as a shameless plug, we wrote our own take on the product management function that even reached #1 on HackerNews.
Hope you find the articles above useful, and wishing everyone an awesome 2024!