Often, teams rely on popular digital performance metrics to measure the success of a product. While these metrics (revenue, active users, conversion rates, etc.) may reflect the current state of the product, they do not fully measure its true value and success.
So how can we measure the true value and success of a product? To do this, we need to empathize with customers and deeply understand why they use our product.
A user may use a product for several reasons:
- 1. There is no alternative product on the market and the user is forced to use your product.
- 2. The user is used to your product, but has some dissatisfaction.
- 3. The user is truly satisfied and happy with the product.
Let's analyze the first and second points in more detail:
There is no alternative product on the market and the user is forced to use your product
When this happens, even if the key digital indicators for your product (registrations, number of active customers, revenue, etc.) are high, your users will always be looking for an alternative product.
This situation creates fertile ground for your future competitors. They will analyze your dissatisfied customers and create a product that better meets the needs of the user and can compete with you. Thus, they can capture a large part of your users.
The user is accustomed to your product
When people get used to their comfort zone, they sometimes have difficulty leaving that zone. This can happen in many areas of our lives. The use of digital products is no exception.
Many of us have acquaintances around us who, despite being dissatisfied with a product (simply because they are used to it), continue to use that product. This can be any food ordering, taxi ordering or banking application. Even if you tell those people that there are better conditions and functionalities in another alternative application, we get the answer: “Who would register there? I’m not interested.”
As a result, despite the increase in the number of dissatisfied users, the main digital indicators show that there is no problem with the product and that the product is successful.
But how can we measure the true success and value of the product?
Digital indicators alone are not enough to understand the success of a product. True success is measured by the emotional attachment, satisfaction and long-term effects of users with the product. For this, we can use the following approaches:
User Satisfaction
- • Net Promoter Score (NPS): This indicator measures the likelihood of your users to recommend your product to a close friend on a 0–10 point scale.
- • Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): This indicator evaluates the overall satisfaction of users with the product. It is usually measured on a 1–5 scale: Very dissatisfied — 1, Dissatisfied — 2, Neutral — 3, Satisfied — 4, Very satisfied — 5.
- • Real customer feedback: You can collect real feedback about the product by regularly holding online or in-person meetings with user groups.
Quality of User Experience
- • Time consumption: Set a standard time criterion for each process. Measure how much time users spend with your product, and if they exceed this time, be sure to investigate the reasons.
- • Percentage of additional functionality used: Measure whether your users are interested in additional services after receiving the service they need. Often, users who are satisfied with the main service also meet their other needs in the same place.
Conclusion
As a result, even if the digital indicators show your product to be successful in the short term, if your users are not satisfied and satisfied, you may face serious problems in the long term.
Author: Teymur Asgarov