Simplicity is clarity. It’s well-studied understanding and acceptance of how your product serves people and how people currently use it.

Here’s an example of a typical day as a KPCB Product Fellow at Uber:

8:30am - My day begins by dogfooding the product. Every morning, I open my Uber app to request a ride to work, flagging any issues...

Computers and communities are going to grow in importance as curation makes information more accessible.

Humans can be completely irrational. We rejoice over getting a $10 discount off a $20 item (that’s half off!) but shrug over a getting $10 off a $1000 item (due to the framing effect). When it comes to product design, leveraging the behavioral patterns of people to influence behavior is crucial. 

Yik Yak is one of the fastest growing anonymous networks. Anonymous networks face a unique challenge because they cannot rely on traditional social incentives that work on identity-based platforms. Instead, they must tap into the human need for divulging secrets--without letting the conversations turn vitriolic. Achieving this fine balance requires thoughtful attention to the design of the platform, which defines the social dynamics that lead failure or success.

A huge challenge for marketers is understanding their consumers. How can they find and target the right person who is most likely to derive value from their product or service? How can they connect with the next die-hard fan that will be an organic brand ambassador and word of mouth champion?

The essence of Snapchat’s allure is embodied in the design of a cutting edge user experience that appeals to several fundamental human needs or psychological triggers. Based on an analysis that integrates Nir Eyal’s Hooked framework with growth factors, it is clear that the product features of Snapchat resonate strongly with core psychological triggers and have strong growth implications. 

Despite the controversy of newly crowned Billboard pop queen Taylor Swift pulling chart-topping album 1989 from the music streaming service, Spotify has recently announced hitting a new milestone of 15 million users. But why is Spotify growing at such an explosive rate? What are the specific product features that may be contributing to its viral growth factor?  To identify if a feature is likely to help drive a product's growth, how the product feature can contribute to growth should be taken into account: engagement the feature would offer, switching costs the feature creates and any partnership or network effects it can drive. Strategically building in features that affect these areas can really impact growth. 

New opportunities to rethink and redesign digital experiences in the ongoing evolution of digital are fueled by the proliferation of big data and technological developments. From the death of tabbed browsing to Minority Report driven gestural interfaces, here are the key trends in design and technology that are merging to transform digital user experiences.