Itamar Gilad: the GIST of product discovery

Make Things That Matter

Itamar Gilad is the author of Evidence Guided, which is my favorite book out there on how to practically DO product discovery. Prior to becoming a product consultant and trainer, he had a long product career at Google where he led the creation and launch of products that are now used by over a billion people.

In this conversation we explore the GIST approach to product discovery through the origin story of Gmail's tabbed inbox, to help you see what great product discovery looks like in practice.

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Topics discussed

(01:33) Creating frameworks and coming up with catchy models

(10:02) GIST: the meta framework organizing model concept.

(15:02) Illustrating GIST through the story of Gmail tabbed inbox

(21:06) Refocusing goals led to stronger, simpler idea.

(25:08) Prioritize, filter, and reevaluate for effective ideas.

(29:02) Usability and value risks, low confidence, evolution.

(35:43) Key results drive achieving goals, engaging company.

(40:07) Inquiring about applying startup approach to enterprises.

(45:32) Navigating uncertainty in strategy with evidence and discovery.

(50:44) Emphasizing iterative nature of product discovery process.

(59:10) Encouraging analysis for companies hesitant about changes.

(01:01:18) Evaluate, test, experiment, launch, measure, impact, outcomes

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Links & resources mentioned

• Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email

• Itamar Gilad : website, LinkedIn

• Evidence Guided (book) - website, Amazon

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Related episodes:

• #55: How does continuous discovery come together for a new product?

• #44 Teresa Torres: Habits for clear thinking and better product bets

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Books:

• Evidence Guided: website, Amazon

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Other resources:

• Itamar’s downloadable frameworks & resources

• The GIST framework

• Confidence meter for ICE scoring

• Creating Product Strategy with Multiple Strategic Tracks (MuST)

• Marty Cagan: The four big risks

• Gibson Biddle: proxy metrics (within product strategy)

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