Member-only story
10 Seinfeld scenes every product manager should watch
The “show about nothing” has a lot of great advice to product managers.
A few months ago, Netflix announced it acquired the global streaming rights to “Seinfeld”. Being a ’90s boy and a real fan of the show, that called for nothing less than a celebration. It made me think of those pre-binging days and how I had to wait for an entire week for the next episode to air. It also made me think of VCRs and the dozens of video cassettes of all seasons I probably still have lying around somewhere at my parents’ house. Finally, it got me thinking of all those unforgettable Elaine moments, iconic Jerry quotes, gut-wrenching George incidents, and classic Kramer entrances.
From that point on, it didn’t take long for me to realize that just like I suspected, Seinfeld does hold the answer to everything. And product management is no exception.
Here are 10 things a product manager should look after based on some of my favorite Seinfeld scenes:
1. Flawless flow
Flow is a state in which “people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter”, as Mihaly Csikszentmihaly described in his TED. Ultimately, flow creates happiness. And if your users start wondering what they should do next, and start wandering around your app, they’re probably not happy. That should be your warning sign that your flow isn’t well-defined.
Remove all obstacles, get rid of any friction, and keep users in a meticulously defined flow so they can reach their desired outcomes.
2. Rewards
What’s better than that warm sensation of being productive? Getting rewarded for it. It’s up to your users to achieve their goals, but up to you to recognize and celebrate them. Rewarding doesn’t necessarily mean you have to start to gamify everything, sometimes a small text or a funny visual gesture will do the trick. Need some ideas? Watch the founder of Superhuman explain how they reward users for reaching zero inbox.
