Your product needs a strong 'why?'

In a world where you will compete for market share and mind share, telling a compelling story of why customers should use your product is far more important than what the product is. 'Why' is where you should start. 'Why' is what you should use to determine whether you even need a product in the first place. 'Why' is what you need to ask all throughout the development process to ensure that your product actually solves the problem your customers want you to solve.

'Why' is the story behind your product. Each product needs a compelling story to tell. A story is what makes people want to use your product. It is what you use to convince someone to give you their time and/or their dollars. The story should appeal to both the emotional and the rational side of your customers. You evoke the emotional side by highlighting how much your customers dislike their problem - You evoke the rational side by telling them how you are solving their problem in a meaningful way.

Story comes before the product. You should write your product's narrative before you start building, otherwise you will likely build something that you think is cool to build, not necessarily something that people want. The product story is a reflection of your empathy. Once you start building, make sure your story is remains in the forefront throughout the development process. If it recedes into background, or if people stop believing in it, the end product will not be what you initially set out to do.

At Amazon, all new product and their features start with a dummy press release. Product Managers write how they foresee they will introduce their product to the world. This narrative must include the key customer benefits of the new product, the main problem it solves, and how customers would use it. PMs also draft quotes of how a real customer would talk about this feature. This exercise forces the team to build the story around their product before diving into its requirements - the "what" and the "how". Once signed off by all stakeholder, it also serves as the source of truth to revisit every time the team faces a major decision or runs into a disagreement about what to do.

I personally try to always focus on the why - can't say I have been successful all the time. There have been plenty of occasions where I have slipped into 'Oh-this-is-cool' approach and not questioned my assumption whether it aligns with the broader story. If you are somebody who consider themselves a builder, I'd encourage you to take a moment to ask yourself whether what you are building this week has a story, and the specific task you have at hand, does it align with it. Leave your thoughts, comments, or questions below.