510: How to use these AI tools to create a product brief – with Brian Collard

How product managers can use AI to work more efficiently Watch on YouTube TLDR * AI is changing how we manage products and come up with new ideas, giving us new tools to work faster and be more creative. * AI can help in many parts of making a product, from research to writing product plans and documents. * To use AI well in product management, we need to know how to ask it questions (called prompt engineering), balance AI ideas with human know-how, and always double-check AI’s work. * AI can make tasks faster, but it’s important to keep people involved and use AI to help, not replace, our usual ways of working. * The future of product management will involve using more AI tools, like advanced language models and creating fake data for testing. We’ll need to keep learning as AI keeps getting better. Introduction In this episode, I’m interviewing Brian Collard, an expert in managing big projects and plans for global companies. Brian has been working for 15 years in different industries like finance, healthcare, and technology. We’re talking about how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we manage products and come up with new ideas. As people who manage products, lead teams, or come up with new ideas, we’re right in the middle of this AI revolution. We need to figure out how to use AI to make products that customers will love, while also dealing with all the new things AI brings to the table. Before using AI, check your organization’s policy to make sure you’re in compliance. Be careful when using AI, especially with sensitive information. AI in the Product Development Lifecycle Discovery and Research Phase Large language models can come up with ideas, but always keep humans in the loop. AI is a great way to augment the discovery process, but it won’t completely replace traditional research methods. Brian recommends a three-step formula for prompting AI: * Input: provide context * Create scaffolding: understand typical processes that industry experts use * Output: the output from the AI is now more valuable to you because you have documented the inputs and processes that created it Creating Product Briefs with AI One area where Brian sees significant promise is in the creation of product briefs. He shares that product managers are reporting efficiency gains of around 50% when using AI to assist in drafting these important documents. AI can help with: * Rapid generation of initial draft product briefs * Assistance in structuring briefs with key components * Increased output and iterations Brian notes that while AI can significantly speed up the process of creating product briefs, these documents often require nuanced understanding and strategic thinking. He advises using AI as a starting point, but always reviewing and refining the output to ensure it aligns with product strategy and organizational goals. Artificial Intelligence and Hallucinations Large language models can hallucinate, or make up information, such as links that do not exist. Brian recommends the tool Perplexity.ai, which removes hallucinations and brings in real-time information. He also recommends that we trust but verify when using information from AI. Mastering Prompt Engineering for Product Managers Brian gives some tips for talking with AI tools, or prompt engineering. The Importance of Context Brian explains that when we use AI tools, we need to give them clear background information. This helps the AI understand exactly what we’re working on and what we need. Chain of Thought Prompts Brian introduces the idea of chain of thought prompts. This means guiding the AI through a series of steps. It’s especially useful for complex tasks.