Financial Times Product Principles
The Financial Times developed five principles to create a shared understanding of "good" across their diverse product teams, from news apps to internal HR tools. These principles help teams make decisions about what to build and what to leave behind, turning vague conversations about quality into specific, actionable discussions.
These principles emerged from collaborative workshops asking teams how they want people to talk about their products and what conditions enable their best work. Notably, they include explicit measurement and acknowledge failure as part of the process.
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Be distinct
Build bold products that stand out from competition. Make the most of FT’s reputation for innovation, insight and integrity, ensuring products jump out like the FT does on newsstands. This principle took weeks to refine, balancing respect for the FT’s legacy with room for bold experiments.
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Become indispensable
Focus on what users need and make that the core of what you build. Create products that are essential to users’ success and a joy to use, making them a platform for users’ achievement.
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Provably brilliant
Go beyond good ideas by measuring what changes will have the biggest impact. Use data from experiments and tweaks to learn and improve, ensuring decisions are based on evidence rather than assumptions.
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Products are partnerships
Embrace diverse expertise from around the company and collaborate within teams. Empower others to succeed, recognizing that diverse perspectives lead to better products.
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Build on every success (and failure)
Investigate, iterate, and repeat as needs and expectations change. Strive for simplicity and prune or retire features when they’ve served their purpose, acknowledging that “good” is a moving target.
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