As product managers we often try to create products that address the desires of people like ourselves. We’re technical and we like lots of knobs to turn and buttons to push. But our users are looking to us for a solution, not a tool. Their fond hope is that they can buy a product that will provide the “one true answer” for their problem, that will magically make their pain go away, with the push of a button. And for most users, most of the time, that’s gonna be something very simple – a heuristic for solving a problem, a “convention over configuration” answer (to quote David Hannemeier Hannsen, inventor of Ruby on Rails and programmer behind the 37 Signals applications like Basecamp and Backpack). Think iPod, Google, Tivo, or simply taking an aspirin when you’ve got some pain. The hardest part about using an iPod is installing the iTunes software. It’s designed so most people don’t have to know anything or configure anything to use it. Is it optimal? No. Is it good enough for 97% of people. Yes. Does it make them feel smart? Yes.

What’s the catch? For one thing, it’s not simply a matter of “dumbing down.” These products make their users feel smart, empowered, in control. This goes back to my other favorite topic (and blog) Creating Passionate Users. And they’re fun, they have smooth edges, they fit into users’ lives. An iPod is a joyous thing to hold in your hand. Google doesn’t make you wait around, and almost always gives you the right answer. Tivo makes little sounds to let you know it heard you, and otherwise takes lots of little pains to make your life easier, rather than its own. Take an aspirin or two, and the next time you think about your headache, it’s gone.

The champion products don’t just simplify your world and provide the thing most everyone wants most of the time, they do it in an engaging, aesthetically pleasing way.

(I like this aspirin metaphor – I’ll use it again in another post.)

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