How to make the ultimate product
I remember when I was a kid playing video games with my brothers. We were all Dragon Ball Z fans and loved to play the games. But as we played, mastered and completed the game, it quickly got boring and we kind of lost interest and even stopped playing it entirely. I remember we used to have conversations on how to improve the game and how it should be like an open world where we could fly around just like in the cartoon and fight in an open world and not in a limited 2D-like fighting game which most of the fighting games around that time were like.
Why am I talking about video games, it’s because I was very passionate about it and I felt like the product that the game company produced was mine as well. It’s rare to see people as passionate about a product these days but back when Apple released the iPhone, people were literally in love with it.
If you are a business owner then the goal is to produce a product or service that people are crazy about and are willing to become a part of your product. It’s not an easy thing to do in today’s product-saturated world but it’s not impossible. Here are a few tips as to how to build the best product that eventually sells itself.
It takes one to know one
There is no way you can improve a product if you don’t use it yourself. Products and services are designed to solve problems or meet needs. So if you are not in any of these categories, there is very little improvement you can bring to a product. People who are passionate about a product don’t even see product development as work. They genuinely want to make it better and have it solve the problem precisely. Innovation comes easy when you are also a consumer of the product. It’s the reason why some products stand out from others.
Allow passionate customers to have a say
I once bought a cake from a cake shop. The cake was really good and she asked me how it was. I told her it was really good but after saying that, I realised that I do not know much about cakes to give her some constructive feedback. I am just not passionate about cakes, I eat them. But someone who is passionate about cakes would be able to give her better feedback about the taste, texture, presentation etc. What I could give her feedback on was her branding and marketing which I think is also important.
Check your motivation
The reason why a thing is done is what really matters. Sometimes as a business owner, you may be forced to make product decisions based on investor pressures, trends or competitors all in an effort to make more profits. Revenue is important but it must be in line with the reason why customers buy your product in the first place. Business owners can sometimes forget the reason they started the business in the first place and be pressured to make edits for profit and not based on what users love. Doing that will always make your product suffer and leave customers feeling like they do not know you anymore.
Do not over tweak
I think the recent takeover and rebranding of Twitter to X is a classic example of building in public and not overthinking your product. Elon has made massive changes and even rebranded the entire organisation while making improvements to the product in the process. The lesson is to not overthink and over-tweak your product. Keep it simple and let your changes be based on what people actually want and not on nice to haves.
I’ve had to make some edits on a Software As A Service (SaaS) I manage. At first, I wanted it to be perfect. I hired a developer and I’m sure I frustrated him with changes and tweaks every day. It was when I said to myself “Let’s just focus on the basics.” This simple change allowed me to release the product, and it started gathering followers and traction even though it was not ‘perfect’.
Sticking to the basics is always a must if you want to have the best product that many people will love and follow. Add features and tweaks based on your best customers, and I believe you will have a very good product in the end. Oh, and the Dragon Ball Z game eventually had an open-world version, just like I discussed with my brothers many years ago. It seems there are some real fans developing the game.
