Why Product Thinking is A Big Thing in UX Design.

Life is too short to build something nobody wants. When thinking of User Experience, we often think of a simple, beautiful, and easy-to-use feature set of a product, that makes the user’s life easier. But as a matter of fact, features are merely a small, fragile part of the product. They are only a few of the many thinkable solutions for a user’s problem the product tries to solve. Thinking about products means thinking about specific users’ problems, jobs to be done, goals, and revenues.

The core user experience is not a set of features; in fact, it is the job of users to hire the product. For instance, Bolts’ core user experience is to get a ride easily at any time. The countdown, displaying when exactly the ride will arrive, is a suitable feature that expands this experience. But Bolts’ product works regardless of this feature. The countdown, on the other hand, cannot live without the product (the certainty to get a ride easily at any time). There is a one-way interrelationship between feature and product: Features don’t work without the product. This is why designers should think about products first.

Think in Product, not in feature

Steve Jobs once said that It’s not the customer’s job to know what they want. A product has a core user experience, which is the reason the product exists. It fulfills a need or solves a problem people have. By that, it becomes meaningful and provides a certain value. If the problem is non-existent, or the solution doesn’t fit the problem, the product becomes meaningless, and people won’t use the product, which in turn leads to the downfall of the product. Wrong solutions can be fixed, but non-existent problems aren’t adjustable at all.?

So, how can we be sure to tackle a real problem? Alas, we can‘t be 100% sure, but we can minimize the risk a lot by observing and talking to people. Hence, uncovering the problem and building solutions customers want.

Think in products and build the right features for the right people

Thinking about products helps build successful features. By defining the problems, the product tackles, it answers the question “Why do we build this product?”. Defining the target audience “Who has these problems?” and defining the solution “How are we doing this?” will give enough guidance to create a new feature. Setting up a goal will help to measure the success of this feature. Fall in love with a problem, not a specific solution

The Problem-Solution-Fit

Products become meaningful when the provided solution fits the uncovered problem. This solution describes the way how a trial will be solved. Thus, the problem-solution-fit defines the core user experience of a product. The concrete features are extending this experience and support the core experience, but they cannot replace it. Interaction Design and Visual Design can make a product beautiful, easy to use, delightful, or make it stand out in the competition, though it can’t make the product meaningful. This is why a proper problem-solution-fit is so critical for the success of a product.

The Product Definition

When thinking about products, UX designers should be able to answer the following questions first:?

• What problem do we solve? (User problem).?
• For whom are we doing this? (Target audience).?
• Why are we doing this? (Vision).?
• How are we doing this (Strategy)
• what do we want to achieve? (Goals).

?Only then does it make sense to think about what we are doing (Features)?

The Power of Product Thinking

Thinking about products gives designers the advantage of building the right features for the right people. It helps understand the user experience of a product as a whole; not purely as Interaction- and Visual- Design of features. It makes sure designers tackle real user problems and herewith reduce the risk of building something nobody wants. It gives the power to make the right decisions regarding building features.

Building features are accessible, but building the right parts for the right people is challenging. Product Thinking enables UX designers to ask the right questions, build the right features, and communicate with stakeholders more efficiently. It enables designers to say "no“ and to be hesitant before adding new features. Whenever a new feature is requested or someone has an idea for a new product, designers can ask the right questions, before drawing wireframes or crafting fancy layouts: “Does it fit into the product?”–“Does it serve a real user problem?” –“Do people want or need it?–Let’s find out first!” This will keep the product slim and practical.

At Revent Technologies, we think about products and make sure our designers build the right features for the right people and tackle real problems people have. For instance, we built a document management product called Flowmono that has been employed in the document management of some Nigerian banks. We empower them to make the right decisions and this is the foundation of building successful products users want. Product Thinking establishes a fruitful relationship between Product Management and UX Design and therefore leads to stronger products. This is why Product Thinking is going to be the next big thing in UX Design.

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