July 2013 Summaries

You're likely to be up all night wondering why your conversion rate is so low, but the question you should ask yourself isn't “Why aren't people using it?” instead “How can I find out all the reasons why people are using it and prioritise them?”. To do this, you can use the 5 Whys technique to identify root causes of problems. This involves asking “Why” five times to drill down to the underlying issue. However, be careful not to assume you know the answer without verifying, as there may be multiple potential answers and using anecdotes to make decisions is a poor way to inform product choices. Researching user behavior through A/B tests can also provide insights, but it's limited in its understanding of user motivation and desire. By prioritizing problems based on their root cause and quantifying them, you can define projects that focus on improving user experience and ultimately grow as a company by solving high-level problems.

Shipping is not just a milestone to be reached, but rather the beginning of a process. By embracing imperfection and focusing on small, well-scoped projects, new product engineers can quickly ship user-facing features within days of joining the company. This approach allows for rapid learning from customers and iterating based on feedback. Shipping is primarily about learning, not just launching a feature and moving on to the next thing. By prioritizing speed to execution and focusing on small wins, teams can stay focused and learn from their experiences, even if it means shipping something that isn't perfect. The goal is to create a culture where shipping is seen as an ongoing process of discovery and improvement, rather than a one-time achievement.

When considering feature creep and bloated products, poor UI design can be a significant issue, highlighting the problem of too much information for users to comprehend. To solve this, it's essential to identify which features are being widely adopted by customers and which ones are struggling to gain traction. This involves analyzing adoption rates per feature, filtering out dead or inactive customers, and distinguishing between actual usage and trial periods. By applying these principles, product owners can determine whether a feature should be kept or killed, and take targeted design and communication approaches to promote adoption or remove underperforming features.

What happens in the first 30 days defines whether a new sign-up turns into a loyal customer, or is never seen again. Talking to customers during this period is critical. NewsWhip uses Intercom to grow its userbase and get great feedback from new customers. The company offers a 30-day free trial of its product Spike, which allows it to target users with personalized messages at the right time. This helps to increase conversations with engaged customers, leading to conversions and ultimately achieving the goal of making Spike the definitive catch-all dashboard for what the world cares about.

Building a great product isn't about creating tons of features that are tangentially related. It's about delivering a cohesive product with well defined parameters, and saying no to ideas that don't fit within the purview of the product. Saying yes to every good idea can lead to death by preferences, messy interfaces, and hidden complexity. Instead, it's essential to be great at saying no, and make hard decisions about what features to build. This requires identifying and eliminating bad ideas, and being willing to look at proposals and say "no" even when they seem like a great idea. By doing so, you can create a product that serves the market, rather than just trying to please everyone or following trends.