A Practitionerrsquos Guide to Product Strategy

Pandith Jantakahalli

Contents

1 What to build

2 Actually building what you decide

3 Building

4 Acquiring customers

5 How do you know you are delivering outcomes

6 Beingstaying successful

ndash Sequencing

ldquoBase your strategy on things that do not changerdquo

Jeff Bezos

1 What to Build

bull Determined by customer outcomes competing solutions and your point of view

Start with Customer Outcomes

bull Define customer outcomes using vocabulary that customers would use

bull Customer outcomes have functional emotional and social attributes

ndash Pay attention to context situations motivations constraints and how they are achieving these outcomes today

bull Customers outcomes are not the same as businessoutcomes for your company But they are massively linked

Build on Point-of-View

bull Build is always involves choosing (trade-off )an attribute (or consideration set) based on customer outcome and context

bull Choose attributes based on what is valued by customer (importance) what competition offers (satisfaction)ndash Align with hiring criteriandash Offer a path continuous greater ldquovaluerdquo

bull Point-of-view includes where to draw the line (product scope) and this impacts who your customers are

bull Donrsquot try to be everything for everybody

Image Source Wikipedia

Contents

1 What to build

2 Actually building what you decide

3 Building

4 Acquiring customers

5 How do you know you are delivering outcomes

6 Beingstaying successful

ndash Sequencing

ldquoBase your strategy on things that do not changerdquo

Jeff Bezos

1 What to Build

bull Determined by customer outcomes competing solutions and your point of view

Start with Customer Outcomes

bull Define customer outcomes using vocabulary that customers would use

bull Customer outcomes have functional emotional and social attributes

ndash Pay attention to context situations motivations constraints and how they are achieving these outcomes today

bull Customers outcomes are not the same as businessoutcomes for your company But they are massively linked

Build on Point-of-View

bull Build is always involves choosing (trade-off )an attribute (or consideration set) based on customer outcome and context

bull Choose attributes based on what is valued by customer (importance) what competition offers (satisfaction)ndash Align with hiring criteriandash Offer a path continuous greater ldquovaluerdquo

bull Point-of-view includes where to draw the line (product scope) and this impacts who your customers are

bull Donrsquot try to be everything for everybody

Image Source Wikipedia

ldquoBase your strategy on things that do not changerdquo

Jeff Bezos

1 What to Build

bull Determined by customer outcomes competing solutions and your point of view

Start with Customer Outcomes

bull Define customer outcomes using vocabulary that customers would use

bull Customer outcomes have functional emotional and social attributes

ndash Pay attention to context situations motivations constraints and how they are achieving these outcomes today

bull Customers outcomes are not the same as businessoutcomes for your company But they are massively linked

Build on Point-of-View

bull Build is always involves choosing (trade-off )an attribute (or consideration set) based on customer outcome and context

bull Choose attributes based on what is valued by customer (importance) what competition offers (satisfaction)ndash Align with hiring criteriandash Offer a path continuous greater ldquovaluerdquo

bull Point-of-view includes where to draw the line (product scope) and this impacts who your customers are

bull Donrsquot try to be everything for everybody

Image Source Wikipedia

1 What to Build

bull Determined by customer outcomes competing solutions and your point of view

Start with Customer Outcomes

bull Define customer outcomes using vocabulary that customers would use

bull Customer outcomes have functional emotional and social attributes

ndash Pay attention to context situations motivations constraints and how they are achieving these outcomes today

bull Customers outcomes are not the same as businessoutcomes for your company But they are massively linked

Build on Point-of-View

bull Build is always involves choosing (trade-off )an attribute (or consideration set) based on customer outcome and context

bull Choose attributes based on what is valued by customer (importance) what competition offers (satisfaction)ndash Align with hiring criteriandash Offer a path continuous greater ldquovaluerdquo

bull Point-of-view includes where to draw the line (product scope) and this impacts who your customers are

bull Donrsquot try to be everything for everybody

Image Source Wikipedia

Start with Customer Outcomes

bull Define customer outcomes using vocabulary that customers would use

bull Customer outcomes have functional emotional and social attributes

ndash Pay attention to context situations motivations constraints and how they are achieving these outcomes today

bull Customers outcomes are not the same as businessoutcomes for your company But they are massively linked

