Product technique is usually formed by individuals who don’t use the product.
In accordance with the 2025 State of Product Administration Report, 31% of product professionals say their roadmap is pushed largely by senior management. And whereas these voices matter, they usually overshadow the consumer.
As a product firm, we used to imagine individuals would at all times present up as their greatest selves and observe each characteristic move as meant. Trial and error taught us to cease constructing for superb habits.
Listed here are seven core ideas we observe and why empathy, not perfection, is on the coronary heart of nice merchandise.
1. Consumer personas (virtually) by no means work
In product growth, we love personas. And by some means, they at all times turn into self-disciplined, goal-oriented, and conveniently passionate about no matter we’re attempting to promote.
Personas are supposed to make product selections simpler. In actuality, they usually do extra hurt than good by oversimplifying messy people into tidy stereotypes.
If “Emily the marketer” by no means skips a exercise and welcomes each new characteristic as a result of she loves change, then our product roadmap appears to be like promising. The true Emily, although, is busy and unmotivated. She’s skeptical, too, as a result of she’s been pitched self-improvement from each display she appears to be like at.
I’m not encouraging you to ditch personas altogether. However as a substitute of writing a fictional biography for a inventory photograph mannequin, discover actual customers who symbolize your key segments.
A kind of customers for us is Dora, a 35-year-old girl from Texas. At any time when somebody on the group suggests incorporating AI or Web3, I ask, “Will this assist Dora?” Dora doesn’t actually need the most recent in tech. She wants assist with motivation, emotional consuming, and long-term habits. That’s who we construct for.
2. Construct with actual customers in thoughts
All of it begins with a mindset shift that lets go of perfection. We have to meet individuals the place they’re, not the place we want they’d be.
For a wellness app, which means designing for many who skip exercises, overlook to log meals, and lose motivation midway by. We have to assist them make progress even on their worst days.
3. Clear up an actual drawback
No ache, no sale. Name it a rule or the primary constructing block of any product.
Begin with an issue many individuals face. Then, use tech and design to unravel it, not the opposite method round.
I grew up in a small city with restricted entry to wellness sources. Later, on the peak of my company profession, I used to be caught in a life-style that left me exhausted and unfulfilled.
If you’re going by one thing your self, you develop into extra attuned to seeing it in others. So I started to note how many individuals had been looking for a easy and efficient solution to get more healthy. The primary model of BetterMe: Well being Teaching was born out of that shared wrestle.
4. Put empathy behind each knowledge level
Information drives each resolution we make. We observe retention, drop-off factors, emotional response, UX conflicts, and extra.
These metrics inform you what’s taking place contained in the product. Actual customers inform you why.
Finally, the aim is to have a look at the information by the empathy lens and see the true individuals, striving to guide more healthy lives.
That lens helped information lots of our greatest product selections.
Whereas on the lookout for methods to raised inspire customers to stay with their routines, we noticed a sample. Those that purchased BetterMe health gear had greater 7- and 30-day retention and spent extra time within the app. We constructed round that second, syncing exercises to gear and increasing the product line. The end result was a win-win: more healthy outcomes for customers, greater long-term worth for the enterprise.
5. Pay attention throughout
Customers are consistently giving suggestions. You simply should be prepared to listen to them out.
Look all over the place: Amazon and App Retailer critiques, Reddit, Fb Teams, helpdesk tickets. In the event you’re actually listening, even a fast remark can result in significant product enhancements.
After we launched our iconic catsuit—a modern, sculpting bodysuit—it was an prompt hit. Most customers liked the product, however one piece of suggestions saved arising: “How do you go to the toilet on this?”
A seemingly minor inconvenience for just a few revealed a usability challenge. So we created the Catline assortment with the identical signature look, however redesigned as separate tops and leggings for higher flexibility.
6. Construct minimal viable options, not minimal viable merchandise
Many product groups view MVPs as scrappy variations on the trail to a ultimate product. I consider them as diagnostic instruments to check concepts shortly and determine whether or not one thing is price constructing in any respect.
Skip the over-polishing and launch helpful and simple options. What you’re on the lookout for is proof that your concept solves an actual drawback for actual individuals.
BetterMe’s first MVP was a single scroll with video exercises and meal plans. No push notifications, streaks, or gamification. It received us 100,000 downloads in 10 days. The app resonated with individuals as a result of it decreased resolution fatigue and advised them precisely what to do subsequent.
That MVP outlined one in all BetterMe’s core ideas: Simplicity at all times wins.
7. Success begins with 95% of the mistaken concepts
Within the first two years, we constructed the whole lot from working packages to sleep trackers and meditation apps. Roughly 95% of these merchandise didn’t take off. However each flop revealed one thing the wins couldn’t: issues that don’t match into individuals’s lives.
We stopped attempting to “repair” customers and began designing instruments that work with actual habits and actual motivation ranges.
So check relentlessly.
Study from the whole lot.
Keep humble sufficient to confess you don’t actually know your consumer. As a result of we people are unpredictable by design.
Victoria Repa is CEO and founder at BetterMe.
