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VANECK LOWERS BITCOIN ETF FEES TO ZERO, UNDERCUTTING BLACKROCK

VanEck is temporarily waiving fees on its Bitcoin ETF to attract more investors in response to BlackRock gaining 69% market share of the newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.

APPLE WANTS YOU TO BE ABLE TO TOUCH AND FEEL THINGS IN AR OR VR

Apple has secured a patent for a "Finger-Mounted Device with Sensors and Haptics," which hints at the potential development of an "Apple Ring" for an enhanced augmented reality (AR) experience where users can manipulate AR objects with fingertip sensors. This technology seeks to integrate users into an Apple AR ecosystem by providing haptic feedback that mimics real-life sensations, like catching a ball. The ring could function as an input device.

PINTEREST ROLLS OUT ITS ‘BODY TYPE RANGES’ TOOL TO THE US

Pinterest has launched a body type filtering feature in the U.S. that allows users to search fashion and wedding ideas based on different body types and showcase size-inclusive brands. The tool, powered by Pinterest's computer vision technology, has led to a 66% increase in user engagement. Pinterest plans to expand the feature to men's fashion.

BRITISH MONARCHY ROCKED BY BAD PHOTOSHOP JOB

After months of speculation on the whereabouts of Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales and future Queen of England, the Royal Family released an image on Sunday that appeared to have been edited. Middleton claimed credit for the edits, saying she was trying to piece together everyone's best expressions in the photo. However, there are other issues with the photo that continue to raise questions.

BEAUTIFUL UGLY WEBSITES

"Beautiful ugly websites" are lightweight, text-heavy, old-fashioned, basic HTML-styled websites that may not be visually appealing in a traditional sense but have a unique style and authenticity. They prove there’s no need to over-design - minimal designs can be just as effective as visually striking ones if they serve the ultimate goal of selling a product.

SOMETIMES, A BUTTON JUST WANTS TO LOOK LIKE A BUTTON

Modern design languages offer a lot of flexibility, focusing on fundamentals like typography, white space, and simplistic icons. However, sometimes, using an old-school real-world metaphor adds a lot of delight to an experience. For example, a tactile-looking button can be very satisfying.

NICHE PRODUCT DESIGN

The golden age of product design may be fading away as standardization increases. However, niche product design still offers exciting opportunities in product design. Going narrow allows designers to experiment and find new levels of authenticity using an opinionative approach, small teams, and a defined niche. An obsession with metrics and optimization causes blandness in design solutions. Going in the opposite direction is advantageous for businesses looking for competitive differentiation through authenticity.

GET THE RIGHT COLOR EVERY TIME

Sip is a color picker that allows you to manage your palettes and collaborate with your team.

RURI LINES (FIGMA PLUGIN)

Create stunning line patterns with beautiful textures, icons, or cover images with Ruri Lines.

SIMPLE ICONS

This collection features over 3,000 free SVG icons for popular brands.

COLOR IS A FOUR LETTER WORD

Color is both potent and volatile. What’s vibrant to one person may be gray to another. A certain hue can mean good luck in one culture and “uh oh” in another. Designers should avoid using color as much as possible, treat interfaces as a white wall, and try using grayscale color palettes.

JAKOB HAS JUMPED THE SHARK

Jakob Nielsen’s controversial post about AI solving the accessibility problem keeps raising eyebrows. This time, Adrian Roselli concludes that the post is Nielsen’s way of trying to stay relevant by jumping on the fake AI grift. He compiles counterarguments for the statements Nielsen made so that he’s prepared for when a client cites his post arguing against accessibility.

AVIF IS THE FUTURE OF WEB IMAGES

AVIF represents a significant leap forward in image compression technology. While it may take time for widespread adoption, the benefits of AVIF are clear, making it an exciting development for web designers, developers, and users alike.

NO OUTER MARGIN

Outer margins extend beyond the UI border box. Components with outer margins can knock around adjacent components.

SEVEN INSIGHTS FOR NAVIGATING B2B DESIGN

B2B software is ripe for design disruption since the design quality bar is low, and improving it has a significant impact.

HOW TO GET OUT OF ONTOLOGICAL DEBT

Carefully designed terms can make complex user interfaces feel natural and cohesive.

