How Highlights on Medium changed publishing forever | productboard

How Highlights on Medium changed publishing forever | productboard

The introduction of Highlights on Medium was initially met with failure, but for Nick and the product team at Medium, this failure served as validation for a feature they had been improving since its launch over a year earlier. Highlights quickly gained popularity among readers and writers, positioning Medium as one of the leading online publishing platforms. Unlike vanity metrics like views or clicks, Highlights focused on depth and engagement, which are more valuable in the publishing world.

The inspiration for Highlights came from Medium's Notes feature, where users could leave notes in the margins of a post. They also had a feature called Recommend Notes, which allowed users to write something they liked about a post when they clicked on Recommend. By analyzing product history and observing how users utilized features, the product team at Medium was able to generate innovative ideas.

However, they hadn't considered the user experience for those who didn't follow anyone on Medium or for users who already followed many others. Without surfaced Highlights, new users wouldn't gain value from the feature, and those who followed many others would be overwhelmed by a flood of blue highlights. This led the team to implement filtering options to improve the user experience.

For readers, Highlights made the reading experience more social. It allowed them to engage with quotes, passages, insights, concepts, and even share them on other platforms. It enabled them to capture ideas for later use or express their disagreement through comments. The engagement generated valuable feedback for writers. Highlights provided authors with direct feedback from their audience, allowing them to understand which parts of their posts were most engaging and worthwhile. This helped writers improve their posts and attract more readers.

Medium's commitment to depth and engagement led to the introduction of Text Shots, a tool for sharing Highlights as screengrabs on Twitter. This decision prioritized meaningful discussion over shallow engagement. By focusing on user value, Medium increased user engagement, retention, and sustainable growth.

Three actionable advice based on this article:

1. Evaluate your metrics: Examine whether your metrics truly measure engagement with your product or if they are merely vanity metrics. Identify one metric that accurately measures the value users derive from your product, and prioritize features based on their impact on this metric.

2. Seek user feedback: Real user feedback is invaluable in understanding how users interact with your product. Engage with your users, both internal and external, to gain insights and learnings that can drive product improvements.

3. Embrace innovation: Look for inspiration from different sources, such as historical patterns in innovation. Explore emerging frontiers, like Web3 and crypto, to tap into untapped potential. Don't be afraid to take risks and experiment with new ideas.

In conclusion, Medium's Highlights feature revolutionized publishing by prioritizing depth and engagement over vanity metrics. It allowed readers to engage with content in a social manner while providing valuable feedback to writers. Medium's success demonstrates the importance of user value, metrics evaluation, user feedback, and embracing innovation in product development. By incorporating these principles into your own product strategy, you can create a more engaging and valuable experience for your users.