how to track success in ai products

Listen now: Spotify // Applein this conversation, you’ll learn:* why traditional product metrics don’t work for ai systems anymore* the real reason ai products feel powerful but frustrating* how measuring outputs instead of outcomes creates false confidence* what actually causes friction in ai products* how product managers should rethink success in the ai erawhere to find prayerson:* x: https://x.com/iamprayerson* linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prayersonchristian/in this episode, we cover:(00:00 - 01:15) the setup: something feels off* introducing the core theme: ai product metrics are fundamentally broken(01:15 - 02:30) the hidden frustration with ai tools* why users feel impressed and frustrated at the same time* fast outputs, slow real-world usage* the gap between generation speed and actual usability(02:30 - 04:00) the real problem isn’t the model* why most ai systems are technically “working”* the failure sits in how products wrap the model* product design, not model quality, is the bottleneck(04:00 - 06:30) why traditional metrics break* how product teams still rely on outdated measurement frameworks* why success metrics from deterministic software don’t apply to ai* the illusion of performance when measuring the wrong things(06:30 - 09:00) outputs vs outcomes* why generating a response is not the same as solving a problem* how teams confuse speed with usefulness* the difference between model capability and user success(09:00 - 12:00) where friction actually comes from* why users struggle even when the model performs well* hidden friction in workflows, interfaces, and context switching* why product teams often fail to see this friction(12:00 - 15:30) the paradigm shift for product managers* why ai changes how products should be evaluated* moving from feature thinking to system thinking* why measuring user success requires new mental models(15:30 - end) what replaces old metrics* rethinking success as user outcomes, not model outputs* designing products around real usage, not demos* why the future of ai product management is about reducing friction, not increasing capabilitybe part of the conversation at iamprayerson. subscribe at no cost to get new posts and episodes delivered to you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit prayersonsnewsletter.substack.com