Building Products - 101

Its a NP-hard problem

Building Products - 101
Photo by Xavi Cabrera / Unsplash

Building a product is more complex than it seems. It’s easy to get distracted and lose sight of the actual problem you aim to solve. To stay on track, remember these mantras:

  • Prioritize and focus
  • Make mistakes, iterate fast, and fail fast
  • Build less but better

Personally, I turn to these principles whenever I face confusion or important decisions. As Steve Jobs said at WWDC '97:

"People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things."

Phase 1: Defining and Getting Off the Ground

1. Idea/Problem

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

This question sets the theme and direction of your product or company. Condense your problem statement into 3-5 words or a single sentence to help prioritize and focus. Examples include:

  • Fab: World's Design Store
  • WhatsApp: Simple, personal, real-time messaging
  • GitHub: Build software better, together
  • Gawbl: Suggests food based on your mood
  • Yelp: Find great local businesses

2. Market/Customers

Who are you solving the problem for?

Define your market and customers clearly. Consider the following questions:

  • Is it a consumer or enterprise market? What is the total market size?
  • Who is your target audience? Define them and estimate the market size. For example: 25-60-year-old tech-savvy professionals, smartphone users, social media-aware content creators.

Understanding the numbers helps structure your product development and marketing phases. Be mindful to think from the customer’s perspective and avoid making unnecessary assumptions.

3. Competition

Who else is solving a similar problem?

Competition is beneficial for several reasons:

  • It validates the market and the importance of the problem you’re solving.
  • Healthy competition spurs creativity and innovation.
  • Competitors provide baseline metrics to measure your success.

Be cautious not to lose focus by merely imitating your competition. If you have no competition, leverage the advantage of being first to the market by ensuring your product creates a need.

4. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

What to build?

An MVP consists of the minimum set of functional features along with a great user experience that aligns with your problem statement. If testing your business idea, build 10% of your core product offering and showcase it to your customers for feedback.

For consumer products, consistently shipping quick, tangible targets maintains momentum, spurs innovation, and keeps competitors on their toes. Evaluate features or tasks based on:

  • Customer feedback: How well are you listening to your customers?
  • Business metrics:
    • User metrics: User acquisition, retention, and engagement
    • Revenue metrics: How does this correlate with particular user metrics?
  • Risk/reward: Is there a risk? If so, is the reward worth it? What are the rewards?

To simplify decision-making, assign a score between 1-100 for each feature/task based on these properties. If the average score is 90 or above, it’s a must-do. If it’s between 75-90, consider it. Anything below 75 needs re-evaluation.