From fixed mindset to growth mindset: how Medium's Highlights changed publishing forever

From fixed mindset to growth mindset: how Medium's Highlights changed publishing forever

In her seminal book Mindset, American psychologist Carol Dweck explains the two main mindsets we have when approaching new challenges—or even life in general. Fixed mindset — “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. Growth mindset — “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”

The idea of a growth mindset is that what is commonly called intelligence can be “grown” incrementally by means of hard work, positivity, resilience, and training. It means your brain keeps on changing, adapting, and forming new connections even as you grow older. More importantly, it means your cognitive abilities are not fixed.

Medium, a popular online publishing platform, has revolutionized the way we engage with content through its unique feature called Highlights. Medium's goal of being a platform for both stream-of-consciousness conversation and long-form writing made measuring value a challenge. Vanity metrics like views or clicks don’t really help when depth and engagement often matter more than reaching a larger audience. Highlights give readers a more granular way to engage with each piece of content. By allowing users to highlight and comment on specific passages, Medium encourages readers to pay attention and actively participate in the reading experience.

Highlights, when it first launched in 2015, allowed users to mark a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph in any Medium article. Each Highlight was then treated as an independent article where readers could add comments, reply to other peoples’ comments, or share the Highlight directly on Twitter. This feature not only increased engagement but also provided valuable feedback to authors. Each time a passage is highlighted, the author receives a notification, so they know which parts of their articles are popular. This feedback helps writers understand what resonates with their audience and improve their writing to better engage their readership.

Medium's focus on engagement is reflected in their key metric, Total Time Reading (TTR). Instead of measuring views or clicks, Medium tracks how long visitors spend reading. By optimizing every product decision around TTR, Medium ensures that their product is creating true value for users and encourages them to return and use it more.

Lesson 1: "Engagement drives stickiness drives retention drives growth" - When it comes to metrics, it's important to focus on measuring true engagement with your product rather than vanity metrics. Find a metric that truly reflects the value users are getting from your product.

Lesson 2: Start small (but not too small) and iterate as you learn - Medium started with the simple idea of allowing users to highlight and comment on passages, and then iterated and improved the feature based on user feedback. Starting small allows you to test and learn from your users, ultimately leading to a better product.

Lesson 3: Don't assume everyone uses your product the same way - Medium understood that users would use Highlights in different ways, so they made sure to surface the right number of Highlights per post and prioritize those from friends or popular ones. By understanding how users interact with your product, you can tailor it to their needs and enhance their experience.

In conclusion, Medium's Highlights feature has changed the publishing landscape by promoting engagement and providing valuable feedback to authors. It encourages readers to actively participate in the reading experience and helps writers improve their content. By adopting a growth mindset and embracing new ways to engage with content, both readers and writers can benefit from a more enriching and interactive experience.