Everyone wants to work on the next big thing but what's the difference between working on an existing product, a new product, or new technology? Goodreads Senior Product Manager, Jessica Johnson, talked about this and about how new technologies always move slower than you expect.

1. /Productschool @ProductSchool /ProductmanagementNY
Working with Emerging Technologies
Explained by GoodRead's Sr. PM

2. Emerging Technologies
Jess Johnson

3. What you should get out of today
An understanding of how working on a new technology is
different from working on a new or existing product.

5. My Career

6. Who are you?

7. 3 Lessons
1. New = Slow
2. No one knows what they’re doing
3. Fear of the unknown

9. New = Slow

10. Bleeding edge development is slower

11. Mainstream = Automating
As technology becomes more mainstream it becomes more automated.
Examples:
Builders (Apps, Websites)
A/B testing
Analytics

12. Technical barriers

13. Adoption in new markets is tricky
Pokemon Go had 20 million users in a week
Impossible in VR today

14. Technology adoption is slow

15. Cars

16. Mobile Phones

17. Smart Phones

18. What they show

19. What actually happens

20. What actually happens
Excitement!!1!
Disillusionment :(

21. VR/AR

23. Ok but what about creating...

24. Spend 2 minutes mocking a settings
menu for a mobile app

25. Spend 2 minutes mocking a settings
menu for VR

26. There is no standard with
new technology.

27. New Technology Lacks Familiar Affordances
Existing technologies have affordances
New technologies lack these

28. Sample Affordance

29. Forging New Paths
1. Go fast and do it wrong
Accept throwaway work as a requirement
2. Double down on getting it right
Requires time & funding

30. Doing it wrong

31. Doubling down on getting it right
Prior to this:
Keyboards
Things 10x the cost
IDEO’s 1980 mouse for Apple isn’t far off from what we
use today.

32. No one knows what
they’re doing

33. Technology comes before Product
Cool Technology > Cool Application > Useful Application

34. Product Experts Lag Technical Experts

35. The bright side..
There’s plenty of room for YOU to get involved early and
develop expertise.

36. Fear of the
unknown

37. People fear the unknown
(in predictable ways!)

38. Does this threaten privacy?

39. People fear AR glasses compromising privacy

40. ...and Camera Phones

41. ...and Cameras.
“Have you seen the Kodak fiend? Well,
he has seen you. He caught your
expression yesterday while you were in
recently talking at the Post Office. He
has taken you at a disadvantage and
transfixed your uncouth position and
passed it on to be laughed at by friend
and foe alike. His click is heard on every
hand.”
1890 Hawaiian Gazette
1890 Kodak Cameras suddenly become easy
to use

42. Does this decentralize knowledge or
control?

43. 1493 - The printing press was the newest and
greatest evil

44. Decentralizing knowledge and control
Craftsmen
Encyclopedias
Black Cabs in London
Industrialization
Wikipedia
Uber & Lyft
VS.

45. How do you deal with fear of the unknown?
Show users the benefit
Time, patience & ubiquity

46. 3 Lessons
1. New = Slow
2. No one knows what they’re doing
3. Fear of the unknown

47. Questions?

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