REMINDER: GOOGLE CORE WEB VITALS REPLACES FID WITH INP

Google will replace First Input Delay (FID) with Interaction to Next Paint (INP) as a Core Web Vital metric today. This doesn’t directly impact organic rankings but does help Google measure ‘good page experience’.

GOOGLE’S NEW BULK SENDER GUIDELINES SPELL TROUBLE FOR B2B

The introduction of a 0.3% spam complaint threshold may present an obstacle for B2B marketers. Industries such as B2B software and sales and marketing services already face spam complaint rates well beyond this threshold, ranging from 2.01% to 3.2%.

PROGRESSIVE MARKETERS ARE TRACKING A NEW METRIC: SHARE OF MODEL

As AI-powered chat programs like ChatGPT and others become prominent, marketers need to prepare for negative brand mentions in search queries. Tracking how large language models perceive brands and measuring "share of model" will become crucial. Marketers will need to optimize content to align with model preferences and establish metrics comparable to traditional marketing indicators.

7 DEAD ENDS ON YOUR WEBSITE: HOW TO FIND AND FIX THEM

A dead end in a website is where the flow of visitors stops because the page lacks offers, information, or a reason to stay. This article describes 7 common dead ends and how to fix them. These include service pages without clear CTAs, blog posts without relevant internal links, and thank you pages without a clear next step.

5 EFFECTIVE HEADLINE + DESCRIPTION COMBINATIONS FOR HERO SECTIONS

The hero section of a landing page, which is the first thing a user will see, typically contains a headline and a description. This post contains 5 combinations to create an effective page. These include capability + benefit, benefit + capability, differentiation, pain point + gain, and identifying your niche.

MAKE $10K A MONTH SELLING COUNTDOWN TIMERS

This article breaks down how the co-founders of StageTimer.io, a remote-controlled countdown timer app, monetized a simple timer app. It stresses the importance of challenging assumptions about customer needs and pricing strategies, such as using personalized approaches like event-based pricing. Reddit was an invaluable testing ground for capturing new users and supplementing SEO efforts.

GOOGLE ADDS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS TO GOOGLE BUSINESS LISTINGS

Google has added a new section within its business listings in Search that displays recent social media posts from connected profiles. Social post previews are populated automatically based on the social profiles linked to the business. This update is aimed at generating more interest in products/services.

PINTEREST’S NEW ‘BODY TYPE RANGES’ DELIVER BETTER AND MORE INCLUSIVE SEARCH RESULTS

Pinterest’s new body type ranges empower users to tailor their search results for women’s fashion and wedding ideas. It aims to foster inclusivity and representation online. Users can personalize their browsing experience to reflect their unique preferences and identities, with the option to select from 4 body type ranges. This AI-powered innovation offers Pinterest users greater control over their visual discovery and shopping journey.

ESSENTIAL RESEARCH TACTICS FOR PMMS

PMMs should invest a minimum of 20% of their time researching to gain insights on strategy, messaging, and GTM. This post contains a matrix of 4 different types of research and tactics: customer research, competitive research, market research, and pricing research.

PIVOTING TO D2C HELPED THIS BRAND GROW BY 267% IN 1 MONTH

HAPPYBOND decided to launch its shelf-stable dog food via pet retail rather than direct-to-consumer. Its founder hypothesized this would suit the delicate packaging and allow customers to experience the product first-hand. This plan ultimately failed due to slow sales, small margins, and lack of control over customer education. The brand pivoted to a D2C subscription model, which had its own complexities but ultimately resulted in 267% month-over-month growth.

BRANDS UNKNOWINGLY WASTING AD DOLLARS ON MADE FOR ADVERTISING SITES, CLAIMS REPORT

Major brands are wasting ad dollars on Made for Advertising (MFA) sites. MFA sites prioritize profit through advertising, resulting in subpar user experiences with low-quality content and excessive ads. Brands like Procter & Gamble and Pfizer have inadvertently had their ads placed on these sites, emphasizing the importance of thorough ad spend monitoring.

POV: GROWTH VS. MARKETING

A point of view on why growth marketing and marketing aren’t the same thing, and how to define the differences.

