Purpose and Vision
As an idea turns into a feature, it is important to look at what can be learnt to further the journey of the product. The aim is to define a framework that sets features (and therefore the product) up for success. That includes aiding prioritisation, where more work needs to be done, and condensing solutions at a time where the definition is low.
Implementation
The workflow starts at idea generation, the case is made that a particular feature will either improve in user acquisition or retention at its core. What is important here is to understand and define the value to the user.
Feature Page
Every product that is heading towards development needs to be defined, a feature page at least needs to have the following:
Note: that there are many other things you can add e.g. acceptance criteria
Purpose: Why does this need to exist
Vision: How are we going to deliver value and who do we have to become to do it
Problem Statement: What is the difficulty that a particular person faces and why, what does a solution look like
Proposal: This is the feature explained to its fullest in a way that explains how this solution is right for the problem
Success: What does success look like or;
Simple Feature Success
1. Adoption
With fully deployed products in production, it is easy to define what success looks like as there is a benchmark to work to. But in an initial release, it is hard to compare to other products as they have different go to market strategies and user stories. Therefore, we can ask a simple question “Will someone be likely or unlikely to use this feature?”. Answering this question can simply be a case of are we over or under 50% adoption. But, to go into more detail we can break down further:
>10% Kill it
You have learnt that either the feature or go to market is not viable.
>30% Rethink Implementation
There is something that is showing some interest, but implementation has a problem at the concept level, it’s worth exploring but needs work.
>50% Rework Value Proposition
You have engaged people, but not at a level that is compelling enough, therefore look at how the user might take value away and course correct and deploy.
>70% Iterate Refinement
You have a compelling feature, but you can do with improving its adoption. Growth opportunities live here, and the next iteration should focus on refinement.
>90% Extend Feature
Validation of the problem has been proven in concept, use this to extend the functionality of the feature further without risk. This is absolutely the right thing to ship and ready to push out to more users and get behind it in the product roadmap and in marketing, nail it and scale it.
Up to 100% Killer Feature
2. Interest
Adoption is the key to it all, but to further the discussion and exploration of the feature you have to see if people are using it in a way that manages to take away value. To measure you have to be more creative in your approach, some examples are:
User Experience Score: A simple emoji button can ask the user directly [ 👍🏾 ] [ 👎🏾 ]
Engagement: How many users have fulfilled a call to action