{"id":9272,"date":"2017-05-17T16:00:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=9272"},"modified":"2017-05-17T16:00:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T15:00:27","slug":"things-ive-learned-building-digital-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/things-ive-learned-building-digital-products\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Things I\u2019ve Learned About Building Digital\u00a0Products"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Over the past few years I\u2019ve learned a lot about building delightful products that hopefully people love. Some have taken off. Some have been acquired. And some sort of went nowhere. More often than not, these learnings came from mistakes as I worked on a handful of web and mobile products. My experience set only comes from working with small startup teams rather than large teams at more established companies though I think these learnings still apply to both.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginTop-xl marginBottom-l c-black lineHeight-xl fontSize-xl fontWeight-5 breakPointM-lineHeight-xxl breakPointM-fontSize-xxl\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\">Prioritize features higher up in the\u00a0funnel<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">In Andrew Chen\u2019s essay \u201c<a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"http:\/\/andrewchen.co\/the-next-feature-fallacy-the-fallacy-that-the-next-new-feature-will-suddenly-make-people-use-your-product\/\">The Next Feature Fallacy<\/a>,\u201d he cites that your next feature will not drive mass engagement because all too often the feature is something that either too few people would use or makes too little of an impact when they do engage with it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">I\u2019ve learned to prioritize features that directly contribute to primary business goals and still delight users, though sometimes these two functions can actually be diametrically opposed. Usually, these features are primary actions that take place during or shortly after onboarding. Features that are more geared towards power users have their place, but they won\u2019t be something that everyone uses.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginTop-xl marginBottom-l c-black lineHeight-xl fontSize-xl fontWeight-5 breakPointM-lineHeight-xxl breakPointM-fontSize-xxl\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\">Focus on simple and hide the\u00a0complex<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Keep things simple. This doesn\u2019t just include the simplicity of a feature, but also the product in aggregate. Every feature has a learning curve to it. Features that skew more towards power users or extend beyond core functionality shouldn\u2019t be key parts of the experience. They could be hidden in the settings or deprioritized in the UI so their functions aren\u2019t critical to the experience. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s position-relative marginTopBottom-l breakPointM-marginTopBottom-xl\"><div class=\"blog-quote-before position-absolute bg-marvel\"><\/div><div class=\"tweet-quote blog-quote-after position-absolute bg-marvel cursor-pointer transitionDuration-l transitionProperty-all transitionTimingFunction-cv-easeOutCircular scaleUp--hover zi-weak\"><svg class=\"fill-white opacity-0 pointerEvents-none position-absolute pinCenter transitionProperty-all transitionTimingFunction-easeInOut\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 20\"><path d=\"M24,2.37a9.64,9.64,0,0,1-2.83.79A5,5,0,0,0,23.34.37a9.72,9.72,0,0,1-3.13,1.23A4.86,4.86,0,0,0,16.62,0a5,5,0,0,0-4.8,6.2A13.87,13.87,0,0,1,1.67.92,5.13,5.13,0,0,0,3.19,7.67,4.81,4.81,0,0,1,1,7a5,5,0,0,0,3.95,5,4.82,4.82,0,0,1-2.22.09,4.94,4.94,0,0,0,4.6,3.51A9.72,9.72,0,0,1,0,17.73,13.69,13.69,0,0,0,7.55,20c9.14,0,14.31-7.92,14-15A10.17,10.17,0,0,0,24,2.37Z\"\/><\/svg><\/div><p class=\"blog-quote position-relative textAlign-center c-marvel\"><span class=\"blog-quote-text transitionDuration-l transitionProperty-all transitionTimingFunction-easeInOut\">\"Power user features often have the biggest learning curves as well.\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginTop-xl marginBottom-l c-black lineHeight-xl fontSize-xl fontWeight-5 breakPointM-lineHeight-xxl breakPointM-fontSize-xxl\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\">Ship as fast as possible because feedback is\u00a0oxygen<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Until you ship something, you don\u2019t know how people will respond to it. Iterating in a black box \u2014 i.e. pre-launch \u2014 can be a dangerous place as your feedback loop is small. <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@toddgoldberg\/how-launching-early-helped-us-top-product-hunt-c7061d4b9dab\">Launch what you\u2019re building as soon as it\u2019s ready<\/a>. In my opinion, done is better than perfect for startups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">I\u2019ve also recently become a fan of eliminating all dependencies to ship. This means not having to wait to get things like your marketing just right before engineering can push to production. Marketing and the way you position product and features can be iterated on, too. <\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp, <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"https:\/\/m.signalvnoise.com\/depend-less-on-each-other-507fe0e23e4b\">talks about this<\/a> when describing how Basecamp\u2019s mobile teams are driven by the same product vision, but yet control their own implementation schedules. This means their iOS team can work and ship independently of their Android team.