This week the PM practice took a look at Inbox by Google, a brand new product aiming to change how we interact with email. 
First, the on-boarding process is down right amazing. If you have a Google App already on your device, it makes use of Google sign-in to streamline the process. Getting started with the app is faster than anything we have seen.
We discussed how different users approach email. We concluded that if you are someone that practices inbox zero, than Google Inbox is not for you. However, if you are a user than has thousands and thousands of emails in your inbox, than Inbox is designed for you.
The product launched without any ads. But, yet, the monetization potential within the app is huge. Ads can be more contextual within each message and can be customized based on which email category the user is going through.
Lastly, the centerpiece of the conversation was Google’s willingness to launch a product that directly competes with an existing and very successful product, Gmail. We see far too often a hesitation to launch the next phase of a product because it would undermine and compete with the existing product. Google made a big leap with Inbox, that in an effort to challenge the email status quo, will compete with its parent product.
This week’s hunters included @memyselfandm @lcddave @rheakaw, @kirkhendrickson and @addisonhuddy. “Going on a product hunt” is a weekly blog post by the Pivotal Product Management Team. Every week the team gathers over lunch and spends the hour reviewing a startup recently posted on Product Hunt. The opinions expressed in this post are not recommendations.
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