A while ago a service designer told me about an incredible music app start-up she was working on. The app in question was well funded and had some of the smartest minds on the project. From kick off, the team set about building a raft of incredible features that wowed investors and looked set to deliver something extraordinary. Months went by and launch dates kept slipping. After burning through a ton of investors money a year went by and still nothing had been launched to market. In just over 12 months the app had a bunch of features that didn’t quite work, a ton of bugs and could not be released. The company shut down.
It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of building features simply for the sake of it. Developers and product teams can become fixated on adding a constant stream of new functionality in an attempt to “innovate” or “stay competitive.” This tendency has given rise to the concept of the feature factory—a business or team that prioritises churning out features without fully considering the broader user experience or the impact on their customers.
What’s often overlooked in this race for more features is the most critical aspect: value. At the end of the day, users care less about how many features a product has and more about whether it helps them achieve their goals or solve their problems. This brings us to a crucial distinction: are we delivering features, or are we delivering outcomes?
The Feature Factory Trap
In a feature factory, the focus is on shipping as many features as possible, as quickly as possible. Teams work on an assembly line of updates—releasing small tweaks and minor enhancements—without pausing to consider the larger picture of how these features contribute to the user experience. Often, these features are driven by internal goals or a desire to “keep up” with the competition, rather than addressing real customer needs.
This approach leads to several common issues:
- Bloat: Over time, the product becomes overloaded with unnecessary or underused features, leading to poor performance and a confusing user experience.
- Fragmentation: When features are developed without a cohesive vision, the product can become disjointed, making it harder for users to navigate.
- Frustration: Users often find themselves overwhelmed by a complex array of features, many of which they don’t need, leading to disengagement from the product altogether.
While an extensive list of features may seem impressive at first glance, a product’s success is not determined by the sheer number of options it offers. The key to long-term success lies in delivering value—solving real-world problems and helping users accomplish their goals more easily.
One thing to note is that it also becomes a complete pain in the ass documenting a host of interdependent features that may not lead to any real value at all. Additionally the ridiculous complexity borne out of the feature factory means that the product can often be complex to fix if journeys or technical elements break in one part and need fixing in another!
Why Outcomes Matter
Shifting the focus from features to outcomes starts with asking a simple, yet powerful question: What do our users really need to accomplish? When product teams prioritise outcomes, the conversation changes from “What features can we build?” to “What problems can we solve?”. If you need a deeper strategic dive into this check out my piece on Jobs-to-be-done here.
Here are a few reasons why this mindset shift is essential:
- User-Centred Design: When the focus is on outcomes, the user experience becomes the top priority. Instead of bombarding users with countless features they may never need, the product team works to make the user’s journey as seamless and efficient as possible.
- Reduced Complexity: Focusing on outcomes encourages simplicity. Rather than adding features for the sake of it, functionality is introduced only if it contributes directly to solving a user problem or enhancing the experience. This approach results in a cleaner, more intuitive product.
- Increased User Satisfaction: Users want products that make their lives easier. By focusing on outcomes, companies can deliver value that truly meets user needs, resulting in happier customers who are more likely to remain loyal to the product.
- Better Business Results: When products deliver real-world value, users engage with them more deeply, which leads to better business results. A product that helps users achieve their goals more easily will drive retention, positive reviews, and word-of-mouth recommendations, ultimately increasing revenue and growth.
When things went right: Email Octopus
One great example of a smaller company that focuses on delivering outcomes rather than simply building features is Email Octopus, a UK-based email marketing platform. Unlike larger email marketing providers that pack their services with a seemingly endless list of complex features, Email Octopus has positioned itself as a lean and affordable alternative for small businesses and non-profits who want to deliver effective email campaigns without the bloat. Remember how simple and great MailChimp used to be?!
Email Octopus focuses on providing what users really need: ease of use, affordability, and the ability to send bulk emails efficiently. The product offers essential features like email automation, audience segmentation, and reporting, but it avoids unnecessary complexity. By focusing on what small business users truly value—effective email marketing at a lower cost—they deliver a streamlined experience that is widely appreciated by their user base.
The company’s success comes from prioritising outcomes over a massive feature set. Their users are primarily concerned with sending professional email campaigns quickly and affordably, and Email Octopus has tailored their platform to meet that need. This outcome-driven approach has helped them compete against much larger competitors by delivering real-world value.
When things went south: Quibi
Launched in April 2020, Quibi was a high-profile, short-form video streaming service founded by Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP CEO Meg Whitman. The startup raised an astonishing $1.75 billion in funding before its launch, boasting a star-studded lineup and promising to revolutionise mobile streaming with its unique format. However, Quibi was forced to shut down just six months later, in October 2020.
The Feature Overload Problem
One of Quibi’s key issues was that it invested heavily in developing an array of features without adequately understanding what users truly wanted. Some of the notable features included:
- Turnstyle Technology: A feature that allowed users to rotate their phones and switch seamlessly between landscape and portrait modes while watching videos. Though this technology was novel, it didn’t address any real demand from users and was widely seen as a gimmick.
- Original Short-Form Content: Quibi invested heavily in creating “quick bites” of original content—episodes lasting 10 minutes or less, specifically designed for on-the-go consumption. While this feature seemed innovative, it missed the mark in terms of user preferences, as most people were already comfortable consuming long-form content on platforms like Netflix and YouTube on their mobile devices.
Despite packing the platform with these features, Quibi failed to understand that users valued content quality and accessibility more than gimmicky innovations. The emphasis on feature-building, rather than creating a product that aligned with user behaviour and preferences, was a major reason for its rapid downfall.
For further reading on Quibi’s rise and fall, here’s a link to an analysis of its failure here.
Shifting to an Outcome-Driven Approach
Transitioning from a feature-driven mindset to one that’s focused on outcomes requires fundamental changes in how product teams operate:
- Start with the User in Mind: Truly understand your users and their needs. Gather regular feedback, conduct user research, and empathise with their challenges. Build features only if they directly address a problem or enhance the user’s experience. Test your stuff! If users aren’t buying your silly features then bin them!
- Measure Success by Outcomes: Rather than focusing on metrics such as “number of features shipped,” shift your focus to outcomes that reflect user success, such as task completion rates, customer retention, and user satisfaction.
- Learn to Say No: One of the most important aspects of avoiding the feature factory trap is knowing when to say no. Not every feature request needs to be implemented. Prioritise only those updates that deliver meaningful improvements. Maybe create a ‘nice to have’ backlog which you can test out later.
- Iterate Based on Value: Release features in small increments, assess their impact, and refine them based on real-world usage and feedback. Focus on continuously improving the core value your product delivers rather than overwhelming users with frequent, unnecessary updates.