Make things that people want

Sounds too simple right? I really believe it is this simple. Well, it can be…

I spend a lot of time reading on how to build better products and I’ve noticed an underlying theme: Make things that people want. Now I know that seems really obvious, but when you really think about it, are you actually making things people want?

In my experience, a lot of companies make things they *think* people want. However, when it comes down to it, they often make over-complex solutions that are based on opinions of people within the company as opposed to demand from the market. Sound familiar?

Here’s the thing. In order to make things people want, you first need to gain a deep understanding of the people you are making a solution for. You need to stop looking lens of your product and start looking at their workflows and how they want to make progress outside of your product.

You really need to get to know them, a good place to start is to dig into the following areas:

• What does progress look like to them?
• How will it change their current situation?
• What other solutions do they use?
• What have they tried before?
• What works, what doesn’t and why?

If you can talk with your target customers and understand them beyond your product, I can guarantee new idea and opportunities will come through and you’ll see a much clearer picture of where you can add value.

If you want to dig in deeper on this, I recommend you follow Ryan Singer, Bob Moesta and Jim Kalbach. They’ve published some really great reading around demand thinking and how you can understand the jobs-to-be-done of your customers.

And if you want to hear more from me, you can follow me on Twitter.