Table of Contents
- Understanding User Growth and Retention
- First Impressions Matter
- Creating Enchanting Experiences
- Customer Support as a Growth Strategy
- Fostering Long-Term Relationships
- Building a Culture of Appreciation
- Data-Driven Decision Making
- Conclusion: The Path to Building Products Users Love
Whether developing products for users, it was necessary to make a break in the competitive landscape. Kevin Hale, cofounder of Wufoo and partner of Y Combinator, gave some great insights into exactly how to build products users will love. This blog post will discuss certain principles and strategies his talk gives on how to develop a product that pulls users in to want more.
Understanding User Growth and Retention
It really comes back to two things: conversion rate and churn. Conversion rate: that’s the percentage of users who do whatever it is they’re supposed to do, whether it’s sign up or make a purchase. Churn is the rate at which they stop using your product. What Hale does is put more emphasis on those metrics in terms of the human factor, especially when in the earlier phase of a Startup.
He says instead of abstracting these into mathematical models, a Startup should create an intimate interaction with its users. If businesses were to understand their users personally, he says, they could build products that really resonate with them. Products of this kind of intimate approach bring about loyal users who would be invested in the success of both the product and the company.
First Impressions Matter
He uses an analogy between building relationships and the development of products. Much like in personal relationships, it is said that the first impression is everything in using a product by a user. The very first experience a user has can totally influence his perception and future interaction with the product.
- //- Design memorable onboarding experiences
- //- Create engaging first time experiences
- //- Engage a user’s emotions during the first use
In his speech, he insists on making the first moments enchanting. For example, Wufoo added a dinosaur, and on its login page, it would be in different playful poses. This playful element may be what retains visitors to come back and experience more.
Crafting Enchanting Experiences
Apart from the first impression, Hale addresses the issue of enchanting qualities in products. He gives two Japanese terms about the quality of the product: “atarimae hinshitsu,” meaning taken-for-granted quality, and “miryokuteki hinshitsu,” which means enchanting quality. This refers to the pleasant properties of a product that improve the experience of the user beyond pure functionality.
For instance, a well-designed pen not only serves its purpose but also creates pleasure when using it. Extending this analogy to the software domain, Hale challenges start-ups to focus all their efforts on creating enchanting experiences that unleash emotions at first glance. This could be achieved through thoughtfulness in design and user interactions.
Customer Support as a Growth Strategy
Hale brings customer support right into the development process. He believes that the best way to build good software is when developers communicate directly with users. By doing customer support, the developers realize what causes user pain and can fix many issues before they escalate.
Wufoo embraced “Support Driven Development,” and everybody within the team helped out with customer support. This helped in using that information to improve the quality of the products, accountability, and empathy were inbred inside the team.
Long-Term Relationship Building
Comparing successful marriages to long-term customer relationships is one of the many strengths of Hale. He relates the research by John Gottman, one of the famous researchers into marriage dynamics, where he discovers that what characterizes successful marriages is their styles of communications and resolution of conflicts between them. Similarly, so will a startup—by relieving users’ concerns and keeping an open line of communication.
This means that start-up’s should keep an ear out for user feedback and respond to support queries quickly to avoid this kind of churn. Treat users with respect, and the company will build loyalty for its products and retain customers.
Building a Culture of Appreciation
One of the most singular practices at Wufoo was the ritual of writing hand-addressed thank-you notes to users. This naïve gesture not only gives the user the feeling of being valued but also refines a culture of gratitude within the team. Hale stresses that appreciation has to be part and parcel of the culture in a Startup, since it would foster a positive environment for employees and users alike.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Hale puts forth data as the driver for product development and user engagement. Analyses of user behaviour and feedback could tell the startup areas for improvement and make informed decisions to their ground. That gives a company central focus on features and improvements ranking highly with the user base.
Conclusion: How to Build Products Users Love
Products that users love demand empathy, creativity, and strategic thinking. Acquiring empathic insight about user needs, nurturing relationships, and creating enchanting experiences constitute the steps toward raising a passionate user base for any Startup. Kevin Hale shares his views on how to create products that can do much more than just attract users; rather, they keep them engaged for as long as possible. Here’s the summary of the key takeaways from Hale’s talk:
- Focus on first impressions and user experiences
- Make customer support an integral part of product development
- Foster a culture of appreciation and gratitude
- Drive decisions, as well as the improvement of products, with data
With such strategies at its core, a Startup is bound to succeed and eventually craft products that users will genuinely love.
