The questions I'll always ask in a product review | Des Traynor
Intercom co-founder Des Traynor shares his exact product review checklist—revealing the gap between "we built it because competitors have it" and "we're losing deals to xyz who nailed this feature."
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TLDR
• Distinguishes weak answers from strong ones: "for Sales" vs "for the person reporting online revenue weekly"—specificity matters
• AI features need unique scrutiny: confidence levels, worst-case scenarios, guardrails, and production instrumentation before launch
• Customer feedback vibe check: "finally, guys!" (relief) vs "holy shit!" (excitement) signals whether you're catching up or leading
• Tool time vs task time as a design metric—can you minimize both the UI friction AND the actual work required?
• The "what's NOT shipping on day 1" question reveals whether your prioritization actually makes sense
In Detail
Des Traynor provides his complete product review framework, organized into eight categories that expose the difference between shipping features and shipping value. The big picture questions immediately separate strategic thinking from feature factory work—asking "why did we build this?" reveals whether teams are copying competitors or solving real problems that cost deals. The specificity test runs throughout: "for Sales" is a weak answer; "for the person reporting online revenue weekly" shows you understand the actual user.
The AI section introduces questions most product reviews skip: confidence levels across real-world scenarios, worst-case outcomes observed in testing, and whether you have enough instrumentation to debug production issues. Customer feedback goes beyond "they liked it" to capture energy—relief signals you're catching up, excitement means you're leading. The design questions introduce "tool time vs task time" as a framework for minimizing both UI friction and actual work required.
The framework's power is in the juxtapositions: What's the most important thing NOT shipping vs the least important thing that IS? Does this make sense? What's your #1 predicted feature request post-launch, and when does it ship? These questions force teams to defend their scoping decisions and reveal whether they've thought through the full product arc or just the MVP. The checklist transforms reviews from vague discussions into structured interrogations that expose gaps in thinking before they become gaps in execution.