As much as I wish this wasn’t the case, you can build a highly successful B2B company that delivers a poor user experience, if your product is mission critical enough. People will complain but they will pay, particularly if you’re the best of a bad bunch. This approach doesn’t work for B2B companies whose products are more optional i.e. most productivity software and anything that can be replaced with a spreadsheet. In this category, the ok-ish product will eventually lose market share to one that is better and/or cheaper. A strong brand might build a temporary moat. Overtime this diminishes if the product is consistently out innovated and out marketed.
Nov 23, 2022·edited Nov 23, 2022Liked by Josephine Conneely
Another great article. It is fascinating to watch companies claimed to be customer/user focused, when only the design team has adjusted their way of working. The intent behind the movement towards people-centered products, was to convert the business as a whole.
UX got stuck in design and some departments have just changed their labels to "customer experience", without changing how they work. To be truly people-centered, every department has to ask themselves: If the user is at the center of our work, would we still do the practises we do? Will we still measure success the way we do? The answer is more than likely, no.
The disconnect between providing value and features is clearly also a challenge for many companies. Providing features are like providing letters (E T A F E R U S). Without understanding the structure (F E A T U R E S), the value you want to provide gets lost in the experience.
One thing I would add to your list, is that if a company truly wants to be people-centered, they would need to change their perspective from a "solution mindset" to an "understanding mindset". It is extremely hard to provide value, without understanding people (where they are, their understanding, their thinking, etc.) and the context (in relation to the market, your product and other people, etc.) they find themselves in.
Another great article. It is fascinating to watch companies claimed to be customer/user focused, when only the design team has adjusted their way of working. The intent behind the movement towards people-centered products, was to convert the business as a whole.
UX got stuck in design and some departments have just changed their labels to "customer experience", without changing how they work. To be truly people-centered, every department has to ask themselves: If the user is at the center of our work, would we still do the practises we do? Will we still measure success the way we do? The answer is more than likely, no.
The disconnect between providing value and features is clearly also a challenge for many companies. Providing features are like providing letters (E T A F E R U S). Without understanding the structure (F E A T U R E S), the value you want to provide gets lost in the experience.
One thing I would add to your list, is that if a company truly wants to be people-centered, they would need to change their perspective from a "solution mindset" to an "understanding mindset". It is extremely hard to provide value, without understanding people (where they are, their understanding, their thinking, etc.) and the context (in relation to the market, your product and other people, etc.) they find themselves in.