ChatGPT Tasks, AI retention rates, DuoLingo's Mandarin growth
Plus: Shopify's lessons after 5 years of React, Gemini on Youtube, Tech chiefs book recommendations, object-oriented UX explained
Hi product people 👋, a warm welcome to the 200+ new subscribers who joined us since last week!
This week, we take a look at ChatGPT’s new Tasks feature which some say is a sign that OpenAI is preparing to take its first steps towards a fully fledged agentic future product, as well as a secret new feature for YouTube powered by Gemini.
Plus, we explore how Amazon is plotting to expand its $50bn advertising empire across the broader ecommerce industry with the launch of a new product, and we share practical tools you can use at work including a new free mobile app that visualizes the entire year as a series of dots - just to keep you on your toes as we enter the final weeks of January.
As always, if you enjoy the briefing, hit the like button and enjoy the rest of your week!
PS just a quick reminder that admissions for the upcoming 2025 live Web Technologies Program close soon. Program kicks off Feb 1st.
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Key reads and resources for product teams
New from the Department of Product Substack this week:
Knowledge Series - How to build an AI Agent
If you believe the hype then 2025 is going to be the year of the AI agent. And for the purposes of this Knowledge Series, we’re going to believe the hype. We'll explain in simple terms the key technical things you need to know about how AI agents work, along with some real-world examples of AI agents in action from companies like OpenTable, Ebay, Uber and more - as well as some tools you can use to get some hands-on experience.
Deep - New API products and strategies explored
Product teams no longer need to only figure out if their APIs are valuable, now they have to evaluate API offerings through an AI strategy lens, too.
(Department of Product)
UX - How to use object-oriented UX
Identifying objects, their characteristics, and relationships in an experience can help simplify designs and make systems easier to use by aligning with people's mental models. NNGroup’s Sophia Prater explains why focuses on organizing systems around objects rather than screens or actions can help. (NN Group)
Opinion - Figma’s CPO on when to offload the product roadmap
As we enter the new year, you’re probably already in execution mode, working through carefully plotted 6-to-12 month roadmaps. Figma’s Director of Product Avantika Gomes argues that before you get consumed by the tactics and to-dos, you should take a step back. Things are different this year. AI technology is evolving rapidly. Agents and assistants are transforming our workflows, and tools like Claude and Cursor promise to make app building as easy as writing a few prompts. (Figma blog)
Leadership - Why expertise can make you a less effective leader
Being the most knowledgeable and experienced person on your team can seem advantageous. However, Sydney Finkelstein, an expert in leadership and talent development, warns that expertise can lead you astray. (Harvard Business Review)
Case study - What Shopify learned after 5 years of using React Native to build its mobile apps
Five years ago, Shopify’s product / engineering teams decided to switch to using React Native for their mobile app development. In this piece, they explain why this transition has been successful. Some of the benefits they’ve seen include:
Not having to build the same features twice has given us a step change in productivity
Engineers are able to work across web and mobile allowing teams to do more with the same number of people and unlocked new growth opportunities
Maintaining feature parity between iOS and Android has become a non-issue, freeing up capacity to ship a lot more value
Shopify’s apps are blazing fast (<500ms screen loads) and stable (>99.9% crash-free sessions)
New product features and innovation this week
ChatGPT is testing a new feature called Tasks that allows users to set up regular reminders, alerts and other notifications. Tasks could include asking for a daily news update or reminders about upcoming events. For now, the feature is only available for paid users but it marks the first step towards OpenAI’s agentic offerings. Watch it in action.
AI startup Synthesia has raised $180 million for its B2B AI video platform which creates avatars designed to be used in a business context. One of the investors involved in the funding said: “It has extreme customer focus. They are obsessed with driving value in a practical setting. Putting that together in a platform that’s safe and compliant is super hard to do.” Proof that smart product strategy and customer segmentation wins the day every time - even in the AI age.
Unreleased code from Google suggests that Gemini could soon be added to a new product. YouTube videos could get the ability to chat with users to ask specific questions about the video you're watching. Google is also following in the footsteps of Microsoft by hiking up its Workspace plan prices to accommodate a free Gemini offering. Gemini is now ‘free’ but Workspace plans are increasing by $2.
Hinge is rolling out a new feature called “Prompt Feedback” which aims to improve your dating profile by analyzing how you answer specific prompts. Prompt Feedback evaluates each response and offers personalized advice tailored to help you share interesting details about yourself, which can lead to more engaging conversations.
In other news…
Amazon is launching a new product that will allow ecommerce businesses to show ads in their search results - powered by Amazon. In 2024, Amazon’s ads business grew significantly and now generates over $50 billion a year. This new product - called Amazon Retail Ad Service - will allow retailers off Amazon to monetize their search results by showing “contextually relevant” third party products which will appear in search results.
Given how successful Amazon has been in monetizing its own search results, this could be a powerful new revenue stream for ecommerce businesses, but the details of the revenue split - and the privacy implications of giving Amazon your user data - have yet to be made public. Amazon has been known for using data to identify popular new products and then launch its own version of that product, undercutting independent retailers and so many ecommerce companies will likely treat this with caution.
What tech chiefs are reading right now
If you’re looking for some reading inspiration in 2025, here’s some of the books currently read by top tech execs:
Tools you can use
Left - manage and visualize your time in a whole new way. Left transforms how you perceive time through elegant dot visualizations.
TheyDo - a customer journey management platform that helps you adopt a journey-centric approach to managing customer experiences.
Boardy - expand your network by chatting with an AI agent who will make suitable introductions to real world humans on your behalf.
📈 Product data and trends to stay informed
ChatGPT, Anthropic and Google Gemini are retaining over 50% of their paying users, according to new analysis. ChatGPT Pro sales already account for nearly 5.8% of OpenAI’s B2C sales as of January 1.
Apple’s News app has quietly grown to over 125 million users in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
A study shows that Community Notes do work but timing is critical; notes typically become visible 15 hours after a tweet is posted, by which time 80% of retweets have already occurred.
Americans are becoming more anti-social. According to data gathered by OpenTable, solo dining has increased by 29% in just the past two years. The No. 1 reason is the need for more “me time.”
The number of people with “Open to Work” badges on their LinkedIn profile is up 40% year on year, with 67 million users now looking for jobs each week. LinkedIn this week confirmed that it is making its AI features available for free to help job seekers. If you’re looking for a new role, this could be worth checking out .
Despite political tensions, the US remains China’s top AI partner with 46,641 collaborations. The UK is next with 19,888.
Other product news in brief
🫡Meta is planning to cut 5% of its staff through performance based reviews.
🎶Sonos’ CEO and chief product officer are resigning after the disastrous rollout of its new app.
🧑💻Microsoft’s former Surface design chief is joining Amazon
🇨🇳Duolingo has reported a 216% spike in Mandarin learners as users flock to Chinese based TikTok alternatives.
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