A digital product’s needs

2018, 5 min read

Making successful products requires many things: Dedication, collaboration, a pinch of luck just to name a few. We all want to make great product, but when the spend time on what task is important. The pyramid (borrowed from Maslow↗) visualizes this thought process.

Access: Can I use or try your product?

This depends on topics like price, availability (app store, platform, etc.), stability, accessibility, translations and more.

If a product can’t be even tried out by potential customers, nothing else matters.
Utility: Do I need your product?

Usefulness and completeness of features.

If you have a terrible product, but it doesn’t have competitors, it will be bought due to lack of competition. This is what an MVP focusses on.
Usability: How well can I use your product?

Structure and flow, mobile version, performance, clear copy, useful help articles, ...

This is what sets you apart from the competition. This is often where other departments come in like UX or support.
Recognisability: Does your product stand out?

Do I recognise your product? Do I know about your product. That's were marketing, SEO, etc. comes into play.
Delight: Am I enjoying your product?

Outstanding motion design, witty copy, pretty empty states.

A state that is rarely needed or achieved but the products we like talking about.

Related models

The “Kano model”↗ (1978) by Noriaki Kano assigns a product's aspects different qualities. For example things that are essential (Must-be Quality) or aspects customers don't care about (Indifferent Quality).
Eugene Schwartz’ “prospect awareness scale”↗ (1966) categorizes a person with aspects like whether they know they have a problem (problem aware) or if they know about products to solve their issue (product aware).