Slack Widgets, Alexa struggles and a new unicorn
Plus: Buttons worth stealing, Airtable's new cobuilder, Spotify growth continues
Hi product people đ,
Slack has unveiled a series of new widgets including a Catch Up widget which gives you a quick glance at how many unread messages and mentions you have without having to launch the app. There are still question marks over how many people actually use widgets, though, with one survey suggesting that iOS widget adoption rates are less than 50%. Something worth bearing in mind if youâre considering adding widgets to your product roadmap.
Meanwhile, a Canadian enterprise startup called Cohere has raised $500 million - becoming one of the few unicorns anointed this year. Unlike larger rivals, Cohere has not developed an AI chatbot for consumers. Instead, it has courted enterprise customers for its AI models. Thanks to its narrower focus, Cohere says its top-performing LLM is cheaper to build, train and run than those of its rivals. Â
Its use cases reflect this sharp focus on enterprise, too. For product teams, one feature thatâs worth exploring is what it calls âmulti-step tool useâ. It works by chaining together tools, API calls and AI models to tackle more complex, multi-step tasks. Cohere says this can include things like keeping your CRM updated by automatically analyzing sales call transcripts, powering customer support bots with codebase knowledge or extracting marketing insights from spreadsheets. You can read more about that use case here.
Despite the $500m in funding, Cohere also announced a round of lay-offs this week as it seeks to be âhighly competitive and at the forefront of the industryâ. And one product thatâs also struggling to stay competitive and at the forefront of its industry is Amazonâs Alexa.Â
Even with over 500 million connected Alexa devices, Amazon is losing billions on its device business. According to reports, Amazonâs product strategy of offering massively discounted hardware on the promise of âdownstream impactâ revenues hasnât paid off since most users donât use Alexa for revenue generating activities. A new version of Alexa - called Remarkable Alexa - is on the way, built on an entirely new tech stack.
Finally, if you ever find yourself inspired by a productâs button design and would like to steal it as inspiration for your own product, this tool should help.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Key reads, tools and resources for product teams
New from the Department of Product Substack this week:
DoP Deep - How are companies using QR codes?
The QR code payment market is estimated to be worth almost $10 billion and is projected to grow significantly over the next decade. But QR codes arenât just used for payments. In this deep dive, weâll explore how top tier tech companies including Netflix, Stripe, Shopify and others are using QR codes in their products. (Department of Product)
UX - A comprehensive guide to designing effective conversational AI interfaces
Learn how AI agents can overcome communication barriers, personalize the search experience, and adapt to evolving user intent. This in-depth guide takes you through the three crucial phases of conversational search. (Smashing Magazine)
Tech skills - How to design a database structure for a product like Google Calendar
If youâve ever wondered how databases are designed to power the products we use, this practical tutorial talks you through the steps involved and what the design of a database for Google Calendar might look like. (Alexey Makhotkin, Database design book)
Tools you can use
NotchNook - transform the notch on your Macbook into a dynamic island
Mobin - the worldâs largest mobile and web design library
Fastn - use AI agents to manage your API integrations
Podcast - How to innovate around an existing product or service
New product features, launches and announcements this week
Airtable has released a new feature which allows users to quickly create custom built apps. Cobuilder is the first step in Airtableâs new offensive before a potential IPO.
Telegram is planning to launch an app store. One of these apps is "Ton dating" - a Telegram-based dating app that rewards users with the TON cryptocurrency. It also has its own native currency called Stars which can be converted into TON. With most consumer products ditching "Web3" features, Telegram is doubling down on them. Will it spur a wider B2C renaissance of the adoption of Web3 features?
LinkedIn is introducing a series of new features like daily puzzles and games as part of a new strategy to broaden its appeal and increase its daily engagement rates.Â
Meta has joined Apple in opting out of the EU market for its next multimodal gen AI models due to regulatory uncertainty. With fines of up to 10% of global turnover, itâs easy to see why big tech is taking a cautious approach. European companies will be blocked from using the models in their own products and global companies who use them may be unable to offer them in Europe. Meta has confirmed the models will still be released in the UK.
Amazon is launching a new UI for its Prime Video product which will make it easier to distinguish between titles that are available as part of a Prime membership.
Just three days after it was announced, SaaS company Lattice has ditched its plans for new features that would give AI workers employee records and places on org charts following a backlash from its human employees and commentators. One commentator wrote that âtreating AI agents as employees disrespects the humanity of your real employeesâ. Ouch. Hats off to Lattice for experimenting with this but it seems weâre quickly learning what the boundaries of acceptability are for AI product features.
đ Product data and trends to stay informed
Spotify now has over 626 million monthly active users, up 14% year on year. 246 million of these are premium subscribers, an increase of 7 million from the previous quarter and revenues are up 20% YoY - higher than many other leading consumer products.
Ad-supported Netflix plans now account for over 45% of all new signups in markets where ads are available.
Meta is reportedly cutting back on its AR investment. Reality Labs has been asked to cut 20% off its budget according to a former Meta exec.Â
67% of participants in a recent study attributed some possibility of consciousness to ChatGPT.
Removing third party cookies from Chrome led to a 45% drop in the ability of advertisers to re-market and sell to the same customers. Google is now understood to be considering keeping support for third party cookies in Chrome as a result. You can read the full whitepaper report from Googleâs Ads teams showing the impact of removing third parties here.
The average American now spends more than 5 hours per day watching TV and video streaming. Consumer Trends Report mid-2024.
Other product news in brief
Alphabet is investing $5 billion in its self-driving car unit Waymo.
Stravaâs new CEO says the company is working on ways to broaden its appeal beyond its core male user base.
Netflix has hired a new exec to lead its gaming products.
The Weekly Briefing is a product-led perspective of whatâs happening in tech - and why it matters to product teams.
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The Department of Productâs weekly briefing is written by Rich Holmes. Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this weekâs briefing hit the like button â¤ď¸ below!
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On a personal phone we need less notifications and more:
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- out of hours silence đ
- reminders to drink water đĽ, stand up đ§, look far away đď¸
You know things to make people feel happier and healthier