Product Features - Studio X Online
Contents
1. 13 e uservoIce com Advocating for customers and focusing on the big picture means saying no often A good product manager is not only comfortable with the word no but is also prepared to follow up with why in an audience appropriate manner Internally this may mean bringing out some data to back up your reasoning PRO TIP Saying No to Customers is Better than Ignoring them Ignoring customer feedback is worse than saying no Don t leave customers hanging acknowledge and thank them for their sugges tions and be honest if you re not going to build something they ve requested Ideally you ll not only tell customers you re not going to act on a request but also why you re not going to build the specific thing they ve requested Ignoring customer feedback is worse than saying no 14 uservoice com Being assertive during the design process brings value in the long run It keeps your product clean easy to use and worth recommending The problem is people are more comfortable with making short term decisions Junk food and cigarettes would not be so popular otherwise Long term vision is something that a good product manager must always keep in his mind BARTOSZ OLCH WKA eCie Pa e ae e Ooa The Good Building and Launching Features that Succeed The Good Building and Launching Features that Succeed Even the most brilliant feature ideas2. PARTNERS Finally depending on your business model you may also have a network of sales agents or outside distributors selling your product don t forget about your partners There s nothing more painful than shadowing a rep on a sales call and realizing they are still following the talking points and feature set they learned about three years ago PRO TIP Pre Launch Training Doesn t Have to Be a Huge Production In some cases an internal email describing the new feature or link ing to a screencast of it in action will be sufficient training on a new feature but in many cases a hands on approach will be tar more effective Depending on the size of your organization you can try internal webinars or lunch and learn sessions even very basic train ing is better than none 28 uservoice com E F A au i ee Producing Marketing Collateral The marketing team can be your greatest allies but only if you let them It s wise to begin consulting with marketing well before you orepare to ship something They tend to have a good grasp on what your customers want and just as importantly they tend to know what the market is humming about You ll want their help with placement they ll know the right terminology the right buzzwords and they ll know what the competition is saying Working with marketing early on gives them time to develop key messages and to incorporate the messages into sales and promo tional c
3. lize are those that are built with customers in mind from the idea stage forward Product teams should not strive to crank out as many features as humanly possible they need not get caught up in a features race nor do they need to build Swiss Army Knives Exceptional product teams should strive to exhibit laser sharp focus on product vision company goals and customer needs at all times throughout a fea ture s lifecycle from the idea stage to putting it on the product roadmap to coming up with specs and building it to testing and launching it to eventually sunsetting it Let your customers help you know what to build next with our leading product management platform PEER SERESCEREReE Saa a SPP EEE Leverage customer feedback to discover new opportunities and diagnose customer pain Collect actionable data amp easily Start your free prioritize feature requests 14 day trial today Engage your customers to validate your ideas uservoice Product Features The Good the Bad amp the Ugly How to Prioritize Build Launch and Maintain Features that Rock BY HEATHER MCCLOSKEY Inbound amp Content Marketing Manager UserVoice Heather McCloskey is a former broadcast news producer turned product managment amp marketing nerd When she s not researching or writing she can be found putting pedal to the metal behind a sewing machine or painting watercol
4. customers are taking one look at your product and leaving or worse unsuccessfully attempting to use it for its core function and giving up out of frustration or confusion that may be a good indicator some feature clean up Is in order When you add features and functionalities to your product you also add a layer of complexity for your user a new button on the dashboard a new step in the process a new setting or preference to adjust more pages in the user manual to read Think about it like this Every new feature you implement adds weight to your product weight that your users must carry with them while they 47 use your product resistance The right amount of extra weight makes your product and customer stronger and more powerful but add too much extra resistance into the mix and you ll quickly exhaust your customers PRO TIP View Every Feature as a Source of Resistance On the same note too much extra weight can also exhaust your product if it s not engineered to carry it If you get to a point where your product and customers are getting worn out and using your product for just the key function it was created for is no longer a simple task it s probably time to clean out the excess features they aren t adding value to your customer 48 uservoice com Forgotten Features Outdated Unused amp Insignificant Features Of what use is a product with multiple seldom used confusing and oerhaps eve
