Briefing: Jira gets smarter, AI regulation wars, Meta's brain reader
Plus: TikTok Shop domination, How to read API documentation, Twilio's MMS proof of concept
đNew dates for the next Live Web Technologies Program 2024 are now confirmed. If you or your company is thinking about training for the next year and would like to become more technical, you can find out more here.
Hi product people đ,
here. Welcome to the 250+ new readers who joined us this past week! Weâre fast approaching the festive period and so next weekâs 21st December newsletter will be the final briefing before a short one week break.This week, Jiraâs parent company Atlassian became the latest large enterprise to show off its AI prowess with the launch of Atlassian Intelligence. Built using a blend of its own proprietary models and OpenAI, the new offering works by constructing âteamwork graphsâ that show the different kinds of work being done by different teams - as well as the relationships between them.Â
In practice, this means that users can do things like create a feature testing plan on Jira in one click or get a translation of internal jargon on Confluence thatâs confusing for newcomers. Atlassian Intelligence also makes its SQL-like query language JQL easier to use by supporting natural language processing for the first time. In their demo materials Atlassian suggests you can get answers using prompts like âwhen is feature X launching?â. Even with the help of AI, the answers to those types of questions are likely to remain elusive.
Other products worth exploring this week include a survey tool from Qualli which differentiates itself by focusing predominantly on mobile. Plus, it comes with some useful templates for helping with measuring things like product-market fit or handling customer feedback.
And finally, if youâve still got some important deep work to get done before the break but youâre easily distracted, this handy coworking product might help. Â
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Essential reads for product teams
New from the Department of Product this week:
đ§ Knowledge Series: How to read API documentation confidently
In this Knowledge Series, weâll cover all of the essential bits that are important to know about API documentation so that the next time youâre tasked with finding out more about the capabilities of a third party API, or youâre thinking about productizing your own APIs, youâll have a better understanding of how API docs work.
Why itâs useful to learn how to read API documentation
The most important bits of API docs to know about
A closer look at some examples together
Differences between API docs and SDKs
(Department of Product)
Strategy - When and how to build second products
Why do we even care about second products? Donât some of the best companies in the world win with one dominant product? Well, increasingly thatâs not the case. Companies can rarely ride one product into the IPO sunset anymore. In this piece, Casey Winters explains the 6 new types of product expansion. (Substack)
Skills - How to give effective design feedback
From saying thank you to highlighting the process and time taken to craft a design, in this piece product designer Rachael Kadiri shares her thoughts on what makes an effective piece of design feedback. (UX Planet)
Insights - Slackâs CPO on how to take bigger, bolder betsÂ
You canât experiment your way out of every product problem, says Slackâs CPO Noah Desai Weiss. So much of decision-making comes down to what informs your choices â our outputs are only as strong as the inputs we are given. (First Round)
Tools you can use
Thinksky - Performance reviews made easy, a plugin to Slack to help you get them done quickly
NotebookLM: A new writing assistant and notebook app powered by Gemini
Userlist - build product-led automation workflowsÂ
Notes to ponder
Substackâs product manager
with a unique take on how to get things done in product teams:New product features, launches and announcements this week
Adobe has launched a new version of its design system. Spectrum 2 provides components and tools to help product teams work more efficiently. The companyâs design principles and philosophy might be helpful inspiration for your own team.
Google is rolling out a Docusign competitor which adds e-signature functionality in Docs. The latest update includes an audit trail report, the ability to sign via PDFs and access for non-Gmail users. Google does have a reputation for building excellent first versions of a product, only to move onto a new one before weâve had a chance to digest the first iteration. Will this become a legitimate alternative to Docusign or will it eventually end up in the Google product graveyard?
Meta is adding experimental new features to its glasses which allow them to see what you see. Like Google Glass before it, privacy concerns remain.
If thatâs not dystopian enough, though, the company also recently filed a brain reader patent entitled âcognitive load estimationâ which could help it understand a customerâs response to advertising. Amidst the fanfare of last weekâs Gemini launch, this week also saw Meta launch its answer to DALL-E with generative AI tool Imagine.
Twilio has unveiled a new proof of concept which analyses inbound media messages. As part of a partnership with AWS and OpenAI, the new concept could be applied to various use cases including initiating customer returns in ecommerce and handling customer complaints.
đ Product data and trends to stay informed
TikTok has officially become the first non-gaming app to rake in $10 billion in consumer spending. It is also eating into the market share of its competitors. In the past 6 months of this year alone, TikTok Shop has grown dramatically and now accounts for a significant share of wallet:
There were over 100 million social commerce buyers in 2023 and that number is set to grow. đChartpack on global trends to inform your strategy.
Snapchat+ subscriptions topped $20m for the first time, up 23% MoM. It now has 5 million+ paying subs at $3.99 a month, proving Snapâs younger audience are willing to pay more for access to exclusive features. These include: BFF pins (ability to pin friends to the top of the feed), my AI chatbot, generative AI selfies called Dreams, App icon customisation, early access to next gen features.
YouTube is the most popular social network in the UK, overtaking Facebook for the first time.
The average streamer has 8 streaming sessions per week and smart TV apps were opened over 7 billion times in 2023 - up 5% MoM. If youâre considering Smart TV OS as a platform for your productâs strategy, hereâs Samsungâs annual report in full.
Using AI to generate an image uses the same amount of energy as charging your phone.
Product laws and regulation updates
The EU reached a provisional agreement on its landmark AI regulation, the Artificial Intelligence Act. It says the act safeguards consumers and helps startups. The French government disagrees and warns that it hampers innovation.
Hereâs some of the key takeaways from the legislation:
Limits for the of use biometric identification systems by law enforcement
Bans social scoring and AI used to manipulate or exploit user vulnerabilities
Gives consumers the right to launch complaints and receive meaningful explanations
Imposes fines ranging from 35 million euro or 7% of global turnover to 7.5 million or 1.5% of turnover for breaches of the regulation.
C3 says its revenues have been dented by new AI governance.
Google has lost its antitrust case against Epic games. The ruling could have a significant impact on mobile product development teams and the mobile app ecosystem if commissions are no longer mandatory.Â
The end of the Hook Model-fuelled design could also be upon us. Digital addiction laws are currently in discussion at the EU parliament.Â
The DOP Weekly Briefing is a product-led perspective of whatâs happening in tech - and why it matters to product teams. If you want more than the Weekly Briefing, paid subscribers also get access to in-depth DOP Deep dives, The Knowledge Series and Chartpacks.
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