As I mentioned in the prior post, companies can be too insular in their approach to building products. Way too often product failure can be traced back to not really understanding the customer and their needs early in the definition stage.
So to help shorten the learning curve – here are a couple of insights about customers that every team should be thinking about as they flesh out a product idea:
1) The product must solve a problem a customer has or helps them accomplish a familiar task in a better way. Yes, there are rogue ideas that do neither (e.g., Facebook) and they are RARE. If you want to give your product a leg up – focus on one of these two basic customer needs. Clayton Christensen calls it “jobs-to-be-done.”
2) Customers are not focused on just one way to find a solution – they are looking at all kinds of ways to find the right solution. This is why you have to clearly define your differentiator so your customer can weigh your benefits against other options (some you may not see as competition). Think about how you might get across town. There are plenty of options – walk, drive, bus, bike – you may consider all or a few, but in the end it has to be right for you. The car companies are invested in just one of those solutions.
Bonus thought:
Thought this might be a an opportune time to insert a quote from an insider at Microsoft about the newly announced corporate re-structure:
“If this is all about an org chart and not how to build great products, it does not matter what org chart Ballmer presents. Consumers buy products, not a management structure.”
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