4 Questions to finding Product-User Fit

It's a tragedy to build for customers that don't want. The product would be perfect but customers may not have the problems that need your solution.

That is why product-user fit comes before product-market fit.

What is Product- User Fit? - a16z

The extent to which you’ve built the right product for the right user.

The path from product-user fit to product-market fit is all about answering a few core questions:

• Who really wants this today?
• How many of those people are out in the wild?
• What else would it take in the product to turn non-users into users of our solution?
• What macro story must play out in the market to substantially shock market-wide demand?

How do you know you nailed PUF?

Power users are a strong indicator you are on the right track from product-user fit to product-market fit.

For start-up founders to make products that people actually want, they have to pay attention to the following;

• Engagement depth that maps to the natural user behavior:?How well user behavior maps to what you’d expect if they really loved the product reveals if you’ve actually made the right product for the right user. How well does the frequency of user engagement map to the natural cadence of the underlying activity?
• User testimony that evangelizes the value:?Does the qualitative feedback from users reflect that they are desperate for your product? Do they talk about it as if it’s changed their lives at work? Is it up to 10x better than the status quo?

An example; Founder and CEO Rahul of Superhuman anchored around how many users would respond ' Very disappointed ' if they lost access to the product as a powerful signal.

• Durable retention that proves users are here to stay

Considering the early users, even if they are not that many, it important to answer some questions about them.

1. Are they using your product every single day??
2. ?For those who churn, do you know why?
3. And for others who pop up but never convert into using the product at all, what explains their rationale?
4. Do users who activate with a work email reflect a stronger intent to stay than personal email addresses perusing Product Hunt every morning?
5. Are there specific activity thresholds in the product that suck users in so deeply that they’re more likely to stick around?

Note; Making the leap from product-user fit to product-market fit is about listening to these users to evolve your product to attract more users.

Write SaaS Copy

How Copy and CRO relate.

One vital question; What are your conversion goals?

For example, out of the number of website visitors, are you trying to increase the number of people who:

• Opt-in for your newsletter?
• Opt-in to your mailing list?
• Share links to your web pages?
• Sign up for a free trial?
• Sign up for a consultation call?
• Exchange contact information for a lead magnet?
• Buy your product or service?
• Follow your brand on social media?

Podcast Insights

• Have a customer advisory board for your product design ( to get real feedback on improving the product to get product-user fit)
• When launching, go the users to test out the product and work your way backward - just like crowdfunding does pre-launches.
• Go into the customer's world and watch how they use your product.

Happy Monday

Learn & Grow

Okerosi Davis