5. mu TN PRO TIP Find Out Why Customers Don t Stick Around Bonus if customers are opting out after their trial period find out why Opt outs and cancellation emails are the perfect opportunity for you to collect feedback and identity the source of a particular feature s trouble 3 Show Off Real World Applications Any new feature that has a learning curve read requires a user actually do something to utilize it as opposed to those that make your product faster brighter lighter more durable etc is well served by having its attributes communicated in terms of how they can be used in the real world uservoice com USErvoices p One of the easiest ways to show your customers the real world ap plications of your feature is to take the eat your own dog food approach and demonstrate how your own business is using the new functionality in a blog post or other medium your customers will see 4 Publish Tutorials and How Tos Just because you have added a new feature and had your UI UX gu rus come up with the best navigation ever doesn t mean a potential user is going to feel comfortable diving in without some guidance D Ee in d E gt 3 ere QO pV a 40 uservoice com Bite sized tutorials are a great way to get users to try new features Having your team schedule regular customer success calls to show customers the ins and outs of new features and help t
6. team sales team and stakeholders aren t your customers so while their ideas may be on par with product and business goals and they most likely have some understanding of your customers you ll want to validate these ideas with actual customers Just as a feature suggestion from the sales team or an executive shouldn t be implemented merely due to its source a request from a single user shouldn t be considered validated either Don t feel obligated to build something just because one customer requests it You should be looking at the entire market not just listening to feedback trom the vocal minority uservoice com The Cost Commitment Features Aren t Free to Build or Keep In addition to determining whether there s demand for a new functionality you may also want to consider the true cost of imple menting and maintaining a feature as well as where it fits in with other product needs before committing It s easy to underestimate the true cost of adding a new feature to your product and even easier to forget that development and implementation costs are just the beginning Once you ve built and shipped something you also must budget to maintain it bug fixes updates and OA testing documentation and support staff hours are often left out of initial estimates of the ongoing costs of new features uservoice com Furthermore there s also complexity costs to factor in With every extra tool or function
7. your new feature to be mentioned or shown off But if your staff doesn t know enough about it or feel comfortable talking about it they will likely shy away trom bringing it Up r j f a ae 1 fi mg eg f oy a in jf r i aon it 4 FF j a vy 26 uservoice com MARKETING No matter how amazing your new feature is if marketing doesn t know how it works then they won t be able to properly articulate the capabilities to create that spark in the market You won t get press or analyst coverage Forget to train them and you could miss your chance to create a splash SALES Don t forget to train sales There s two types of salespeople type A rushes ahead to sell every new thing they hear about and whatever capability the customer asks about the answer is always yes How are they supposed to know it won t do that if you haven t taken the time to teach them what it does do Type B salespeople take the exact opposite approach If they don t know what it does they won t mention the feature or call it to the attention of your customers SUPPORT Skip training the support team and you ll definitely regret it When customers can t get their questions answered you have unhappy customers Unhappy customers beget a skittish sales team and be fore you know it another urban legend is born Rumor has it the feature doesn t work so the sales force never mentions it again 27 uservoice com
8. Don t Load Up on Junk Features Just Say No to Feature Bloat Focusing on needs also means protecting your customers and product from too much of a good thing Pack too many features into a product and you risk subjecting users to feature fatigue a term coined in a 2009 study published in the Journal of Marketing Research that describes the feelings of frustration defeat and buy er s remorse experienced by consumers who purchase feature load ed products The study looked at how features influence both buyer behavior and customer satisfaction and found that consumers often bite off more features than they can chew when making purchases It concluded 12 uservoice com THOMPSON HAMILTON amp RUST Feature Fatigue that extra bells and whistles attract interest and may entice shop pers to go for one product over the other but those features don t always get used and buyers tend to vastly overestimate their ability to learn to use the extra features they buy leading to frustration and a degraded user experience It takes a focused assertive Product Manager to keep a product on track It s critical to cut through the often deatening noise of feature requests and asks to avoid getting swept up into the chaos of add this build that and more Plan and execute every feature with great care have a clear vision of long term goals in mind and be selective about what feedback you act on
