We are about to launch our second product (HookFeed), but it’s not our second launch. We’ve been doing countless mini-launches (alpha versions) for months now with both HookFeed and Minimalytics — and we keep making the same damn mistake:
Giving users too many choices…Below, I’ve illustrated our mental excursion from key iteration to key iteration across both products in search of simplicity.
TLDR: We’ve been reminded (brutally) that as product people we need to make the hard choices up front if we want any of our products to succeed. The vocal minority isn’t usually right and ultimate flexibility isn’t really what people want or need....
If you're an entrepreneur or start up, and you can only read one article this week, this is the one! Joelle Steineger tells how she and her partners overcomplicated the hell out of both of their products. The results were disastrous and just as difficult to avoid the second time around. Great business storytelling and lessons. Highly recommended. 10 / 10