Madspace : Blog

WAT?

While you think of a product / idea , it is usual to think like people who will be using it. But not to me, I do not think like customer, not like developer, not like investors or market.

Think like Product

How can you think like a product?

Imagination… think about how you will be interacting your users for the first time.

It is like you ( product/ idea ) are going on a date with your user ( henceforth her, sorry girls), now ask yourself questions like…

Am I ready to go with her ?

You will never be 100% ready for a date, but  you need to be ready just enough to ask her for another date. First date should give her some hope to take one more chance. The trick here is not the first date, it is actually the second date, where she will be far more serious than the first date, hence she would listen more carefully and seriously.

The biggest challenge in product design is tricking the user to use the product for the 2nd time. Everything else will fall in place

— Madhu G B (@madospace) February 27, 2014

What is that she is looking for?

Well this is a tricky question isn’t it, whole world is looking for this answer. But for now its obvious that she is looking for someone she can trust, can share with and to be comfortable with. You need to tell her about your positive things, strengths ( don’t worry she will figure out the weaknesses, but that is when she feel proud of her insights),  It is important to let her figure out the negative things. Do not highlight them, but at the same time do not lie, something you can’t do. Remember she is looking for someone she can trust.

Is she undergoing data overflow?

Talking about yourself is fine, but it is important to understand  what she wants to know about you at this stage.  Probably it will not be a good idea to talk about your friends and your daily routine ( competition ). Not telling anything about you also will keep her in confused state, which is incorrect. So cut it short, tell it in one sentence, say 10 important things that happened in your life. or your passion, what you want to do, what makes you happy. Remember to let her talk first, when conversation starts then you should follow these one by one.

Is she into me?

This is where lot of people misjudge. Just because she is smiling doesn’t mean that she is liking you. She might think of you as a funny person ( unless thats what you want ). Key thing here is that there should be an emotional bond where there is a little bit of tolerance over not-so-perfect-person. When she realize you are what you are, not-so-perfect-person, then automatically she would give more time to you. Do not rush.

Should I ask her number?

Ah, this is where classic dilemma comes in. Before asking this you must know that the total experience of this date so far is good. Don’t ask the number until you think that she would not mind sharing her information.  Asking number if she is pissed of at somebody (more likely you!) is probably not a good idea. If something went wrong, then apologise. In between conversation telling her where to find you would be better, rather than asking  her number. Remember, keep your card ready, if she is impressed with you she might ask your number as well.

If everything goes well, you will be ready for the next big date :-)

What difference will it make?

The point here is, if you start asking yourself questions regarding how to do things, naturally you will come up with better use cases. Put yourself in the use case rather than your software / idea. There is no better system than you.

Cheers