Webyantra is slowly evolving into a discussion forum for product design & strategy with regard to web based products. This is a modified version of an earlier post (from my personal blog) about key lessons I have learnt in designing and building web products.
For the last two years, my primary role has been to lead the product development team at my startup. We have built two web products, both of which are unique, one-of-its kind. The first of these is a user research software solution for the B2B space, while the second is a Web 2.0 social media sharing application in the consumer internet space.
It’s been two long, hard, grueling years of relentless, uncompromising and serendipitous product development work. This post is a wrap up of my key learnings during this period. You could think of these as design principles, work practices, or simply some observations about the Web 2.0 space, that I would like to share with the readers of this blog. I must add that, all these learnings are experiential; they are based on the mistakes I have made and the lessons I have learnt.
I have learnt that…
Design is a Differentiator
Good design is a big differentiator; it sets you apart from your competitors, it puts you in a different league. It could be any aspect of the product design- the visual design, the process design etc. A great designed product ensures that you define the industry standards and others play catch-up. The example of Apple is a case in point.
The UI is the Software
This may sound preposterous to many, but for many a web 2.0 product, it is true. For the vast majority of users, the software is defined by the user interface. Their impressions (and thus their verdict) of your software are hugely influenced by how they react to the user interface. It’s like the proverbial tip-of-the-iceberg theory where people see only the tip (the UI) and are blind to its huge base (the backend) that is its actual foundation. What this implies for new software products is that a disproportionate quantum of time/effort should be spent on the user interface.
Users are distracted
Users today are being bombarded with a deluge of stimuli; hence catching their attention is becoming increasingly difficult. Every day, they are being exposed to newer applications/products, all of which promise them the moon. The product that you built (after all the hard toil) is just one drop in the deluge. Latest research indicates that users are making like/dislike decisions for new websites in as little as 50 milliseconds! This has huge implications for how you plan to introduce your product to first time users.
Users are empowered
We all are celebrating the power of web2.0 with its emphasis on user-generated content. However web2.0 is not necessarily good news for product companies; for it has hugely empowered users. Every user now thinks of himself/herself as an amateur journalist, a photographer or a movie shooter- thanks to user generated content. Users are in the driver’s seat. As a result, they don’t want to hear your sales pitches or go through long product demos; they want to interact directly with your product and make their own judgments. Designing a product for this web 2.0 generation of users is a different ballgame altogether.
The requirements document is dead
Agile web application development and its growing popularity means that the traditional model of software development with its emphasis on the requirements document is getting obsolete. Product development is increasingly being seen as an evolutionary and flexible process with actual user feedback influencing product design, as opposed to the rigidity of the requirements document model.
The only certainty in life is death, taxes & DESIGN CHANGES
This is a corollary of the above learning but it is more internally focused (within the development team). The team has to be made to understand the logic behind frequent design changes that the agile product development process entails. They need to appreciate the fact that design changes being affected, are not an outcome of management indecisiveness; rather they are necessitated by changes needed to the product based on feedback from users.
B.Y.O.M (Bring your Own Money)
This is different from the generally understood benefits of bootstrapping. I strongly feel that if you are self-financing your product development (as opposed to being financed by private equity), you end up making a better product. The is because when you are financed externally, product design decisions start getting influenced by external revenue and profitability deadlines (often set by your equity partners). Instead of making the best product, you (probably) end up making a compromise product that is geared to meet revenue deadlines. My experience tells me that you should have the freedom to restructure/redesign parts of your product at any stage (based on user feedback). This freedom/flexibility is usually not afforded by an externally financed model.
K.I.S.S (Keep it Short & Simple)
Keeping it short and simple is possibly the most abused product mantra. In a technologically overloaded environment, your product should be great at doing something, rather than be good at doing everything. Every new product feature adds complexity, costs and confuses the users, so one has to be very stingy in adding any new features to your product. The 37Signals philosophy of ‘building less’ explains this best.
Prevention >>> Cure
Early stage user testing works live preventive medication. While this has always been understood, it assumes special significance in an agile development model. Letting users interact with early product prototypes not only throws up bugs, it also gives fundamental insights into product design inadequacies that would otherwise surface only when the product has been launched.
Welcome the Devil’s Advocate
Many of the successful Web2.0 software products are coming, not from software companies but from ‘fringe’ players like web design studios, usability companies, media companies etc. This shows the importance of having people from diverse backgrounds participate in product design decisions. Such people tend to act like the devil’s advocate, asking the right questions and being a safety net against the tendency of software engineers to ‘geek out’ with the product development. In my own startup, we have a mix of people from different backgrounds (i.e. cognitive psychology, software engineering, marketing & market research) and I think this has helped us tremendously.