9. Product Features The Good the Bad amp the Ugly uservoice c4 Contents 03 Introduction 05 The Beginning 16 The Good 34 The Bad 42 The Ugly 93 Conclusion Introduction verybody loves a good feature Engineers love building them sales loves showing them off marketing loves having a new selling point to work with product managers love improving their product s capabilities and most importantly when features are done right customers love using them Any old product team can manage the development and implemen tation of a feature but truly exceptional product managers know that executing great care throughout every teature s lifecycle is the key to owning a feature set that rocks Many product managers make the mistake of believing that the only parts of the develop ment lifeycle that matter are prioritizing building and launching but great product managers know that that is just the beginning of the process What to Expect This eBook provides INTERMEDIATE LEVEL information for product managers who are seeking knowledge and advice on im proving existing products by strategically adding new features and functionalities In this eBook we ll address e How to ensure you re building the right features e The true costs of implementing and maintaining a feature When and how to say no to a feature request e How to build and launch successful f
10. Repeat after me Just because it s been built doesn t mean it s ready to launch Even if you have management and stakeholders breathing down your neck and pressuring you to launch it s in your best interest to take a little extra time and check all the boxes before shipping When you are planning a release put some wiggle room between your feature s code complete and ready to launch dates Not only will this help ensure you don t launch anything prematurely but it 24 uservoice com Built does not equal Ready to Launch also will minimize internal stress between product support and marketing teams before a big launch Every launch big or small requires coordination across several teams and there s a few very important things you should take care of before launching any new feature or functionality including 1 Training Your Teams 2 Producing Marketing Collateral 3 QA amp Testing 4 Producing Documentation 5 Getting The Right Tracking Systems in Place 25 uservoice com Training Your Teams Everybody within your organization who interacts with your product and or customers should be trained before launch Training isn t just a support or sales issue although customer tacing staff should definitely know how to answer questions about new features it s also about evangelism Every sales call demonstration and conversation about your prod uct holds the potential for
11. ality we add to our products we also add a level of complexity a Ul learning curve another button on the dash board an extra page or two in the manual all of these things must not disrupt the key function of our products Prioritization amp Balance Factoring in Time and Resource Limitations In addition to considering the costs involved with bringing a new feature into the world it s imperative to ensure your priorities are in the right place when deciding to add or not to add a new feature If your product is drowning in technical debt that will demand several 10 uservoice com cycles of infrastructure updates from your dev team to fix now is not the right time to build something fancy and new Much of this is amatter of maintaining a healthy product roadmap that balances both product innovation and product upkeep PRO TIP Feature Requests from Customers Come First But They Aren t Always Right Customers don t always know what s best for them but their feed back can provide insight into the underlying problem or often problems they re experiencing and indicate unmet needs The key word here is needs It s critical to understand that what your cus tomers want is not always what they need and where there s no underlying problem there s no underlying need Focus first on cus tomer needs and second on wants Customer wants aren t synonymous with customer needs 11 uservoice com
12. are not immune to failure and the decisions you and your team make between idea and launch can have a major impact on a feature s outcome During this critical pe riod in your feature s lifecycle there are several things you can and should take care of to improve your feature s likelihood of success 17 uservoice com Before You Build Don t Forget to Mind Your Metrics Metrics often come into play while teams decide to build or not to build a feature but once your team gives a new feature the green light and begins working to implement it data becomes increasing ly more important as it s an indicator of both the health of a feature is it being used does it work and its success is it helping you get closer to X business goal For this reason it s wise to identity a feature s vital signs the metrics that will help you assess its health and success over time before you begin building and start tracking them as early as you can aer 18 uservoice com Ihe moment you start specing it out you should know exactly what metrics you want to measure As a baseline standard you want Engagement Time Spent and probably Conversions if you re an e com site but then for the exact product know what you re going to measure and then make sure that you re aware of it and that you are also willing to completely and utterly disregard it if it isn t something that people love and will keep coming back to your
