Manuals / Product Thinking / Ch 2

A · ValueBeginner30 min read

2. Outcomes vs output

Product Thinking · 36 pages source format

Output = shipped features. Outcome = changed user/business behavior. Teams drown in output metrics.

What you'll learn

  • Outcome examples
  • Proxy metrics
  • Feature factory smell

Rewrite the roadmap line

“Ship dark mode” → “Reduce night-session bounce by making reading comfortable.”

Do this now

Convert 5 feature requests into outcome hypotheses.

Clear?

Success metric

Leading vs lagging. Pick one metric you’d watch for 30 days after ship.

Do this now

For one outcome, name metric, baseline guess, and target direction.

Pro tip. If you can’t measure, define a qualitative signal and a review date.

Clear?

Checklist