Feature Versus Product

Have you ever heard someone say “that’s a feature, not a product”? I recently moved into a role that requires me to be thinking much more about this question. Often times new ideas arrive as a kernel of a product. It’s hard to know whether that kernel is a feature of something larger or a product all on its own. I believe in frameworks and mental models so I’ve answered this as three questions for makers. These are what I ask myself to check that what I’m building could become a successful product. I hope that these questions help you too.

1. Does it have a paying market? Every successful product must have a group of people who use and care about it. Products are sold and used on their own, but features aren’t. Features are a reason customers care about a product because they create value, but they’re not the only reason. In fact, features can be some of the weakest reasons because they’re so easy for competitors to copy. The relationship and role the product plays in a customers life is as important. So is price and customer service. If what you are testing is valuable enough for people to sign up to pay for, it probably is a product. If it’s not, but would be with some additional work, it’s likely a feature. For example, messaging by itself is not a product anymore, it’s just a feature. But maybe your product combines messaging with end to end encryption like Signal? Or integrations like Slack? Or ephemerality like Snapchat? Now you’re finding a market that will care about what you’re making because they are dissatisfied with what they have. If people care enough about a problem and your solution is great, they will pay some amount of money for what you’ve built. Ask them to. The worst case scenario is you will learn why they don’t want to pay. This feedback is very valuable in shaping your product. Some founders would argue that there are other ways that customers can pay for products besides money. Or that pricing can come after some growth or critical mass. I used to believe in those models, but I don’t anymore.
2. Does it create asymmetric value? Asymmetric value is value that exceeds the cost of using the product and that scales with more use, at least linearly. Good features add to the value of a product, but don’t create enough value on their own. Every product has a cost to use it. Money spent on buying it, time spent to learn how to use it, one-time set up fees etc. And of course, the product gives back some amount of value in return. I think about it like an airplane trying to take-off. The cost of using the product will pull the plane down, like mass. The value created by the product gives the plane a lifting force. Your lift has to exceed the forces pulling the plane down or you’ll never take-off. Now imagine that we fill the plane with more people. Does it take-off just as well? Finally, (this is where the take-off analogy falls apart) as we use the product more, with more people, does it get more or less valuable? Great products create this kind of asymmetric, exponential value as the product is used more. This is called a network effect. If the value created by what you’re developing is only symmetric to the cost, it is probably just a feature. To improve the balance, ask yourself how you could solve the problem faster, better or cheaper for your customers.
3. Does it grow the unique value of the family? Does using this new product in conjunction with one or more of your existing products produce value that is more than the sum of the parts? For example, an iPhone is a great device all on its own. But if you use it with a Mac, you get all kinds of added benefits like AirDrop. And if you use your AirPods with your iPhone and Mac, you can quickly switch them from device to device without fiddling with Bluetooth settings. This kind of value has a powerful effect on customer retention, allows for cross-selling and can be difficult for competitors to copy.