13. eatures e How to rescue features that flop e What to do with features that simply aren t making the cut The Beginning Where Do Gooq Features Come From The Beginning Customers executives sales developers support stakeholders each of these groups will likely suggest you implement a feature at some point or another If you listened to and acted on every sug gestion you received your product would get very feature heavy very quickly Don t try to make your product into a Swiss Army Knife Unless your product is a Swiss Army Knife it was likely built with one core function in mind and should focus first and foremost on doing that one thing well features are extra the cherry on top of an already great sundae For this reason it s critical that you stay focused on your product vision your product s purpose focus on the basic need that your product seeks to serve and the long term goal of your product Before you give a feature request the thumbs up you must carefully consider whether it s a commitment worth making At the most basic level ask yourself whether the feature will helo you achieve your product vision or other critical business goals including those that relate to customer happiness or whether it s just cool PRO TIP Choose Features for More than Just the Cool Factor The source and weight of a request is also important to note your uservoice com dev
14. hem start using them may be a smart move but success calls take time and your team may not be able to reach every customer For the rest of your users a step by step tutorial is probably the most effective way to help them get started In some cases feature video tutorials will make a lot more sense than blog posts or other written formats The key to these is making sure they are as bite sized as possible don t try to cover everything your product has to offer in one long and comprehensive video PRO TIP For Best Results Promote and Repurpose Your Tutorials Don t think just because you created a great tutorial people will read it or watch it you should make sure it is available wherever it is relevant on your site and or within your product itself and be sure to work it into your onboarding procedure 41 uservoice com The Ugly What to Do When Features Threaten Product Function seh amp T m gt Si i 2 ria _ z i pE r E St ae s wi es Lrs ATAN PEW TT Dk a Ta oy A n r oe hoe gt Pa What to Do When Features Threaten Product Function As mentioned in Chapter 1 features are not free they come with complexity costs and require ongoing maintenance and support even if they aren t necessarily being used and sometimes despite our best judgement and our best efforts features simply don t end up performing as well as anticipated sometimes our product
15. ing marketing support and sales to ensure that everyone is prepared to communicate about the change as needed As is the case with any product change you make you must be orepared to manage backlash from customers this is especially im portant to remember when cutting features Angry customers won t hesitate to take to social media to complain especially if they don t see any other outlet for their complaints or it they feel as though they aren t being heard Be sure your support team is not only prepared to field incoming complaints about a feature that s been cut but is also prepared to track them 51 uservoice com PRO TIP Be Prepared to Bring Features Back In rare cases you may have to bring a feature back if enough cus tomers complain about a feature you ve cut this may be a bridge you ll have to cross No one likes being wrong but as the cliche goes two wrongs don t make a right and ignoring feedback trom a substantial group of users is certainly not right This doesn t mean you have to bring back a feature just because customers complained it means at the very least acknowledging the complaints and taking them into consideration above all empathy is the key 52 uservoice com Conclusion xceptional features are not haphazard and rarely are great features designed built and launched overnight The most successful features the ones that customers use love and evange
16. ings to go 32 uservoice com wrong they will but also to change things that aren t working For this reason it s helpful to have a system in place to collect and track feedback from customers before you launch Remember those met rics we discussed earlier Don t forget about those have a system in place for tracking those metrics before you ship PRO TIP Don t Panic About Early Usage Metrics Speaking of metrics you may be in for a bit of ashock when you first launch Don t let early metrics get you down At this stage the fea ture s introduction as it would be called on many Product Lifecycle diagrams expect extremely low usage metrics Not everyone is an early adopter and what s more is many users take their time getting used to new features And if those usage metrics never improve Don t panic you can still recover The next chapter covers a few easy options 33 uservoice com The Bad You Built it But No One Came Now What A a i Aia Ea l an Lf a zs 9T e 4 The Bad You Built it But No One Came Now What Unfortunately just because you and your data driven rationale believe your feature will be a hit with customers there s no hard guarantee that people will actually use it when it s released So what happens if even after doing all the market research conducting the customer interviews and checking all the boxes you launch a feature that simply does
17. ks outside of R amp D Your launch process must in clude adequate time for final tests no matter how much unit testing and usability testing you do along the way Not only should you should test that the code executes as planned it s also a good idea to do a final round of testing with your custom ers whether that means releasing a feature in beta to a small group of users or holding another round of usability testing The point is to ensure customers and potential users agree that the final product still meets their needs and solves the problem you initially set out to solve The amount of time you spend on a feature s final round of testing will vary from release to release depending on complexity Don t launch anything without a final round of user testing 31 uservoice com Producing Documentation While the days of thick binders of product documentation are long gone for most products you will still need some form of documen tation knowledge base articles etc for your customers Depending on the complexity of the feature you re launching you may want to incorporate documentation and other similar content into your usability testing to make sure that you ve thoroughly covered what you need to in a way that s easy for users to understand Getting the Right Systems in Place Launching is not just a push button event but a process that runs on a continuum you must be prepared not only for th
