Tradeoffs when building new features
Analyzing tradeoffs is at the core of making good product decisions
I always say that the most important quality or skill required by my job is to have good judgment. That is because product management is not a pure science. There is an art to it as well.
One part of the job that really drives home this point is the process of evaluating tradeoffs to make decisions. There are never really clear cut answers to questions, especially at the implementation level. “Should we build a product this way?” is a daunting question without having actual reasons to back up your answer. Feature questions involving customization, page layouts, and secondary actions that can really differentiate your product from competitors, all must be answered by evaluating tradeoffs. I believe this is one of the most important parts of a PM’s role.
Recently, my team sent out a usability test via a tool called UsabilityHub. It’s a fantastic tool that we use to essentially ask customers, “Is this design intuitive and does it help you easily accomplish a task?” The purpose of the survey was to gather feedback on designs we are considering implementing in the next few sprints for a new feature. The test included a brand new UI component that we thought would really make the feature shine.
While the feedback was not necessarily negative about this new component, my takeaway was that while some customers might love it, there is evidence to suggest that it is not completely necessary for a v1 launch and it might even cause confusion. It also is not a quick component to build from an engineering standpoint. My thought process when analyzing the tradeoffs here was as follows:
At the end of the day, does this new component improve the usability of the feature as a whole?
Is the component going to help us from a marketing point of view once we launch? Since our central KPI is new sales in this instance, do we think this new component improve that KPI?
Developing this component would take time and likely extend out the date for when our launch could take place.
Do we make X% of our customers happy and Y% of our customers indifferent or confused, given the fact that the component will increase time to launch?
Data and instincts generally guide me when answering questions involving tradeoffs. PMs must also weigh other circumstances (competing priorities, whether now is the time to “take a risk,” etc.) when making these types of decisions. I hope this helps to guide your own thinking when a question involving tradeoffs arises!