If you’re working in a tech company for a while, you had probably so many ideas in your mind that you think the company should add as the next features or services.
Ideas are a lot. And choosing one or some that are valuable, feasible, and usable is not an easy task. We got it, that’s why PMs (Product managers) are there.
PMs probably have a next-features list already. or are on the way to making it.
But here are some good questions to ask before planning to build the next feature:
- How well the product’s user experience is performing?
- Is the current features (and of course future features) in the direction of solving the users’ main problem that we are committed to solving?
User Experience Matters
Psychologically, Humans tend to pay more attention and be impacted by negative experiences rather than neutral or positive experiences. So, one bad thing could weigh more than one equal good thing for people.
This is called Negativity Bias.
This also means doesn’t matter how many features your product has, as long as delivering value to users is frustrating, full of unexpected errors, and drains users’ time and mental energy.
And, of course, It doesn’t seem to be fair sometimes. Users easily forget how good the features are when some annoying UX errors appear.
So, that explains why we should prioritize UX improvement (till good enough) over adding more features.
One Good Solution is Better
Why big products like Slack, Spotify, or Twitter aren’t adding big features to vast their market audience? They don’t have enough resources?
I don’t think so.
The answer is simple. They’re sticking to their “WHY”. The reason they started their product in the first place.
They’re focusing only or mostly on solving one main problem which created this opportunity and brought them into the game.
Just like a specialist who focuses only on being great at one skill. And that’s self-explanatory that which one is more successful. A specialist or a generalist.
More Features Doesn’t Mean Better Experience all the Time
Sometimes, it's tempting to add some new features.
It increases user happiness for a while cause they can do more stuff. New users will be absorbed into the product. And, of course, the team would be proud of delivering a new feature.
But, the dark side of the moon should be considered too.
- Every feature we add needs to be introduced to our users. What’s the feature? How does it work? So, how to include this into the onboarding flow without hurting the “Aha moment” experience.
- It requires a specified place in the product. and more features mean more placement requirements which will make our product more sophisticated and complex.
- Also, complexity is an enemy of good user experience. It affects the learning curve, cognitive load, etc.
This chart also explains why lots of features don’t mean many happy users.
Some may think they should add features as much as they can. So, they’ll add more and more features without considering litterly anything else.
Their goal is to have more advantages compared to their competitors. But they totally forget their product’s “WHY”.
This phenomena is also called Feature Creep or Featuritis.
Conclusion
Features could be crucial in products’ growth or be destructive. It all depends on how we choose the idea and how we implement it. and of course, making sure that we’re not overwhelming our users with so many features and options.
And it’s not all about adding. Sometimes we should remove a feature to help the product grow. Letting it be lean, usable, and simple.
Thanks for reading.
