Never forget the 80% user
How many times have you seen this — a product is insanely popular due to its simplicity and everyone cannot stop talking about how easy it is to get that one job done.
Over time the product evolves to do more jobs by reacting to growing needs from customers. It is now a lot more powerful. For the power user, that is. The typical user, however, struggles to accomplish that one job in a few quick seconds — the job she hired the product for many years ago. If left unchecked, frustrated users will seek another product that does it really well.
How do you continue to innovate while not alienating your core customer base?
Never forget your product’s job #1
Stay true to the original vision and purpose — this is true for a product as much as it is for an organization. As the product matures and customers find new uses for the product, there will always be the temptation to turn the product into a Swiss-army knife. However, successful products ensure growth is never at the expense of the original purpose. Google search is a great example. It is just as easy, if not easier with voice input, to search the web that turned Google into a verb almost two decades ago, while the search algorithm under the hood has undergone tremendous changes over the years.
Never forget the 80:20 for your product
Successful products thrive on word-of-mouth from influencers and power users. Power users help as leading indicators for emerging needs of your customers. They also demand faster response from product teams in addressing their needs. As a product manager of a mature product, the challenge is to cater to a wide range of needs, not just to the power user. As you add more capabilities, the trick is in keeping it simple for the 80% user while not making it a treasure hunt for the 20% power user to unravel advanced features.
Never forget what you know about your customer
It is easier than ever to strike the right balance for different users. With advances in machine learning, you can now build a rich understanding of how your customers use the product. With this knowledge, you can design the product to surface the right use case to get the job done efficiently, one customer at a time. For instance, an accounting application can popup payment processing on login knowing that an invoice is due for payment and the user typically processes payments at the given time of day. Guiding users in this way provides a way to hide all the complexity to accomplish something very important yet simple. Retailers like Walmart and Nordstrom introduced an in-store mode in their mobile apps that intelligently turns on when a user enters one of their stores. In-store mode surfaces a store map, offers of the day and other features that are most relevant when a customer is shopping in-store while the primary purpose of the app remains mobile shopping.
For new customers, it is perfectly fine to ask the user where to start. It is even more imperative to help a new user navigate before overwhelming them with the rich capabilities of the application. Intuit recently redesigned QuickBooks Online with an aim to get a new user derive benefit in the shortest possible time. The user is in control, deciding the job to get done first before learning about everything else the product can deliver. For instance, download bank transactions and have that automatically categorized into the appropriate income and expense accounts.
With diminishing attention spans, a mere few seconds can make the difference between a prospect adopting your product and exploring alternatives. On the other hand, loyal customers who are in love with your product can become increasingly frustrated when the product they originally bought moves away from their needs one step at a time. While the solution is obviously not to stand still in the face of a changing world, remaining true to the original purpose and personalizing the product experience can ensure you never forget the 80% user.