18. n t get used There s a few ways you can remedy a feature flop at various points in a feature s lifecycle and they all have one theme in common customers 35 uservoice com i f A Fis A SAT s Hil 5 i 2j r 1 Talk to Your Customers Unless you re just making things up yourself which we all know is a terrible product management strategy at some point a customer likely declared It d be really great if your product could peel ba nanas while updating the CSS structure or suggested whatever feature it is that you ve now built For starts if you didn t talk to this person or group of people while you were planning building or testing your feature consider trying to do that next time The extra effort required to gather and store customers email addresses is worth it If you missed the opportu nity to involve these users in the development process reaching out to them shortly after launch is your second best option Once your product actually DOES peel bananas while updating the CSS 36 structure follow up with the people who initially suggested or sup ported you implement such a feature and show it to them It isn t just good customer service it s an opportunity for you to rescue a flailing or straight up failing feature be prepared for the worst and expect the best WORST CASE SCENARIO Users Tell You it s Terrible Your worst case scenario isn t actually as bad as it
19. n obsolete features that consumers don t need or want Hanging onto those features can and will cost your product and organization why surrender users and or revenue to a product tea ture that can just as easily be eliminated This one is simple if a feature is not being used or making your company money you ve got a good reason to cut it Not only will you save time and resources such as support hours engineering and OA hours between updates etc you ll also take some dead weight off your product 49 uservoice com Sunsetting a Feature Before you cut any feature you should first look at the implications of doing so this means considering the impact the cut will have on your users as well as the technical implications A few preliminary considerations to make before cutting a feature e How many users are using the feature Who uses it and how valuable are those users Is it a paid feature How much money is it making What other areas of the product will be impacted 50 uservoice com Be prepared to manage backlash when cutting features Much like launching a feature phasing one out is a multi team effort that will require coordination across your organization At the very minimum you ll need to work with your dev team who will not only be removing the feature but also ensuring that nothing else breaks in the process In most cases you ll also need to coordinate with customer tacing teams includ
20. ollateral which will also be an important part of your launch 29 uservoice com PRO TIP Leverage Press to Generate Pre Release Buzz If people are always looking for the latest bit of info about your product a well timed press leak can generate some pre release buzz that will have people ready to start using your new feature the moment it s launched and in many cases it will bolster the amount of press you get when you launch as well Consider a preliminary release 3 weeks or so before your actual release and launch to get your audience excited when you launch your new feature you ll already have some users who ve been ea gerly awaiting it since the news first hit the wires This technique won t work for every product or feature and it s nev er guaranteed that a press release will pick up coverage nor does getting said coverage guarantee you ll generate buzz An alternative option would be to reach out to your most influen tial customers and give them a sneak peek of your new feature before it s released it s a great way to collect early feedback and possibly get them talking to other people about what you re about to release 30 uservoice com OA amp Final Testing Nothing should go to market without going through a final round of testing and you can t test a feature until it s complete Although this may seem intuitively obvious to developers it s a slightly foreign concept to many fol
21. or comics 2015 UserVoice Inc References Thompson D V Hamilton R W amp Rust R T 2005 Feature Fatigue When Product Capabilities Become Too Much of a Good Thing Journal Of Marketing Research 42 4 431 442 http doi org 10 1509 imkr 2005 42 4 431 Olchowka Bartosz Beware of features overload 2014 Retrieved July 21 2015 from httos developers livechatinc com blog beware ot fteatures overload Crow Dwight Be Data Informed Not Data Driven Balancing Design Qualitative Feedback and Quantitative A B Testing 2015 Retrieved July 21 2015 from https community uservoice com talks be data in formed not data driven balancing design qualitative teedback and quan titative ab testing Saint Exup ry Antoine de 1939 Terre des hommes Paris Gallimard Helvetica Gary Hustwit Retrieved July 21 2015 from httpo www hustwit com category helvetica Bastow Janna To Kill a Feature MindTheProduct 2011 Retrieved July 21 2015 trom http www mindtheproduct com 2011 08 to kill a feature 56 uservoice com
