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Subtract Substack focuses on unveiling secrets behind successful tech products, covering design, engineering, and entrepreneurship. It explores key principles like the importance of simple primitives, design thinking, product development strategies, remote work dynamics, and cultural impact on technology, offering insights into creating and scaling innovative solutions.

Design Thinking Product Development Entrepreneurship Remote Work Technology and Culture Problem Solving User Experience Market Strategy

The hottest Substack posts of subtract

And their main takeaways

The Model T

5 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
💾 History Automobiles Innovation Manufacturing Marketing Impact
  1. The Model T was created to be a powerful workhorse for chores and travel, solving the problem by providing a better way for families to transport, drive, and handle rough environments - all at an affordable price.
  2. Automobiles initially targeted the wealthy until the Model T made transportation more accessible, easier to drive, and rugged for off-road use, catering to average-income families' needs.
  3. Henry Ford's relentless pursuit of innovation, from creating a new steel type for a lighter car to pioneering manufacturing and marketing strategies, led the Model T to become the go-to option for American consumers, fundamentally changing the automotive industry.

Two wheels and a handle

5 implied HN points • 23 Oct 23
🪑 Design Innovation Art Travel
  1. Innovations in suitcase design have come from incremental improvements over generations.
  2. Artists like Alfred Krupa and Anita Willets-Burnham made significant contributions to the modern suitcase.
  3. The addition of wheels and handles to suitcases has revolutionized travel convenience.

What makes Notion so special

5 implied HN points • 07 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Product Design AI User Experience Integration Artificial Intelligence
  1. Notion's design is centered around two key primitives: 'block' and 'page' that make it familiar and easy to use.
  2. Notion's commitment to a single primitive 'block' allows for future growth and adding new features without complexity.
  3. The 'page' primitive in Notion enhances user experience by enabling flexibility and accommodating various types of content.
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Slack is a Winning Product

15 implied HN points • 07 Apr 22
  1. Slack leverages a single primitive: the message.
  2. Slack builds using well-understood, existing solutions.
  3. Slack groups messages effectively and innovatively.

Why Figma is a Winning Product

15 implied HN points • 30 Mar 22
  1. Figma is a winning product for product designers, making design creation and production easier.
  2. Figma's single primitive, the Design File, removes friction and helps designers master the tool faster.
  3. Figma differentiates itself by incorporating existing solutions for cloud storage, sharing, collaboration, design implementation, and prototyping.

Email is a Winning Product

10 implied HN points • 11 May 22
  1. Email is a fundamental tool for internet communication
  2. Email is a versatile and widely used platform for various purposes
  3. Email is a valuable commodity that serves as a key digital identifier

How to sell your design work as a subscription

10 implied HN points • 03 May 22
  1. Subscriptions can offer a new and aligning pricing model for design work.
  2. Pitching a subscription model can involve defining work hours, communication, and flexibility.
  3. A subscription model can benefit both the designer and the client by providing clarity, cost savings, setting expectations, enabling ongoing design, and ensuring more predictable income.

Figma breaks one design rule

10 implied HN points • 25 Apr 22
  1. Using a single primitive helps in product design by reducing cognitive friction.
  2. FigJam is a separate product from Figma to cater to a different audience like product managers and researchers.
  3. Figma remains best-in-class for product designers despite breaking the design rule with FigJam.

Two design rules that make products win.

10 implied HN points • 24 Aug 21
  1. Winning products are best in class and first in mind
  2. Design a winning product with a single starting primitive and build on existing solutions
  3. Examples of winning products include Zoom, iPhone, and Amazon

The Journey Design Process

21 implied HN points • 01 Apr 20
  1. The Journey Design Process breaks down complex design problems into three pillars: Start to Finish, Forces, and Balances.
  2. Define your starting point and end goal clearly to solve problems effectively.
  3. Identify the forces stopping you from reaching your goal and brainstorm solutions to balance them out.

How to dethrone a Winning Product

5 implied HN points • 27 May 22
  1. Dethrone a winning product by targeting a smaller audience and building a better product, or target the same audience as the winner and build a better product for the large audience.
  2. Successful dethroning can involve starting small in a big market segment and dominating it with a superior product.
  3. Leveraging an existing audience and creating innovative products can help defend a company's position in the market against potential competitors.

Mailbag: “Should I add a redesign to my portfolio?”

5 implied HN points • 25 May 22
  1. Redesigning popular apps for portfolios isn't the best way to attract new work.
  2. Redesigning a popular app without understanding its internal constraints may not be beneficial for your career.
  3. Consider creating your own product instead of redesigning, to showcase a stronger product design sense.

Design/Market Fit

5 implied HN points • 09 May 22
  1. Design/market fit is when the design of your product satisfies the market.
  2. Good design is aesthetic but should also make the product useful.
  3. The best design is the one that solves the problem in the best possible way.

