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<\/a><\/p>\nIn this article, I will explore what product experience means, why it matters, and the key elements that help brands make their products stand out.<\/p>\n
In this article:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n A great product experience is prioritized by companies focused on customer-centric marketing, where customer feedback is at the forefront of product updates.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no perfect formula for a successful product experience. As David Pereira<\/a>, CEO of Omoqo GmbH<\/a>, explains, brands only need to focus on three key stages:<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n While product experience covers the entire customer journey within a product, user experience (UX) is much wider.<\/p>\n According to Don Norman<\/a>, the co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group and one of the first persons who coined the term user experience, \u201cUser experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.\u201d<\/p>\n While there can seem like a lot of overlap here, I like to differentiate the two by reminding myself that PX is the customer journey within a specific product<\/em>, while UX looks at the user\u2019s broader interactions.<\/p>\n Product experience and customer experience<\/a> (CX) also differ.<\/p>\n I consider customer experience a broader term that describes every touchpoint a customer has with the brand beyond the product itself. As I mentioned, product experience covers the entire customer journey within a product. However, customer experience covers the whole picture \u2014 including product, marketing, customer service, and branding.<\/p>\n A great customer experience will quickly increase word of mouth for your product. For instance, a simple word from a fellow marketer I trust is sufficient to make me buy a product. That is what a great CX looks like. But what keeps me as a retained customer is a great PX.<\/p>\n For example, below is a Slack conversation I had with some colleagues \u2014 you can see how CX pulled me in, but the PX is what will keep me using the product (or have me abandon it).<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n \n An excellent product experience increases how quickly (time-to-value) new users see value in your product. The more effective your product experience is, the faster this happens, but this timeframe varies by industry.<\/p>\n In a recent product metrics survey<\/a> of 547 SaaS companies across seven industries, the average time to value was 1 day 12 hours. I don\u2019t think this time is bad, but what\u2019s not good is what companies lose by resting on their oars. According to the same survey, a 25% increase in time-to-value brings a 34% increase in monthly recurring revenue in a year.<\/p>\n Pro tip: <\/strong>I recommend a simple onboarding process to help customers get more value through their product experience. By cutting unnecessary steps and using pre-built templates, in-app guides, or user manuals, new users can get on with what they want and derive value. Software products can also highlight key features with hotspots, banners, or tooltips to guide users effectively.<\/p>\n Customer retention<\/a> is famous for being cheaper than customer acquisition in the product space. However, in an interesting article by Emanuele Porfiri, the senior data analyst at FT Strategies, only 24%<\/a> of subscribers typically renew after the first month. While this raises a question about the worth of monthly subscribers, I prefer to focus on the solution, with one being to improve the product experience.<\/p>\n With a strong product experience, I believe businesses can increase this percentage to create consistent growth and a reliable revenue stream.<\/p>\n What this looks like in practice: <\/strong>When grammar checkers<\/a> like ProWritingAid and Grammarly send me my weekly achievements with their products, it drives me to use the product the next week. Such a simple action creates a great impression and makes me continue as a customer.<\/p>\n Onboarding is another element that sets the tone for a user\u2019s journey. If it\u2019s seamless and engaging, it can build trust immediately. But beyond onboarding, your product must address real customer pain points.<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the recent cautionary tales is that of Tupperware<\/a>. They shifted their focus to branding and image, ignoring customers\u2019 need for affordable, high-quality products. This misstep led to bankruptcy, showing what happens when a brand loses touch with its audience.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve lost count of how many times I\u2019ve recommended a product I love. If I enjoy it and it works, I share it on my blog, in Slack groups when members ask, or on LinkedIn. (You saw it in practice in the Slack conversation I shared above!)<\/p>\n Turns out, I\u2019m not alone. Studies show that 94%<\/a> of customers are happy to recommend brands with great products and excellent service. In my experience, the product matters most. If it\u2019s exceptional, customers rarely need much support. A great product experience is the real test of your customers’ satisfaction and loyalty. It speaks louder than any marketing campaign ever could.<\/p>\n A perfect example of referrals in action is the story of DANG<\/a>, an international skincare brand. When I talked to the founder, Ifedayo Agoro<\/a>, she said referrals have become their growth engine because their product works.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a very tightly knit community of women, so it makes sense that when someone discovers that Dang skincare works for them, they tell their friends, family, and coworkers. Sure, we run other marketing campaigns, but honestly, most of our new customers and Instagram followers come from good old-fashioned recommendations,\u201d says Agoro.<\/p>\n Before SaaS products, companies gave out free samples of physical goods so potential customers could try them out. Whether someone became a paying customer depended entirely on the product experience and quality.<\/p>\n The same principle applies to software: a great product experience turns free users into paying customers.<\/p>\n Beyond making the product easy to use, there are several ways I\u2019ve seen different software companies attempt to convert me as a user:<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Feedback, analytics, prioritization, and clarity are the four key elements that can help you create a great product experience. Let\u2019s dive into each:<\/p>\n In the 2024 State of Product Management<\/a> report, 99% of product managers say customer feedback is vital and responsible for the biggest increase in product effectiveness. This feedback can come in structured (surveys, interviews) or unstructured (customer service conversations, sales interactions, community conversations) formats.<\/p>\n Agendor<\/a>, which provides web and mobile solutions for sales professionals, is one brand that can testify to the impact of structured surveys.<\/p>\n When the CTO, Tulio Monte Azul<\/a> noticed their mobile app wasn\u2019t as popular as the web version, he did a survey and found the complex onboarding process as the culprit. In response, his team shortened and gamified the onboarding process, resulting in a surge in mobile users and improved product value.