Many digital products come into the market each day. Each of these products has significant effort, time, and money behind it. While from an outside perspective it appears the market for digital products is a wonderful and thriving place to be in, according to research, 95% of new products fail within their first year in the market. While older established companies may be able to weather this failure and come of it with some strong lessons learned, newer companies and startups find it harder to recover from such catastrophic failure.
But what can we do to minimise this risk of failure? This is where a Digital Product Strategy comes into play.
Understanding Digital Product Strategy
Your digital product strategy is how you handle your product, from the birth of an idea, through design and development of the idea, to delivery, and potentially to the end of its life.
A good DPS helps you and your team to focus on what value your product brings to the target market, what problems it solves, and how it is to be developed, marketed, and distributed.
Breaking Down a Digital Product Strategy
A solid DPS has certain components that come together to create the whole. If any of these components are lacking from the DPS, there is a strong possibility that things will start slipping through the cracks left by that absence.
The problem
As with most products, we start at the problem or the challenge we are trying to solve. The best products identify a pain point and then create a solution that addresses that pain point. In many cases, identifying a pain point can lead us down a rabbit hole and we end up realising the problem is much larger than we initially thought. It's important at this point to take a step back, break down the problem into manageable chunks and understand how each can be addressed.
User research remains one of the best ways to dig deep and find the root cause of the pain point and associated problems. By empathising with the users and gaining a thorough understanding of the pain point, you are then better equipped to design a solution that will work for your target market.
Envision your product
Your product vision is the true driving force behind your product. Once you have identified the problem, you now need to create a vision of what your product will do, how it will add value, how you will develop the product, and bring it to the market. The product vision is the glue that holds your team together, working towards a single purpose.
Set Goals and Benchmarks
If our vision sets our final goal and destination, and tells us where to aim our efforts. Goals and milestones are the markers along the way. They provide us with much needed direction on the way, and are great ways to remain aligned throughout the journey. In addition they can help us to make sure that we remain on track with our time and resources.
KPIs
The last key component of our DPS is how we evaluate our development journey and monitor our success (or lack of). Setting realistic KPIs for each step of our journey helps to further have a goal to strive towards, and if we fail to reach the goal, it gives us an early warning that something is amiss.
UX Strategy: A Key to Digital Product Success
What is UX strategy?
User Experience (UX) strategy is a structured approach that places the user at the core of digital product development. It involves understanding the users' needs, behaviors, and preferences and then applying these insights to design products that are not only efficient but also highly engaging. It's the secret ingredient that transforms digital products into user-friendly solutions, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction and market success.
Why is it so important?
Incorporating a strong User Experience (UX) strategy into your Digital Product Strategy is an essential step toward ensuring the success of your digital product because it helps to focus on optimizing the user journey, making sure that every interaction with your product is not just functional, but delightful. By integrating UX considerations into your digital product strategy, you prioritize user satisfaction, which is often the key differentiator in the highly competitive digital landscape.
A well-crafted UX strategy provides a roadmap for creating a user-centered product, enhancing user experience, and increasing customer loyalty. It involves understanding your users, their needs, and their pain points, and then designing solutions that not only address these issues but also provide a seamless and enjoyable experience. This proactive approach not only reduces the risk of usability issues but also encourages user engagement, which can ultimately lead to a more successful and sustainable product in the market.
Design-Driven Success
In the business world, incorporating User Experience (UX) strategy into your digital product strategy is more than just a trend; it's a strategic move toward success. McKinsey & Company's extensive research with the McKinsey Design Index tells the story. They found that companies prioritizing product design consistently outperform their peers, delivering higher returns to shareholders and generating increased revenues compared to industry benchmarks. In a nutshell, design isn't just about aesthetics; it's a recipe for better business outcomes and customer satisfaction. By weaving UX strategy into your digital product planning, you're not just creating a product but building a pathway to success.
A simple guide to mastering digital product strategy
1. Understanding Your Target Audience
The foundation of any successful product strategy is a deep understanding of your target audience. This involves conducting user research to uncover their needs, behaviors, and pain points. Empathizing with your users is key to creating a product that resonates with them.
2. Researching the Problem and Brainstorming the Solution
Start by identifying the problem or challenge your product aims to solve. Often, this process reveals that the problem is more complex than initially thought. Break it down into manageable components and brainstorm innovative solutions.
3. Setting Specific Goals for Your Vision
Your product vision serves as the guiding star for your team. Define clear and specific goals that align with this vision. These goals act as milestones, helping you stay on course and measure progress.
4. Designing a Solution that Truly Solves the Problem
A successful digital product must not only address the problem but also provide a comprehensive solution. Design is not just about aesthetics; it's about creating a user-centered experience that delights your target market.
5. Ensuring Your Solution Works for Your Target Market
Throughout the entire development process, prioritize user experience. Test your product with your target audience and gather feedback. This iterative approach ensures that your solution is not just functional but also enjoyable for users.
In Conclusion
A digital product strategy can help your organisation to understand its product journey, in detail. It helps to pinpoint who your target market is, what their pain points are, how to solve them, and how to build the solution.
Additionally it provides guidance to your team throughout the development journey to work towards a single overarching goal, creating a foundation for the design and development of a truly inspirational product.
We must consider though, that a DPS is only as useful as the effort we take in its creation. We have to consider it a living process that will be consulted at every step of our journey for it to truly be a success.
