We all know that features are crucial to any product, app, service, etc., but what about the user experience? For instance, who would want a bath towel that dries you off completely, but is too rough to be comfortable to use? Still, we often obsess over features to the point that we forget to create experience.
When the end user wants a finished product, they want the whole package – incredible features and amazing experience! Sometimes that’s easier said than done. Just look at how many people praise and complain about the latest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. While we can’t satisfy everyone, we can learn to place a little more focus on experience.
Features Aren’t More Important Than Experience
This Quora question asks whether features or UX design is more important. It’s a common debate and one that will never see a true victor. It’s kind of like debating politics, everyone thinks their opinion is the right one. Still, the answer given by Kevin Palmstein sums it up best – features don’t matter without good design and vice versa.
So see, features aren’t more important than experience. They’re equal to experience. We can’t honestly say something is our best work if there isn’t a balance between the two.
Create Experience To Stand Out
Why do some products stand out from the rest? We could list dozens of reasons, but overall, it’s all about the user experience. Take apps for instance. For most keywords, there are numerous results and most of the results provide all the features the user is looking for. So what makes a user rave about one app over the other – the UX design.
When it comes to standing out when an idea is already done to death, we have to create experience. The user already has every feature they want. Now, they’re just looking for a better, easier, prettier way to use those features.
The Feature Factory Mindset Hurts Experience
John Cutler likes to refer to a feature oriented mindset as the feature factory mindset. Everything is about the features all the time. It becomes an obsession to complete a feature and move on to the next. It’s not about what the end user wants. Instead, we just stuff in feature after feature, much like a robot in a factory cranking out pieces of a product. The goal is about output, not outcomes.
Outcomes solve the user’s problem, while output is the actual product. The product might seem great, but if it doesn’t solve the user’s problem, it won’t be successful. We have to think less about how many features we might want and create experience to along with those features.
Sometimes Features Miss The Target Goal
It’s not unusual to look at a product and wonder “what were they thinking.” The goal might be to have the most popular app in the App Store. In looking at the competition and trying to cram in every feature their apps have and then some, one important thing is left behind – UX design. Suddenly, the app is competitive in terms of features, but it’s so feature laden that it’s hard to use.
Since it’s difficult to use, very few people install it and those that do leave negative reviews. Instead of being the highest rated, the app is suddenly the lowest rated. Features are a necessity, but without the right experience, those features become useless to the end user.
Think More About The User
Business goals are important. There’s no doubt about that, but we always have to think more about the user. What are their needs? For instance, the goal might be to create a product that boosts revenue. The product is innovative, but no one understands how to use it. All the features you obsessed over are great on their own, but when put together, create a product that’s over complex.
Users aren’t going to pay more for this innovative product if it just makes their life harder. Instead, they’ll move on to something else. A marriage of features and experience (even it if means letting go of a few features) makes users happy. All they want is a product that takes their needs into consideration and creates an enjoyable or at least productive experience.
Before diving into another creative project, think about the overall experience you want to create before you even think about features. It’ll help get you into the right mindset and make your end users wonder if you’re a mind reader.
Images: Pascal Habermann, Lorenzo Cafaro, PhotoATelier, Samuel Zeller, Drew Coffman