22. s get 43 uservoice com The Good the Bad amp the Ugly cluttered with features that aren t adding much value sometimes a little feature Spring cleaning needs to happen and that s okay in fact it s encouraged Much like Massimo Vignelli proclaimed in Helvetica The life of a designer is a lite of fight Fight against the ugliness Just like a doc tor fights against disease the life of a Product Manager is a lite of fight as well a fight against the ugliness that is clutter and noise Get rid of feature dead weight as often as you need to uservoice com uservoice c4 ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPERY Terre des Hommes Product Managers must be both fearless and objective when remov ing features that don t support the bottom line and swift to either remedy or kill features that drain resources or user patience Get rid of feature dead weight as often as you need to It s better to kill off an unwarranted feature or features than to let it pull the whole product down to the grave There are two main categories of problem features to look out for 45 uservoice com Your users probably have very little time to sift through piles of options or user guides to figure out how to accomplish what they signed up for in the first place If they can t figure this out quickly and easily they ll walk away JANNA BASTOW Mine Tae Product To Kill a Feature Excess Features If new
23. satisfaction scores E Engagement Metrics like average visits or uses per user A Adoption Metrics like new users R Retention Metrics like churn T Task Success Metrics like form error rates uservoice com uservoice k While You Build Collect Feedback Iterate Repeat You can build and launch a feature that solves the most painful of customer problems but if it does not solve the problem the right way have you really solved the problem In product management it s not enough to simply identify the solu tion to a problem you must also identify and build the right solu tion to that problem which is why it s wise to bring real users into your development process early on Engaging customers as you build and iterating based on their feedback is one of the best mea sures you can take to ensure a teature s success 22 uservoice com Engage users as you build and use their feedback to guide changes Whether you re just beginning to hammer out the details of a new feature or you re finalizing the copy on the UI there s plenty of op portunities for you to collect teedback seize them because incor porating insight from customer feedback interviews surveys and usability studies into your process can make the difference between a feature and product that soars and one that lands in the market with a dull thud uservoice com Before You Launch Pre Feature Launch To Dos
24. site for DWIGHT CROW Facebook Be Data Informed Identifying the Metrics that Matter Your feature s key metrics will depend on various factors including your product vision business goals and the nature of the feature itself but it s generally a good idea to consider covering at least two categories METRICS THAT MEASURE A FEATURE S GREATER IMPACT These are metrics that look at the big picture and help you quan tity how a feature is moving the needle on business objectives or helping your product or organization progress toward its overarch ing goal These metrics are the ones that matter most to stakehola ers and your organization as a whole METRICS THAT MEASURE A FEATURE S VITAL SIGNS This category most often contains usage and usability metrics fig ures that relate to short term goals or unique goals of each individual feature These metrics may come in handy in helping you determine whether a feature gets to stay or go when you do some feature clean up down the line They re also useful tools for identifying problems Ul pain points and finding ways to iterate and improve it over time 20 uservoice com The Good the Bad amp the Ugly SHARE PRO TIP Try HEART for Feature Vitals If you re struggling to pick the proper teature level metrics explor ing Google s HEART framework for Ul metrics may be a good start Ing point H Happiness Metrics like user
25. sounds If your customers tell you your new feature is terrible you won t be left wondering why it s not being used and you can continue engaging with your users while you build a solution that they actually like BEST CASE SCENARIO You ve Got New Promoters Best case scenario you share the new feature with users and they think it s fantastic they not only begin using it themselves but also share it with others Customer evangelism often trumps marketing efforts Finally you can leverage these conversations with your users to generate testimonials case studies and other customer driven mar keting pieces that can be used to tout the benefits of your new feature it s a win win situation 37 uservoice com 2 Let Customers Test Drive it for Free Unless your new feature costs your company money each time it is used or every time you add a new user or seat there s plenty of incentive to give people a free trial A tree trial helos diminish a user s fear of committing to something they won t like or use and hey you might even get people hooked who would have ordinarily never even given it a spin If the ultimate goal of this particular new feature is to deliver value and incremental revenue you can offer a time based tree trial 30 90 days or create a free tier with a usage cap that will get the real users to upgrade and start paying a premium 38 uservoice com The Good the Bad amp the Ugly LAN
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