Remember Google+? Or Google Glass? The mammoth company has famously started and killed many projects throughout its history. Each time, Google thought it was solving a particular customer need. Instead, the project ended up being a distraction from Google’s core business.
Of course, a failed project is barely a blip for a company like Google. For startups, on the other hand, chasing the wrong projects can be a drain on resources — and make it harder to deliver the value your customers are expecting.
Regardless of your startup’s maturity, maintaining a well-defined product strategy gives you an edge. Whatever you deliver, you can focus on making it the best on the market. And if you have a clear vision of what your product should be, you can seize opportunities when they come up, while also knowing when to walk away from something that isn’t the right fit.
Take customer feedback with a grain of salt
Customers will always be one of the best resources for product feedback. Listening to customers and having a systematic way to collect and implement feedback is critical for any startup.
However, you have to keep in mind that customers aren’t the drivers of your overall product vision; you are. It might be tempting to add a feature simply because a lot of customers have requested it. But those customers might represent segments of your overall customer base that aren’t the right fit. Additionally, as your product evolves over time, you may outgrow some customers (or they might outgrow you).
Remember that feature requests aren’t a popularity contest. You should implement those that make the most sense for the company. If you have the bandwidth to do so, explain to customers why the request doesn’t fit with the overall product vision. This can be done through your customer service department and is an opportunity to share your product roadmap with your customers.
Example: We’ve received your request for ______ feature. Unfortunately, we’ve decided not to implement it at this time because it doesn’t fit with our current product vision. We’re really excited to be working on ______ and ______, and we can’t wait to release these features to you in the near future.
Avoid jumping on the bandwagon
Adding new features is often driven by market trends, but beware of the “shiny new object” syndrome. Some companies — especially those with a lot of resources — will jump at the chance to add something new simply to attract additional customers. Your sales team may feel pressure during the sales cycle as they hear about the latest hyped-up features from prospects.
Your competitors’ customers are not your customers. What’s right for a competitor’s product may not be right for your product.
Hype can sometimes be overblown or short-lived, and adjusting your product roadmap immediately doesn’t make sense. Constantly changing directions comes at a resource cost and can divert other projects of higher value to your customers.
Be wary of scope creep
When you work on your product roadmap, you should stay very focused. The roadmap serves as your guide, leading your product team through each stage of product development.
But once you’re working on a new feature (or set of features), it’s easy to go off course. Small changes to the original project requirements can add up, costing time and resources — all while not meeting the original goal. This can lead to delays in releasing new features or a bloated product with many little features that don’t add much value.
As your team works on product requirements documentation, keep laser-focused on the problems you’re trying to solve. Anything else should be saved for future consideration.
Tie your product roadmap to your overall product vision
When you do add things to your overall product roadmap, make sure it’s aligned with your “why.”
- Remind yourself of your overall product vision and what customers you serve.
- Ask yourself if your product roadmap is aligned with the vision.
- Specifically, how is it aligned? What problems are you solving by adding a new feature?
While bringing in more revenue is undoubtedly a factor, your product roadmap shouldn’t be solely focused on bringing in new customers. That’s a quick way to build a product that’s a patchwork of different features rather than something cohesive.
Instead, think about why adding the features will attract more of your ideal customers, which will lead to more signups or revenue.
Recognize when you need to refocus
Maintaining focus sometimes means letting go — even if you’ve invested a lot of time and resources into a project. You may realize that pursuing the project was a mistake or didn’t have the intended outcomes. In that case, you can best refocus your product strategy by tightening your resources around your original product goal.
Sam Senior, founder and CEO at TestBox, wrote about this in a LinkedIn post. He wrote that he pushed the company to create a version of the product that would appeal to a different type of customer (marketers, instead of software buyers). In Sam’s words, “We were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. We overextended, and I got distracted.” After a year, Sam refocused the company on its original product offering.
Experimentation can be good for startups, but there’s a difference between experimenting within your product vision and experimenting outside of your product vision. Know the difference, and if you’ve veered too far off course, know when to pull back.
Review your outcomes over time
Of course, part of running a startup is taking strategic risks. Jumping on the bandwagon might lead to a huge success. Moving slightly outside of your original product vision might open new doors. There may be times when you feel like diverting from your product roadmap is a risk worth taking.
As you make these changes, keep track of them, even if they are a quick note in a collaboration tool or referenced somewhere in your product requirements documentation. This becomes a reference point: what’s the justification for the change in product strategy? Define KPIs that can help you measure outcomes.
Over time, you can review the results. If you implement a lot of changes that don’t lead to great outcomes, it’s a sign that you need to more carefully evaluate your process for adding things to your product roadmap.
On the other hand, if you see positive returns (increased revenue, more customers, decreased churn), it means that you’ve got a good handle on what customers need. You may refine your original product vision to include market changes or an updated ICP. That way, you’ve redefined your product focus based on what’s resonating with your customers and within the market.
Anna Burgess Yang