<\/p>\n For new products, community conversations are one of the easiest ways I have seen early-stage founders get product feedback. This feedback could come from sites like Product Hunt, where founders generate buzz, or Appsumo, where they generate paid users and gather tons of useful feedback.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> When using feedback, I\u2019d recommend you tread carefully and handle it well. Don\u2019t over-rely on input from just a few power users. This can skew your product updates and alienate the desires of most users. And don\u2019t ignore negative feedback, too. While they are easy to dismiss as outliers, negative comments can highlight issues you must address to improve the overall product experience.<\/p>\n User research and feedback shouldn\u2019t be a one-off task. Make it a continuous part of your product development process. Regularly check in with users to ensure your product evolves with their changing needs and expectations.<\/p>\n In the past, companies relied on anecdotal observations, gut instincts, and the opinions of the loudest stakeholders to determine product improvements. Today, companies use data analytics tools and AI forecasting<\/a> to analyze data and gain insights to create a great product experience.<\/p>\n However, without these sophisticated tools, you can manually sift through data and feedback with different departments. While this is time-consuming, it offers a more human perspective on how each team member might solve user issues.<\/p>\n A common issue that delays product teams from moving beyond the analytics or discovery stage is the belief that they need more data or user feedback to gain accurate insights. In an episode<\/a> of The Product Experience Podcast, Frances Ibe emphasized that no set amount of data is required to provide useful insights. She describes searching for user insights as \u201ca goal that is progressively moving forward, which shouldn’t stall the product team.\u201d<\/p>\n In his newsletter, The Product Pulse<\/a>, Sandeep Singh Rajput also highlighted a key analytics pitfall: confirmation bias. This is when you search for data and insights that confirm pre-existing beliefs about the product, causing you to ignore valuable insights that challenge your assumptions.<\/p>\n To avoid this, Sandeep advises approaching user research with an open mind and asking questions that challenge your beliefs, allowing you to uncover the real needs of your users.<\/p>\n All product development requires prioritization to decide what to build and when. In terms of product experience, prioritization should be driven by analytics and user feedback and not by what the company wants to achieve, which may only sometimes align with user needs.<\/p>\n The impact of doing the latter has resulted in 80% of SaaS features going unused<\/a>.<\/p>\n The cost? An estimated $30 billion in wasted research and development \u2014 a clear sign of a sub-optimal product experience.<\/p>\n One way to prioritize product tasks is by assessing the risks involved in delaying or advancing each task. These risks can be measured against user experience impact, technical feasibility, and alignment with business goals.<\/p>\n Another approach is to have open-ended conversations with customers to gain deeper insights into pain points. This method comes after gathering and analyzing initial feedback, providing the product team with a comprehensive understanding of customer needs.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, stakeholder influence often plays a significant role in prioritizing product tasks. According to the 2024 State of Product Management Report from Product Plan, 31% of prioritization decisions are influenced by stakeholders.<\/p>\n In The Product Experience Podcast<\/a>, David Pereira advised product teams to avoid falling into this trap. He suggested that teams highlight the potential consequences of prioritizing stakeholder-driven tasks versus team-driven tasks and assess how each option impacts the bottom line.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> To prioritize correctly, I recommend that product teams concentrate on their north star metric (NSM), the single outcome that delivers the most value to users. By focusing on the NSM, the team can identify tasks that need immediate attention while pushing less critical tasks forward.<\/p>\n Imagine creating a product experience without understanding the users’ needs or the intended outcome. This process is bound to fail, as conflicting priorities and disorganized efforts often lead to poor results.<\/p>\n When Arne Kittler<\/a> appeared in The Product Experience Podcast<\/a>, he highlighted time pressure, misconceptions, and personal discomfort as barriers to product clarity.<\/p>\n I agree with him because product managers, in a rush to meet deadlines, might skip essential steps to gain clarity. Product managers can also sometimes avoid pushing for clarity to maintain relationships with colleagues, which leads to poor product outcomes.<\/p>\n While clarity is critical, product teams shouldn\u2019t mistake it for certainty.<\/strong> Clarity means understanding the direction and purpose of the product experience process. Certainty assumes that every decision or outcome is guaranteed and unchangeable. Clarity is fixed, while certainty can shift according to the product strategy.<\/p>\n To gain clarity, the product team must foster a collaborative environment at the start of designing the product experience process.<\/p>\n While this is a mix of strategic and tactical planning, the key is to invest time upfront to get all stakeholders on the same page. Everyone needs to get involved through interactive exercises, such as discussing expected outcomes. This provides the clarity necessary for execution.<\/p>\n\n
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Product Experience vs. User Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Product Experience vs. Customer Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"slack](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/product-experience-2-20250107-480847.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nImproves Product Value and Revenue<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Raises Customer Retention<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"prowritingaid](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/product-experience-3-20250107-9725920.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"the](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/product-experience-4-20250107-2185793.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nIncreases Referrals<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"pull](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/product-experience-5-20250107-4791049.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nIncreases Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The 4 Key Elements of Product Experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Feedback<\/h3>\n
2. Analytics<\/h3>\n
![\"the](\"https:\/\/web-stil.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/product-experience-6-20250107-5143466.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n3. Prioritization<\/h3>\n
4. Clarity<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/track.hubspot.com\/__ptq.gif?a=53&k=14&r=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hubspot.com%2Fservice%2Fproduct-experience&bu=https%253A%252F%252Fblog.hubspot.com%252Fservice&bvt=rss\")
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