๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด: 80% of product features are rarely or never used.
A 2019 study (by Pendo) found that 80 percent of features in the average software product are rarely or never used.
As a product manager, this statistic hit me hard. Creating solutions that add value to the user's lives is my primary responsibility. And if users are not using my solutions, I have failed as a product manager.
Let's understand what leads to such failures, and how we can avoid them
1๏ธโฃ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ:
๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: focusing on building ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ features without validating actual value and impact on users.
๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: prioritize only high-impact features that solve critical user pains. Do ๐ก๐ข๐ง build a solution that does not add value to the user (even if you have nothing else to do)
2๏ธโฃ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ / ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ:
๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: implementing features either based on ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด or ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ.
๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: Invest time in ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด (via user research/interviews) and ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด (via experiments, prototyping, etc.)
3๏ธโฃ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ข
๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: building solutions due to pressure from HIPPOs or FOMO of a competitor, without caring for the user.
๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: focus on ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ "๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ". Do NOT build anything unless it ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ด.
4๏ธโฃ ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: poor prioritization leads to building features that don't solve user needs or contribute to product's goals. These features increase tech debt and add to the cost of building and maintaining a feature.
๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: create foolproof prioritization methodologies. Focus on testing and validating first, scaling second. Take risks, but never compromise on impact. Regularly reassess and iterate on priorities.
5๏ธโฃ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: not providing adequate communication and education to users about value of the new features.
๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: market features effectively, helping users understand how it solves their problems.
6๏ธโฃ ๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ / ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ: continuing to invest in features that show little or no impact
๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ: invest time in setting the right success criterion, measure performance regularly, iterate or consider killing features that aren't meeting expectations
What would you do to ensure what you build will be used by the users?