Reducing Product Risk and Creating Sticky Products: A Winning Approach

Reducing Product Risk and Creating Sticky Products: A Winning Approach

In today's fast-paced and competitive market, reducing product risk and creating a sticky product is essential for long-term success. However, the approach to achieving these goals may vary depending on the type of customer we are building for. Let's explore some key strategies that can help us de-risk our projects and create products that users find difficult to leave.

Understanding User Behavior and Preferences

One important factor to consider when de-risking a project is that users are generally unreliable narrators of their own behaviors and preferences. While it is crucial to regularly engage with users and understand their problems, we cannot solely rely on their input to come up with solutions. As Henry Ford famously said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." It is up to us, as product thinkers, to infer solutions based on our understanding of the problem at hand.

Investment Based on Problem Understanding and Viability

Cody's design quality framework proposes that the level of investment in a product before it reaches the customer should be based on our confidence in understanding the problem and the viability of the solution. This means that initial releases may not have all the features and functionalities that teams desire. However, by iterating and continuously improving the product, we can provide value to users as it becomes available. This approach allows us to build lightweight features on top of an existing product, gradually de-risking our vision and ensuring that what we've built scales effectively.

The Power of MVPs and MVFs

Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) and Minimum Viable Features (MVF) play a crucial role in proving that our ideas actually solve a problem. By releasing these early versions to users, we can gather feedback, validate our assumptions, and determine if further investment is required to reach the full potential of the product or feature idea. MVPs and MVFs help us de-risk our projects by minimizing upfront investment and allowing us to make informed decisions based on real user data.

Creating Sticky Products

Now let's shift our focus to creating sticky products that users find difficult to leave. Sarah Tavel's article on Medium highlights the concept of accruing benefits and mounting loss as key drivers of stickiness. Accruing benefits refer to the idea that the more a user engages with a product, the better it gets. This can be achieved by leveraging both explicit and implicit actions of the user. By analyzing the data they create while using the product, we can personalize their experience, making it more engaging and valuable over time.

Mounting loss, on the other hand, occurs when a product becomes an integral part of a user's identity or when they have invested time, effort, or resources into it. The fear of losing these investments makes it harder for users to leave the product. To create mounting loss, we need to ensure that our product provides value that goes beyond the surface level. It should become something users depend on, identify with, or have accrued value from, such as a following or a network of connections.

Actionable Advice for De-Risking and Creating Sticky Products

1. Regularly engage with users: Continuously talk to users about their problems, but remember to infer solutions based on your understanding. Don't solely rely on their input as they may not always have the best insights into product thinking.

2. Release MVPs and MVFs: Use MVPs and MVFs to validate your assumptions and gather real user data. These early versions of your product will help you de-risk your project and make informed decisions about further investment.

3. Leverage accruing benefits and mounting loss: Use the data generated by user interactions to personalize their experience and make it more engaging over time. Create a sense of value and identity within your product to make it harder for users to leave.

Conclusion

Reducing product risk and creating sticky products are essential for success in today's competitive market. By understanding user behavior, validating our assumptions through MVPs and MVFs, and leveraging accruing benefits and mounting loss, we can de-risk our projects and create products that users find difficult to leave. Remember to regularly engage with users, release early versions of your product, and personalize the user experience to achieve long-term success.