Will Your Users Buy It?

Building Products That Sell (Without a Crystal Ball)

When building a product, understanding who your users are and what their intentions are is crucial. It’s not just about creating a product; it’s about aligning your offerings with user intent. This involves deeply understanding the user’s journey, their pain points, and whether your product or feature solves their needs.

To effectively understand user intent, you need to collect a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. Each type provides unique insights that help paint a complete picture of what users are looking for:

• Qualitative Data: Gather through surveys, interviews, and focus groups to hear directly from users about their challenges, goals, and expectations. This data offers context and emotional drivers that quantitative metrics may miss.
• Quantitative Data: Analyzing metrics such as click-through rates, bounce rates, purchase funnels, and time on page can provide hard data on user behavior. These insights can tell you if users are engaging with your product the way you expected and help predict conversion rates.

It’s all about knowing who’s along for the ride and what they need to enjoy the journey

Identifying What Users Need Now

To build something users will buy, it’s important to figure out what they need right now. Use your data to pinpoint gaps in the market or existing solutions that fall short. Once you identify these needs, you can create products or features that not only solve their current problems but also improve their overall experience.

When interviewing users, it’s important to ask open-ended questions that help you understand their pain points, goals, and behavior, such as:

• What challenges do you currently face when [performing task/product-related activity]?
• How do you solve this problem today? What tools or processes do you use?
• Which features do you use the most? Why?
• Is there anything about the product that confuses you or is difficult to use?
• What’s one thing you wish you could change about [product name]?
• What influenced your decision to try or buy [product name]?
• Are there any challenges you think you’ll face soon, and how can [product name] solve them?

A great book that goes into more depth on this is The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick

Prioritizing Features Based on User Needs

Once you’ve gathered insights on your users’ pain points, the next step is to prioritize features that will have the most impact on their experience. Not all features are created equal, and understanding how they contribute to user satisfaction can help you focus on what matters most. Features can generally be divided into three categories using the Kano Model:

• Basic Features: These are the essentials — features that users simply expect to be there. Without them, satisfaction plummets. Think of a music streaming app: if you couldn’t search for a specific song or artist, users wouldn’t even bother. These features are non-negotiable.
• Performance Features: These are the features that users appreciate more as their quality improves. For example, the easier it is to create and add songs to a playlist, the happier users become. These features directly impact the user experience, and the better they perform, the more satisfied users are.
• Delighters: These are the unexpected, little surprises that make users smile. They aren’t expected, but when included, they enhance the overall experience. Think about when Spotify added Starting a Jam with your friends — features that were fun and added an extra layer of enjoyment.

By categorizing and prioritizing features in this way, you ensure that you’re not only meeting user expectations but also enhancing their experience in meaningful ways.

What is the Kano Model in Product Management? — Product School

“The customer is always right”

This is especially true when it comes to product development. Without understanding the user, you risk building something that no one wants. Every decision should center around making the user’s life easier — whether it’s improving efficiency, solving pain points, or creating a seamless experience.

Keeping Your Users Happy

Staying connected through feedback builds loyalty — users who feel heard are more likely to stick around and recommend your product to others. Plus, tracking shifts in user sentiment helps you pivot before small issues become major problems. Ultimately, feedback loops keep your product user-focused, adaptable, and valuable in the long term.

When you understand your audience, you can create an unforgettable experience (Fred again… in Seattle, WA)

At the core of product development is one question: Will your users buy it? The answer lies in your ability to understand their journey, collect the right data, and continuously adapt your product to meet their evolving needs. It’s not about guessing — it’s about listening, analyzing, and iterating until your product perfectly aligns with what your users truly want.