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginTop-xl marginBottom-l c-black lineHeight-xl fontSize-xl fontWeight-5 breakPointM-lineHeight-xxl breakPointM-fontSize-xxl\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\">Break down big features and work towards them incrementally<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">I\u2019m a systems thinker which lends itself well to approaching product. I like to break big features down into smaller components and then prioritize those components to get us from ground zero to a completed feature. I\u2019ve found it helpful as a way to release things faster and provide more value to our users sooner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">I\u2019ve also found it helpful to have a deep understanding of the full roadmap so you can understand how today\u2019s releases will play into tomorrow\u2019s product. This could be anything from current engineering limitations or level of effort to get something out of the door.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginTop-xl marginBottom-l c-black lineHeight-xl fontSize-xl fontWeight-5 breakPointM-lineHeight-xxl breakPointM-fontSize-xxl\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\">Vision drives the roadmap, but so should your customers<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Everyone loves to quote Steve Job\u2019s idea that the customer doesn\u2019t know what they want until you show them. While I think this is partially true as great founders have a clear vision for what their products and impact will look like years or decades from the present day, your customers\u2019 feedback is invaluable. This means you need to talk to your customers and make it easy for them to provide feedback. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s position-relative marginTopBottom-l breakPointM-marginTopBottom-xl\"><div class=\"blog-quote-before position-absolute bg-marvel\"><\/div><div class=\"tweet-quote blog-quote-after position-absolute bg-marvel cursor-pointer transitionDuration-l transitionProperty-all transitionTimingFunction-cv-easeOutCircular scaleUp--hover zi-weak\"><svg class=\"fill-white opacity-0 pointerEvents-none position-absolute pinCenter transitionProperty-all transitionTimingFunction-easeInOut\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 20\"><path d=\"M24,2.37a9.64,9.64,0,0,1-2.83.79A5,5,0,0,0,23.34.37a9.72,9.72,0,0,1-3.13,1.23A4.86,4.86,0,0,0,16.62,0a5,5,0,0,0-4.8,6.2A13.87,13.87,0,0,1,1.67.92,5.13,5.13,0,0,0,3.19,7.67,4.81,4.81,0,0,1,1,7a5,5,0,0,0,3.95,5,4.82,4.82,0,0,1-2.22.09,4.94,4.94,0,0,0,4.6,3.51A9.72,9.72,0,0,1,0,17.73,13.69,13.69,0,0,0,7.55,20c9.14,0,14.31-7.92,14-15A10.17,10.17,0,0,0,24,2.37Z\"\/><\/svg><\/div><p class=\"blog-quote position-relative textAlign-center c-marvel\"><span class=\"blog-quote-text transitionDuration-l transitionProperty-all transitionTimingFunction-easeInOut\">\"You need to talk to your customers and make it easy for them to provide feedback\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Your roadmap should equally encompass both parts. This is even easier if you\u2019re building something to solve your own problem as you\u2019re the end user.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginTop-xl marginBottom-l c-black lineHeight-xl fontSize-xl fontWeight-5 breakPointM-lineHeight-xxl breakPointM-fontSize-xxl\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\">If you build it, they will probably not\u00a0come<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">Even if your launch goes phenomenally well, you\u2019ll eventually enter what Paul Graham calls the <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"http:\/\/1g1uem2nc4jy1gzhn943ro0gz50.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/startup-curve.png\">trough of sorrow<\/a>. Put simply, growth is hard. It takes a long time to find the right mix of growth channels and build a brand that people pass on to friends and coworkers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\">And remember, there\u2019s <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/dana-severson\/what-overnight-success-pok%C3%A9mon-go-took-20-years-to-take-off-according-to-its-cr.html\">no such thing as an overnight success<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\"><em>Todd is a founder of <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"http:\/\/www.mailjoy.com\/\">Mailjoy<\/a>, a DIY tool to send direct mail postcards. Previously, he co-founded Eventjoy, a fee-free DIY ticketing company, which was later acquired by Ticketmaster. You can reach him on <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/toddg777\">twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"pageWrap pageWrap--s marginBottom-m paddingBottom-s c-slate lineHeight-l fontSize-l fontWeight-3 breakPointM-fontSize-xl breakPointM-lineHeight-xl\"><em>This article was originally published on <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\"href=\"https:\/\/hackernoon.com\/@toddgoldberg\">Todd's Medium Page<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past few years I\u2019ve learned a lot about building delightful products that hopefully people love. Some have taken off. Some have been acquired. And some sort of went nowhere. More often than not, these learnings came from mistakes as I worked on a handful of web and mobile products. My experience set only comes from working with small&#8230; <a class=\"link link--blue fontWeight-4\" href=\"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/things-ive-learned-building-digital-products\/\">Read More &#65515;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":9294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viewpoint"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/things-ive-learned-building-digital-products\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Few Things I\u2019ve Learned About Building Digital\u00a0Products | Marvel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the past few years I\u2019ve learned a lot about building delightful products that hopefully people love. 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