Turning Down Millions for Better UX

Hi, there.
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The new keyboard I procured recently, that I talk about in the previous newsletter, has really gotten me to enjoy typing, in an enticing, almost addictive way. Today, I will begin to more directly help you pick products. In light of that, it makes sense to make today's letter about user goals and business goals, and how job of a Product Designer is quintessentially to align the two.

Let's begin.

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At the CrossFires of Users and Business

In previous letters and in a dedicated essay, I've expressed my deep appreciation for the email client and service, HEY, created by the company Basecamp. Unlike how most of us use email, I actually pay $100 per year for using email. But what concerns today’s topic is their flagship product Basecamp itself. It is a project management + internal communications tool. And as they would tell you, a viable replacement to the combined set of Dropbox, Slack, Asana, and relevant parts of GSuite. It must be noted here that Basecamp was launched before any of these services, in the year 2004-05. And ever since it has continued to grow, week over week, un-disrupted by the newer companies.

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Basecamp's Bold Decision to turn down Million$

The driving competitive force in a product like Basecamp is not the underlying technology or a feature stack where it is an endless race for who adds a feature first. You see the consumers don't care as proactively as you would think, and in fact a major chunk would only ever use the core 40%, the core atomic concept of your product. The paradigm you pioneered. Of course, technology is an essential factor but Basecamp is a project-management system and it is their philosophy behind how companies must function that must endure for Basecamp's success.

You essentially invent UIs for culture and see which ones people keep using. People have been using Basecamp for about 16 years, and are increasingly adopting it in the light of pandemic. Basecamp is most notably famous for pioneering Remote Work. And you tell me how that is playing out during COVID-19.

I’ve created a collection of essays (next section) that brings out the various aspects of their philosophy. But today, I want to focus on a particular one, perhaps, one of the most gutsy ones:

Where Basecamp gets really contrarian is the business decisions they've taken to ensure their design decisions stays aligned to their philosophy.

Take a look at the pricing structure for Basecamp. Unlike most SaaS products, you don't pay more for Basecamp as your team size increases. This might feel like a poor economic choice and they themselves admit that it might be the case, but what incredibly holds true is a superior product because of this decision. Money can be the most powerful motivators to our work, and managing it’s influence is an art by itself. The makers at Basecamp think that the design decisions should not be biased by bigger companies who could be generating more money for them. All companies big and small should be equally prioritized. And as they would say, “We sell to the Fortune 5,000,000 and let others worry about the Fortune 500.”

“The bigger you are, the more you pay! At Basecamp, we rejected that model from day one, and have stuck to our guns for 13 years. Not because we don’t like money, but because we like our freedom more.”
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​David Heinemeier Hansson, CTO Basecamp

As a product designer, your decisions fundamentally becomes about imagining great consumer experiences and see if it’s feasible, technologically and economically. The ultimate goals are extended from that of the users‘ and the business’.

And so, Product Designers creatively align the user goals and business goals, while prioritizing and picking designs based on the feasibility. My marching call here would be:

Prioritize the user by default, unless absolutely necessitated otherwise. Ultimately, you rigorously maintain the philosophy within your product.

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📑 Curations​

After going through about a 100 essays on Basecamp, I’ve created a selection of essays that give the most understanding of their product thinking. It is one of the most effective approach ever and aligns with your author’s own philosophy.

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​The Basecamp Selection:

• ​Why we never sold Basecamp by the seat ​
  ​Today’s discourse
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• ​The Basecamp Guide to Internal Communication
  *MUST READ*​
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• ​How we achieve “simple design” for Basecamp and HEY​
  Clear UI Communication
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• ​Validation is a mirage​
  Is this a good design decision?
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• ​Keep Digging ​
  How to understand your users?
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• ​Options, Not Roadmaps​
  How to prioritize building?
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• ​The evolution of HEY: from humble beginnings to a multi-platform email service​
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• My own essay on HEY:​
  ​Building E-Mail From First Principles : HEY​
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• ​Why we choose Profit​
  ​In another major contrarain move, Basecamp doesn’t go for no-profit path of VC funding, but rather sustaining with revenues.
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• ​How we structure our work and teams at Basecamp

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📰 Project PCPI

An update with my product

I recently renamed my product from Project MEMEX to Project PCPI. As I am indulging in communities directly concerned with tools for thought, I realized that MEMEX is quite a common term, with everybody having their own ideas for the term. Hence, now it is called Project PCPI.

Further, I am realizing that these communities are fertile breeding grounds for people to assemble in all sorts of permissioned and permission-less ways to create products. As Alex Danco once remarked, "Forums will unbundle LinkedIn, for any job where craft matters."

One such community is The Productivists created by Dr. Karthikk Vijay and team. On their forum I've posted about my product and my intention to assemble a team for it through the community. I am already engaged in a few projects directly stemming from their Discord server. You will be hearing about them soon.

​Assembling a Team for a New Product : Project PCPI​

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📰 Product Setup Guides

In what I think to be the most efficient way, in Short Twitter Threads I've talked about complete setups for a particular activity. Here's a list of them so far. Follow me on Twitter for more in future.​

​📚 Pro-Reading Setup​

​🔊Step-wise Upgrade to a Hi-Fidelity Audio Listening Setup​

​⌨ Pro-Everywhere, Writing Setup​

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After thinking continuously for a few years, I arrived at a approach for Product Designers, that when produced my product, gave me the confidence to share with you all. In the coming letters, I would be un-packaging all, but for now, I've noted all the key ideas into this particular essay: The Quintessential Mindset for a Product Designer.

If you would like your friends to get on our bandwagon of Productize Philosophy:

Just copy this link: https://www.abhishek1point0.com/newsletter​
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Or, give me a shoutout on Social Media:

​Share this NewsLetter on Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Mail to Someone​

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​Do reply, and as always any thoughts, criticisms and feedback, is most valued.
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Talk Soon,
Abhishek Agarwal
​Blog | Twitter​

1. Check out the Free Email Course: "How to Productively Consume Information Online"​
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2. Manifesto for my software product: "Project MEMEX Manifesto"​
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3. ​My Website.

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