Each week I scour articles, wading through the dogs, and bringing you the best insights to help product managers and innovators be heroes.

5 fundamentals for product managers creating breakthrough products. There is something to be said about the design of appealing products. They connect in multiple ways. They just “feel” good to use. Read how to create such products at https://www.designnews.com/design-hardware-software/five-fundamentals-product-innovation/188387868856520

Essays on Product Management – a project by Ellen Chisa. Ellen has shared several essays on project management and she has more on the way. Check out her latest project at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ellenchisa/essays-on-product-management

How to regain a sense of urgency about your product. Start with the basic questions (1) Why are we building x? (2) Why are we testing y?  (3) What problem are we solving in doing this? Read about each at http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2017/03/need-sense-urgency-product/

Creating product concepts one bet at a time. We know, thanks largely to Lean Startup, that product concepts are formed and tested using hypotheses. However, shifting to “bets” may make asking questions and testing answers easier for many. Read about the shift at http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2017/03/get-team-experimenting-using-one-little-word/

6 ways Ford implemented customer-driven innovation. (1) Focus on the customer. (2) Observe how customers interact with the products. (3) Look at the problems. (4) Benchmarking. (5) Design reviews. (6) Cross-functional walk arounds. Read about these and the 9 steps for using customer-driven innovation at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/290246