Execution is all that matters
Finally, it is always the execution that matters. The product idea, by itself, is nothing; the devil lies in executing the idea really well. As the saying goes, success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Hi Amit …. congrats for writing such article, I completely agree with you but I always wonder about the role of user generated content in web2.0, It can always be controlled in one or the other way by the companies,
about Idea on Business India is a Land of Idea There are 100’s of Idea Everyday, Out of this 100’s of Idea only 1 is Implemented, Out of all 100’s of Implemented Idea 1 Idea is flourished with Hard work, among all those 100’s of Idea which is hard-worked 1 seems to be promising and remain consistent, This 1 Idea coping-up with all ups and downs will lead to a Successful Entrepreneur, Ideas can change one’s life,
Ideas are the root of Creativity and Innovation and in short its a key to the Solutions of all your problems, So I suggest all to Execute the Idea, Without Execution Ideas are of no use
Amit, I very much enjoyed reading this post. It is always nice to read about and learn from practical experiences. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Enlightening indeed.
BTW…please don’t mind me playing grammar police but you might want to correct the following words in your post.
“Webynatra is slowly…”
“…learnings are experiental…”
“The only certainity…“
Hi Amit,
It would have been better, if you had given illustrations of how each of those concepts were incorporated and actual challenges you faced. Because, there was nothing new, a designer is not already aware of.
The real designer’s problem has never been and will be lack of awareness. But ability to apply them in real life.
Thanks for your profiles of India2.0.
Murali
Nag,
Thanks for pointing out the spelling errors; I have fixed those; I guess these are the hazards of writing blog posts at 12 in the night, when attention is flagging and eyes are drooping.
Murali,
I could give real examples but thats likely to make the post too long; it might make it far more difficult for readers.
On the other hand, I don’t agree with you that designers (specially in India) are fully sensitized to such issues. Execution is and will always be the key, but design sensitivity preceeds executional challenges.
amit
This on is the best of all the web 2.0 gyan I have come across for a long long time now. Brilliant!!!
I remeber when I and my collegue, ruchi met last june in Bangalore Barcamp, we did touch upon the web 2.0 revolution. we had built PodMasti.com then. And now we have come up GyanIn.com. I know, I know, this will look like another social bookmarking website. But believe me, We are dead sure that with the rigth mix of Product & Promotion this might just work out. we are working on just that…
Anyways with these pointers I am going to take these precious pointers back to my drawing board.
Dev
Nice Article … though a lot more emphasis on GUI :).
Great article! Should serve as a reference point to web 2.0 enterpreneurs. You planning a book? Maybe you should…
Nice article! A good summary and I agree with you on almost every point. One comment though, and don’t take this as a knock against your article but this is the latest place I’ve seen it so I guess I’ll vent on it here…
Will everyone please let that ice berg picture die now? I’ve seen it so many times that as soon as I see it now it makes whatever I’m reading hard to take seriously. Everything in life and software can’t be just 10% above the surface, but the articles I’ve seen over the last five years are apparently trying very hard to lead me to believe otherwise.
By the way, on the UI section I would add one caveat there. Its not just the user interface, but how easy it is to understand your value proposition. If your site is a relative unknown to the user you’ve got about two pictures and a few sentences to get your value proposition across, after that you’ve lost the attention of the potential user. If you’re a well known you have double or triple that since the user has likely been forwarded from a trusted third party. But its a good rule of thumb that if a user has to read for more than 30 seconds to get enough of an understanding to be intrigued, your idea either isn’t focused enough or you aren’t explanation needs some pairing down.
In terms of the execution is everything section, I remember reading an article some time ago that summed it up pretty well. You can consider the idea as a multiplier on the execution. A good idea can multiply your acquisition value by a few times, where as a great idea can multiply it many times over. However, if the execution is zero, it doesn’t matter how good the idea was. I guess the moral here is that if you have world class execution, don’t waste it on an average idea.
Good article.. Keep Money is your central goal and all the things fall into the place. That’s how pretty much all business work. So when you design or any of the above point for that matter – ask yourself – will this bring in the money!
Shalin,
I don’t beleive that one should think about money directly (in the sense of every feature and change). OVerall you have to think about creating a useful product with a satisfying experience. Some of the changes will be related to money, some will not. Overall, you need to have a sound business model, but often the specific changes you make will not be related to money.
Amit,
‘Getting Real’ is an excellent book from 37 Signals and now it is also available online free. Must read for Web2.0 entrepreneurs and designers alike.
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php
Examples not only consolidate the concepts, but they will also explain why you consider what you consider important and your view on choices you make. One can easily relate, assimilate and apply.
But if you think brevity is so important than clarity itself, well, it is up to you.
Murali
Amit,
you have really applied the KISS principle in ur blog. However, as Murali has suggested, takeaways have a great impact when they are more than a principle or a concept or just an idea. Actual events reinforce the concept in the minds of the readers. You now have the matter for several blog posts (probably even sequels).
what you have said might be in the context of Web2.0 but these apply to traditional software products as well. A case in point is the products from India where they are visually and technologically rich or even richer than their western cousins but they truly lack customer-centricity both in letter as well as in spirit. This has a direct impact on everything about the product from UI to report contents and what have u!
Reading your blog makes me a bit sad, for not having discovered it sooner. Great article, I couldnt have put things together any better.
Looking forward to your future posts 🙂
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