CONTENT CONVERSION STRATEGY

Only 2-10% of your network sees your posts initially. Consistently addressing customer pains around your primary content topic is essential for attracting new clients.

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COUNT THE DIGITS

Rich Mironov's "count the digits" method helps product managers quickly prioritize suggestions by estimating their financial impact, streamlining focus on high-value opportunities, and aligning with strategic goals for efficient decision-making.

ASSESSING THE STATE OF PRODUCT AT A COMPANY

Many product leaders struggle to recall examples of ideas explored in discovery but ultimately rejected. This suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of discovery in product development, prompting the need for clarification on the definitions of discovery and delivery to emphasize the importance of assessing whether a solution should be built at all.

LEVERAGE DISTRIBUTION

This model of team effectiveness highlights the importance of distributing time and energy effectively. It shows how small improvements in high-leverage areas can significantly impact team efficacy. Discussions solely focused on productivity may miss key factors such as decision-making and team dynamics. This can have a compounding effect on success or failure.

HOW GOOGLE BLEW UP ITS OPEN CULTURE AND COMPROMISED ITS PRODUCT

A 7-year Google veteran reveals how the company's open culture was dismantled, impacting its products and AI strategy. They highlight issues such as a lack of a psychologically safe environment and an absence of public accountability for leadership, contributing to strategic misalignments.

ARE WE WATCHING THE INTERNET DIE?

Reddit’s upcoming IPO, projected at a $6.5B valuation, raises concerns due to the company’s financial losses, exploitative practices regarding user-generated content, and the broader negative impact of generative AI on online creativity and diversity. It reflects a trend of platforms prioritizing algorithms over human-generated content and quality.

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‘NICHING’ DOWN

Having a clear and focused understanding of your product's purpose and target audience, as well as knowing what it is not and whom it does not serve, can significantly impact its success. This clarity can act as a superpower, potentially making or breaking the product.

TRY THIS ONBOARDING EMAIL SERIES STRATEGY

To enhance the effectiveness of onboarding emails, consider concentrating on a single feature daily, starting with your standout features, sending emails daily throughout the onboarding phase, and incorporating both textual and visual elements. These strategies can significantly improve the onboarding experience and results.

WHEN FREE-CASH-FLOW MARGINS DON'T TELL THE FULL STORY

The shift towards efficiency in software companies is leading to increased profitability and complexities in evaluating free cash flow margins. Factors influencing FCF include stock-based compensation, net working capital changes, and capital expenditures. It is important that investors scrutinize these metrics for a comprehensive assessment of a cloud business' profitability.

MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK

Luck includes the networks you build, your receptivity to new chances, and your readiness to both offer and accept help. To foster your own luck, communicate your goals, remain open to new paths, be mindful of the impressions you create, engage with curiosity and a spirit of exploration, and break free from habitual patterns.

AI MODELS, PRODUCT-MARKET FIT, AND CULTURE

AI models reflect the culture of the companies that created them and the product-market fit they're aiming for.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO ONBOARD A CPO

Get an inside look at the first six weeks of onboarding as a new CP(T)O.

Get the full report: State of Cloud Security 📑

STREAMING HTML OUT OF ORDER WITHOUT JAVASCRIPT

Streaming HTML sends HTML from server to browser in chunks as it is generated. It took a back seat as single-page applications became the standard, but it has become more popular along with server-side rendering. A clear advantage to streaming HTML is you can render something immediately to indicate to the user that something is happening and you can start downloading assets like CSS and JavaScript earlier while you wait for the more time-consuming parts of the response to be generated.

HOW WE ENGINEER FEEDBACK AT FIGMA WITH ENG CRITS

Engineering crits at Figma are collaborative sessions designed to foster brainstorming, knowledge sharing, and problem-solving early in the development process. Inspired by design critiques, Figma uses FigJam to facilitate asynchronous feedback, ensuring everyone’s perspectives are included in the conversation. Unlike traditional reviews, engineering crits emphasize suggestions over mandates.

PRISMA ORM ADOPTION GUIDE: OVERVIEW, EXAMPLES, AND ALTERNATIVES

Prisma is an open source ORM that allows you to easily manage and interact with databases. This guide discusses the features, benefits, and use cases of Prisma to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your next project.