Build on Point-of-View

bull Build is always involves choosing (trade-off )an attribute (or consideration set) based on customer outcome and context

bull Choose attributes based on what is valued by customer (importance) what competition offers (satisfaction)ndash Align with hiring criteriandash Offer a path continuous greater ldquovaluerdquo

bull Point-of-view includes where to draw the line (product scope) and this impacts who your customers are

bull Donrsquot try to be everything for everybody

Image Source Wikipedia

Build on Point-of-View

bull Build is always involves choosing (trade-off )an attribute (or consideration set) based on customer outcome and context

bull Choose attributes based on what is valued by customer (importance) what competition offers (satisfaction)ndash Align with hiring criteriandash Offer a path continuous greater ldquovaluerdquo

bull Point-of-view includes where to draw the line (product scope) and this impacts who your customers are

bull Donrsquot try to be everything for everybody

Image Source Wikipedia

Side Note What is ldquoProductrdquo

bull Every interaction with the prospectcustomer is the ldquoproductrdquo

ndash Marketing messages of all kinds

bull Website blog emails brochures ads

ndash Support interactions

ndash Customer manuals

ndash Traininguser guidesseminars

ndash Communityforumsuser groups

bull Identify all interactions with your product and prioritize and rank for focus

Now that you have decided what to build how to enable building hellip

2 Actually Building What You Decide

bull Having a set of product principles helps with alignmentand cohesion of activities across stakeholders

ndash Products usually have goals and metrics but they do not provide guidelines for action

Product Principles

bull Product principles must be anchored around customer outcomes and point-of-view

bull Helps enablendash Consistent decision making across different stakeholders

at all levels

ndash Prioritization and deployment of resources is easier

ndash Emphasizes PoV

bull Good product principles speaks to how users should feelbefore while after using the product

What to keep in mind while building hellip

3 Building

bull When to build (a featurefunctionality) is as important as what to build

Sequencing

bull Sequence based on impact and effort (project size)

ndash Impact is a function of what outcomes it enables what competition offers

bull Carefully access for compounding of benefits

ndash Impact of multiple small features vs one large feature

bull Example If you are having problems with activation do not focus on projects that drive more traffic

Now that you have built hellip

4 Acquiring Customers

bull Customer acquisition is greatly determined by positioning power of emotion in decision making and strategy to tackle objectionsconcerns

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

2 Actually Building What You Decide

bull Having a set of product principles helps with alignmentand cohesion of activities across stakeholders

ndash Products usually have goals and metrics but they do not provide guidelines for action

Product Principles

bull Product principles must be anchored around customer outcomes and point-of-view

bull Helps enablendash Consistent decision making across different stakeholders

at all levels

ndash Prioritization and deployment of resources is easier

ndash Emphasizes PoV

bull Good product principles speaks to how users should feelbefore while after using the product

What to keep in mind while building hellip

3 Building

bull When to build (a featurefunctionality) is as important as what to build

Sequencing

bull Sequence based on impact and effort (project size)

ndash Impact is a function of what outcomes it enables what competition offers

bull Carefully access for compounding of benefits

ndash Impact of multiple small features vs one large feature

bull Example If you are having problems with activation do not focus on projects that drive more traffic

Now that you have built hellip

4 Acquiring Customers

bull Customer acquisition is greatly determined by positioning power of emotion in decision making and strategy to tackle objectionsconcerns

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Product Principles

bull Product principles must be anchored around customer outcomes and point-of-view

bull Helps enablendash Consistent decision making across different stakeholders

at all levels

ndash Prioritization and deployment of resources is easier

ndash Emphasizes PoV

bull Good product principles speaks to how users should feelbefore while after using the product

What to keep in mind while building hellip

3 Building

bull When to build (a featurefunctionality) is as important as what to build

Sequencing

bull Sequence based on impact and effort (project size)

ndash Impact is a function of what outcomes it enables what competition offers

bull Carefully access for compounding of benefits

ndash Impact of multiple small features vs one large feature

bull Example If you are having problems with activation do not focus on projects that drive more traffic

Now that you have built hellip

4 Acquiring Customers

bull Customer acquisition is greatly determined by positioning power of emotion in decision making and strategy to tackle objectionsconcerns

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

3 Building

bull When to build (a featurefunctionality) is as important as what to build

Sequencing

bull Sequence based on impact and effort (project size)

ndash Impact is a function of what outcomes it enables what competition offers

bull Carefully access for compounding of benefits

ndash Impact of multiple small features vs one large feature

bull Example If you are having problems with activation do not focus on projects that drive more traffic

Now that you have built hellip

4 Acquiring Customers

bull Customer acquisition is greatly determined by positioning power of emotion in decision making and strategy to tackle objectionsconcerns

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Sequencing

bull Sequence based on impact and effort (project size)

ndash Impact is a function of what outcomes it enables what competition offers

bull Carefully access for compounding of benefits

ndash Impact of multiple small features vs one large feature

bull Example If you are having problems with activation do not focus on projects that drive more traffic