Google is a Winning Product

5 implied HN points • 05 May 22
  1. Google is considered a winning product for many people due to its best-in-class search results and versatility.
  2. For those who prioritize privacy, DuckDuckGo might be a better search engine option.
  3. When it comes to searching for products, Amazon surpasses Google in product searches and is considered the winning product objectively.

Netflix was a Winning Product

5 implied HN points • 02 May 22
  1. Winning products are successful because they provide a solution that is almost perfect.
  2. Using a single primitive helps create simplicity in product design and can drive innovation.
  3. To maintain a winning product status, continuous innovation and adaptation are necessary.

Getting your first design client

5 implied HN points • 20 Apr 22
  1. Present yourself as a solution to your client's design problems by showing you've done it before.
  2. Build a network by creating valuable design work for yourself and sharing it to get recommendations.
  3. Design and build a product from start to finish to showcase your skills and create case studies to share with potential clients.

SMS is a Winning Product

5 implied HN points • 13 Apr 22
  1. SMS (short message service) is a winning product for non-urgent communication.
  2. Text messages follow two key design rules: simplicity and use of familiar solutions like text, images, and links.
  3. Different messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram cater to specific needs such as international communication and privacy.

Multiplayer Products

15 implied HN points • 20 May 20
  1. Future products will focus on solving daily or high-value problems
  2. There will be a trend towards integrating best-in-class applications
  3. Products will have single primitive document or artifact to generate value

What makes something feel digitally lightweight?

15 implied HN points • 10 Mar 20
  1. Digital weight can be qualitatively guessed by how light something feels compared to other digital objects.
  2. Quantifying digital weight can involve factors like the number of objects, formats, and replicability.
  3. Being digitally lightweight can lead to benefits like less maintenance, better communication, and easier cross-platform compatibility.

Running a Lightweight Design Session

10 implied HN points • 15 Apr 20
  1. You can run a quick Design Session in 30 minutes
  2. Design Sessions are useful for gaining insight on new product ideas or aligning a team's priorities
  3. The Design Session process involves prompt & ideation, voting, and discussion to quickly generate and vet ideas

What if products were harder to use?

10 implied HN points • 08 Apr 20
  1. Great products can be hard to use but highly valuable.
  2. Euclid's ratio is a useful concept when designing products that may be difficult to learn.
  3. Challenging to use products may lead to achieving more greatness.

Making progress remotely

10 implied HN points • 18 Mar 20
  1. Remote work is now the present, not just the future.
  2. Create a good audio environment to reduce stress and increase productivity.
  3. Set schedules, boundaries, and document everything effectively for successful remote work.

Simple Rules for Designing Web & Mobile Forms

5 implied HN points • 27 May 20
  1. Single column layouts are faster to complete than multiple columns in forms.
  2. Adding inline form validation leads to improved success rates and user satisfaction.
  3. Top alignment for labels in forms results in faster completion times and better correlation with inputs.

Progress bars are lying to you

5 implied HN points • 06 May 20
  1. Progress bars are often fake and don't accurately represent the actual progress
  2. Designers use fake progress bars to make users feel better and have a sense of control
  3. Fake progress bars can be found in various applications and even in daily devices like elevators

Designing with Time

5 implied HN points • 25 Mar 20
  1. Time is a valuable resource that can be designed with
  2. Design hierarchy can be manipulated using techniques like typography and color to control when things are seen
  3. Approach designs by considering the concept of time and create a flow chart for the sequence of information

Getting it Wrong: Three Mistakes in Defining Problems

0 implied HN points • 16 Oct 23
💼 Business
  1. Good problems have a defined starting point and end goal for a specific group of people.
  2. Defining the audience of the problem is crucial for effective problem-solving.
  3. Don't search for the perfect problem, map out the obstacles along the way.

The problem solving cell

0 implied HN points • 06 Nov 23
🕹 Technology History Software Innovation Evolution Productivity
  1. In the 1950s, heads-up displays were designed for pilots to see flight data without looking away from the sky.
  2. VisiCalc introduced the first electronic spreadsheet, using familiar tools and concepts to solve problems.
  3. Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel then evolved spreadsheets further, adding features like charts and a point-and-click interface.

How Netflix dominated

0 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
💼 Business Innovation Competition Revenue Subscriptions
  1. Netflix solved the problem of watching videos with convenience by introducing innovative solutions like DVD rentals by mail and streaming services.
  2. By deeply understanding customer problems like late fees, bulky inventory, and inconvenience, Netflix continuously evolved to adapt and strive for a near-perfect solution.
  3. To maintain dominance, Netflix transitioned from DVDs to streaming, ventured into original content production, and consistently aimed to be the best solution in the market.

The iMac

0 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Computers Innovation Design History
  1. The iMac solved the problem of complexity in choosing a computer by combining everything into one package, making it easier and more appealing for consumers.
  2. Apple innovated by simplifying the connectivity process, using USB ports to replace multiple types and reducing the mental burden of setting up a computer.
  3. The iMac's aesthetic design, usability, and targeted marketing to educators made it the go-to choice for internet use, showing that simplicity and approachability can drive product success.