Feature view or solution view? Which perspective helps us innovate better?
Feature view or solution view? Which perspective helps us innovate better?
This series, Products & Their PMs, by Leah Tharin, Product Lead at Smallpdf, aims to delve into the dance between product and product manager and the delicate balance that needs to be struck to achieve not only impact but success that can be sustained. In the first article of this series, we touched on how one might view a product: as merely an object with benefits attached to it or as a solution to a potential problem. Moreover, we looked at the way we define or view a product and how this can impact the way we go about improving and innovating it.
Feature View vs. Solution View
Essentially, you can look at products from two different perspectives: From one point of view, we can define a product based on its features (feature view), from the other, we look at the solutions (solution view) it brings to specific problems.
While the feature view is generally more inclusive and best aligned with an objective description of a product, the solution view is potentially much more subjective and may not ever cover all the potential uses of that product.
People are usually much more inclined to adopt a feature view than a solution view when they communicate about products or objects to others. This means that, while the feature view is more convenient for describing things, it is still less useful when it comes to improving or innovating products because it doesn’t shine a light on why people need a certain product.
It’s only when we adopt a solution view that the problem that the product solves comes into full focus, which is the very foundation of product improvement.
Why Is This Distinction Important for Innovation?
When talking about innovation, we usually talk about creating something new, providing something that has never existed before, or doing something much better than any of its counterparts.
In his book, “Zero to One,” Peter Thiel, billionaire entrepreneur and co-founder of PayPal, explains that a product can really only be considered a worthy innovation, if it delivers about a ten times (10 x) improvement. Only then does it have the right to win a market. Important to note here is that winning the market is simply a catchy phrase for having a great product and distribution to convince people to use it.
So how do we develop new products? The simple answer is that there isn’t an easy answer. Nonetheless, there is some agreement on what it isn’t, and that is just adding more and more features or improving on existing ones.
Creating or improving on existing features means you’re focusing on what it already has to offer and not what problems it solves. If you know your product satisfies a need for transportation, for example, vs. what features it offers, you’ll be able to see that while it does have wheels to transport you from A to B, a car may no longer be the best solution to solve the original problem.
Yes, you could be thinking, “Electric cars are the future!” and you might even be right, but the truth ultimately looks different for everyone who has (or maybe doesn’t have) one:
- ‘Eco-friendly transportation is the future’
- ‘Stronger cars are the future’
- ‘I need the newest tech regardless of what car it is’
Even though all three of the above statements apply to electric cars, they address different needs. By extension, if you know what problems your customers are trying to solve when they purchase your products, you are already better informed about what you could potentially offer them. You’ll also have a better idea as to what extent your product development and innovation are worth pursuing—by far a better approach to product development and innovation than a guessing game.
Are you enjoying this series so far? Stay tuned for Leah’s next installment about product managers and how they can make the greatest impact within their organizations.