Now that you have built hellip

4 Acquiring Customers

bull Customer acquisition is greatly determined by positioning power of emotion in decision making and strategy to tackle objectionsconcerns

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

4 Acquiring Customers

bull Customer acquisition is greatly determined by positioning power of emotion in decision making and strategy to tackle objectionsconcerns

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Positioning

bull Position based on outcomes that competition is enabling and your point of view

ndash Note Customers will instinctively place you among alternatives that helps them achieve the same outcome

bull Has a big impact on customer acquisition and pricing especially premium pricing

bull Examples

ndash Positioning the iPad against netbooks

ndash Dog food animal vs like your baby

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Power of Emotions

bull ldquoWhen dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotionrdquo ndash Dale Carnegie

bull People find it extremely difficult to take decisions without emotions

bull Crucial to have a point-of-view on how your customers should feel ndash before during and after using your productndash What can you do the set the right emotionsndash What can you do create the right emotions

bull Do everything you can do to eliminate negative emotions like anxiety ndash before during and after product use

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Handling Objections

bull Customers do not buy your products they switch to your productndash Focus on making this switch as easy and painless as possible

bull Customers may have existing behaviorshabits and workflows that may require a lot of time and effort to overcomendash Example

bull Can I easily migrate all my bugstickets over to your product easilybull Should I learn new skills what kind of (negative) impact will this have on

adoption

bull Note Changing customer behavior is hard try and leverage existing behaviors instead of creating new onesndash Increasing motivation is not the same as decreasing friction to

adoptionNow that you have acquired customers what to focus on hellip

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

5 Delivering Outcomes

bull Buyingpurchasing is not the same as delivering outcomes

bull Consumptionengagementusage is a true indicator of value delivery

bull Reach and frequency of feature usage are critical metrics to track if the product is delivering outcomes

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Reach (How many people use a feature)

bull Focus on improving feature adoption among all your users

ndash Set targets for adoption by mapping how a feature contributes to delivering customer outcomes

bull Use ldquo5 Whysrdquo technique to understand reasons for poor adoption and take necessary steps to improve adoption

bull Kill features that no one uses or is sparingly adopted

ndash Simplifies the product

ndash Provides tons of flexibility during decision-making

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Frequency (How many times a feature is used)

bull Focus on improving frequency of usage of all features

ndash Features that are being used all the time by all the users are high leverage features

bull Nir Eyalrsquos ldquoHook Canvasrdquo a great framework for improving frequency of usage of a feature

ndash Trigger action reward investment

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

6 Staying Successful

bull Product success is tied to helping users to become successful

bull Brutal NOs are necessary to maintain focus on customer outcomes and point-of-views

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Badass Users

bull Think less about product features and more about what attributes makes the user better (become experts)

ndash Help users improve their skills (not in using your product) resolution of experience producing better results

bull Enable them to become experts and provide them with the necessary motivation on their path to become experts

bull Do not drain limited cognitive resources of the users while they use the product they need it for achieving outcomes

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Saying NO

bull Short term ldquowinsrdquo emergencies just-this-one-time small-half-a-day job are the biggest killers of long term product successndash Working on these short term items automatically means not

working on long term gains

bull Long term success is achieved by tracking changes to desired customer outcomes and changes to the consideration set and building appropriately

bull Before extending scope of the product ensure that all existing gaps are met

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Featuritis Curve

Image Source Kathy Sierrarsquos Blog

Summary

1 What to build

ndash Start with customer outcomes

ndash Build on point-of-view

ndash Side Note It is not only about the product

2 Actually building what you decide

ndash Alignment and cohesion

bull Product principles

3 Building

ndash Sequencing

4 Acquiring customers

ndash Positioning

ndash Handle objections

ndash Harness power of emotions

5 How do you know you are delivering outcomes

ndash ReachFeature adoption

ndash Frequency of feature usage

6 Beingstaying successful

ndash Creating Bad Ass Users

ndash Saying No

Sources Acknowledgements

bull Intercomio on Product Management

bull Kathy Sierra on creating Badass Users

bull Articles by Rewired Group on jtbdorg and Alan Klement jtbdinfo

bull Ian MacAllisterrsquos answers on Quora

bull Photos belong to their respective copyright owners

Sources Acknowledgements

bull Intercomio on Product Management

bull Kathy Sierra on creating Badass Users

bull Articles by Rewired Group on jtbdorg and Alan Klement jtbdinfo

bull Ian MacAllisterrsquos answers on Quora

bull Photos belong to their respective copyright owners

About

Pandith Jantakahalli

Blog

httpwwwjppandithin

httpsmediumcomjppandith

Twitter jppandith

Email jppandith at gmailcom