Grace Wu

Design & Critical Migration research. Building Oral Histories archive of Colonial Borders w Nat’l Geo Soc @insidenatgeo.

[Grace Wu @gyatweets]

A new thing I’ve been working on 🙌🏽 Remembering Refuge w. support of @InsideNatGeo It’ll be a multi-media site & Oral histories archive centering narratives of Haitians, Salvadorans & Guatemalans who crossed the Canada-US border to seek refuge 1/3 https://t.co/hiCxH68jPs

[Meredith Whittaker @mer__edith]

Most lives could be much shorter, too, if we insisted on measuring their worth against brutal, joyless utilitarian metrics.

[Jim Stanford @JimboStanford]

What an outstanding rebuttal by ⁦@GrogsGamut⁩ for ⁦@GuardianAus⁩ of the tiresome and predictable complaints from employers about the minimum wage. CEOs should look in the mirror to find the culprit for inflation, not blame low-wage workers. https://t.co/9ENlDbirde

[JustAnotherPM | Sid @JustAnotherPM]

As a product manager, I was shocked to learn this.

I've always considered myself as aware and well informed -- but this is something that I did not know for a LOOOOOONG time.

80% of product features are RARELY or NEVER used.

Yes. 80% of what we build as PMs is NOT used.

A 2019 Pendo study found that 80% of features in software product are rarely or never used.

It is our job to create solutions that add value to the user's lives.

But, if users are not using the solutions we build, they are not getting value from it.

And hence as PMs, we've failed.

The question is why does it happen? And what can we do to avoid these mistakes?

Here is my take.

1️⃣ 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱:
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: focusing on building 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 features without validating actual value and impact on users.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: prioritize only high-impact features that solve critical user pains. Do 𝗡𝗢𝗧 build a solution that does not add value to the user. Even if it means the team has to sit idle.

2️⃣ 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 / 𝗻𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿:
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: implementing features either based on 𝘶𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 or 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: Invest time in 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 (via user research/interviews) and 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (via experiments, prototyping, etc.)

3️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗢𝗠𝗢
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: building solutions due to pressure from HIPPOs or FOMO of a competitor, without caring for the user.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: focus on 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 "𝘸𝘩𝘺". Do NOT build anything unless it 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴.

4️⃣ 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: poor prioritization leads to building features that neither solve user needs nor contribute to product's goals. These features increase tech debt and add to the cost of building and maintaining a feature.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: create foolproof prioritization methodologies. Focus on testing and validating first, scaling second. Take risks, but never compromise on impact. Regularly reassess and iterate on priorities.

5️⃣ 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: not providing adequate communication and education to users about value of the new features.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: market features effectively, helping users understand how it solves their problems.

6️⃣ 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗰𝘆 / 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲: continuing to invest in features that show little or no impact

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: invest time in setting the right success criterion, measure performance regularly, iterate or consider killing features that aren't meeting expectations

[Maurice Stierl @MauriceStierl]

The EU just sealed a huge deal with Egypt. It's pretty clear that €7.4 billion are not given out of benevolence. Migration deterrence & the 'Palestinian question' underwrote this deal. Now 160 people, denied a port in Europe, are brought to Egypt, where they are NOT SAFE.

[Tom Parkin @TomPark1n]

Ford says Shoppers Drug Mart will be “held accountable” for head office push on pharmacists to make — and bill OHIP for — unnecessary prescription checks

But how could SDM be draining $1.4M/wk from OHIP without notice?

Why is SDM paid twice what an MD gets for a check?

[Mike Crawley @MikeCrawleyCBC]

NEW: Premier Doug Ford responds to @CBCToronto reporting on Shoppers Drug Mart pressuring pharmacies to hit MedsCheck quotas
"If you're telling the pharmacist to do MedChecks which they don't have to do...then they're in deep trouble"
CBC story: https://t.co/m631wIWoxb
Video👇

[The Biking Lawyer (Dave Shellnutt) @TheBikingLawyer]

🧵Cops & Bikes: Spring is here! W more people out on bikes we’ll inevitably see increased police harassment of cyclists. Unbeknownst to this officer the HTA doesn't require cyclists to have or present ID. If you do you may get a harsher ticket. Just give your name/address 1/5

[Rettiwt.Ash. @rettiwt_Arsh]

@Diana_C_McNally Give the $18 million back then.They cannot take the extra funds and not do the job they are given to do.

[Diana Chan McNally @DianaCMcNally]

Nov. 2023: ON announces $18 million for police to combat auto theft. Jan. 2024: Feds announce $121 million to policing in ON, with a focus on combatting auto theft. Feb. 2024: Toronto Police fight to increase their budget by $20 million. Today: "Put your car keys by the door."

[Democracy Now! @democracynow]

Fighting continues to rage in Haiti between security forces and paramilitary forces calling for the resignation of unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre explains what she calls Haiti's "crisis of imperialism.”

[Jim Stanford @JimboStanford]

In what world do corporations fight for their workers? This cognitive dissonance is just more evidence that Poilievre’s workerist rhetoric has no grounding in reality. Neither he nor the corporations he is fake-criticising will *ever* put workers first. #canlab

[Justin Mashouf @Mashouf]

An incarcerated brother I am in correspondence with donated $17.74 for relief efforts in Gaza. This donation is the sum of 136 hours of his labor in the prison working as a porter/janitor. May his sincere donation be multiplied by the Creator. #Gaza #ceasefirenow

[Democracy Now! @democracynow]

Levi Pierpont was friends with Aaron Bushnell, the U.S. airman who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington on Sunday to protest the war on Gaza. He describes Bushnell as “just a really sweet person” who had a "strong sense of justice."

[Karen Attiah @KarenAttiah]

Enslaved people threw themselves overboard during the Middle Passage-- some of those suicides were direct acts of rebellion, to reduce slavers' profits.

Mass hunger strikes were used against apartheid.

The more brutal the oppression, the more extreme the resistance.

[Laura Baughman @lauraknew]

This is a must watch. Aggregate net profits for Canada's big grocers more than doubled since pandemic even though they are selling less groceries. @JimboStanford points out that is pretty astounding, considering we've 2.5 million more ppl since pandemic. https://t.co/8iUBSCTB9W

[Solo Monk @JJKALE2]

"King Charles shouldn't be blamed for things his ancestors did."

The Irish response when the King visited Ireland in 1911.

[W.E.B. Du Bois Movement School @AbolitionSchool]

“A society that drives its members to desperate solutions is a non-viable society, a society to be replaced.” — Frantz Fanon

Today more than ever. RIP Aaron Bushnell and all revolutionary martyrs.

[nina lee @NinaSerafina]

Our ancestors wildest dreams was freedom. Not you becoming a CEO of some corrupt company, not you becoming the first black person to do xyz etc. It was freedom.

[Democracy Now! @democracynow]

New evidence presented publicly this week by Malcolm X's family has bolstered the case that the NYPD, FBI and other agencies played a part in his assassination. https://t.co/Klm6ewqLom