Presented at Product Talks Brisbane in May 2019. Feature flops how to avoid them, rescue or kill them.

1. #FAIL
CARLYDAFF
Why do our features flop?
L E T ’ S T A L K A B O U T
F A I L U R E

2. P R O D U C T
M A N A G E R
P R I D E
Stan Launch - T h e D a y S t a n t u r n e d u p i n t h e
p a p e r

3. BUT WE
DON’T
ALWAYS GET
IT RIGHT

4. PRESSURE
TO SHIP

5. PRESSURE
TO BE CERTAIN

6. PRESSURE
FROM ABOVE

7. PRESSURE
FROM MARKETING
OR A PARTNER

8. { FLOPS }
FEATURE

9. Change the channel with gestures
F O X T E L O N
X B O X 3 6 0

10. Watch streamed TV on your low spec bluray
F O X T E L O N
P L A Y O N
B L U R A Y

11. How much battery do I have left?
W A T C H I N G
S T A N O N Y O U R
P H O N E

12. Oops! I just streamed a movie on 4G
U S I N G A L L
Y O U R D A T A

13. T A K I N G N O T E S
I N Y O U R E X A M

14. I P H O N E
U S E R S D I D
Y O U K N O W ?
You can change the intensity of your flashlight

15. I P H O N E
U S E R S D I D
Y O U K N O W ?
There is a one handed keyboard

16. F A C E B O O K
S T O R I E S
Before Instagram integration all your friends
were ghosts.

17. M I C R O S O F T
W O R D C L I P P Y
Do you miss his constant nagging and random
suggestions?

18. K I T C H E N
D E S K S
So in for a little while…
Quickly became the house dumping ground

19. G M A I L
S M A R T
C O M P O S E

20. W H E R E
D I D
W E G O
W R O N G ?
I N F U R I A T E S
L O S T
P R O D U C T I V I T Y
S H I N Y O B J E C T T R A P
S O L V E P R O B L E M

21. INFURIATES
U S E R S H A T E Y O U R S H I N Y N E W R E L E A S E

22. LOST
Y O U B U I L T I T B U T N O O N E C A M E

23. IMPACTS
PRODUCTIVITY
Y O U M A D E Y O U R U S E R S L I F E H A R D E R

24. SHINY OBJECT
TRAP
Y O U F E L L I N T O T H E S H I N Y N E W O B J E C T T R A P

25. DIDN’T SOLVE
THE PROBLEM
T H A T Y O U S E T O U T T O

26. THE 5 STEP PROCESST O A V O I D F E A T U R E F L O P S
V A L I D A T E D E S I G N T E S T M E A S U R E
R E S C U E
K I L L

27. VALIDATE
B E F O R E Y O U R W R I T E A
S I N G L E L I N E O F C O D E

28. WE ALL SUFFER
FROM
CONFIRMATION
BIAS

29. CONVINCED
OF ONE
THING

30. WH Y
What problem are you solving?
What is the main problem you are trying to solve?
Is that the right problem to solve?
Why do we need to solve that problem?
?

31. DOES YOUR IDEA SOLVE
THE PROBLEM?

32. Measure interest in a product or feature without actually coding or
implementing.
Create a landing page, drive traffic, users start to register or don’t.
F A K E D O O R
T E S T

33. Method from lean startup where you offer your feature manually to
validate your idea.
C O N C I E R G E
M V P

34. Talk to your customers
Don’t ask your friends and family!
U S E R
R E S E A R C H

35. Do your competitors solve the problem?
How will you do it better?
C O M P E T I T O R
A N A L Y S I S
S W O T

36. With your business strategy?
With your product goals?
D O E S I T
A L I G N ?

37. D E F I N E
S U C C E S S
T I M E I N A P P
N U M B E R O F C L I C K S
I N C R E A S E D P R O F I T
R E T E N T I O N
I N C R E A S E D N P S

38. -DESIGN-

39. YOUR CEO IS
NOT YOUR
DESIGNER
E I T H E R I S Y O U R D E V E L O P E R

40. GIVE YOUR
DESIGNER
YOUR TIME
D O N ’ T P O S T I T N O T E B R I E F

41. NEW SPRINT
STARTS
MONDAY
B E T T E R J U S T W H I P S O M E T H I N G T O G E T H E R . . .

42. DON’T FORGET
TO TELL
YOUR USERS
H O W W I L L Y O U I N F O R M T H E M ?

43. BE
CONSISTENT
F O L L O W A P A T T E R N , U S E A N I M A T I O N

44. MINIMISE
COGNITIVE
LOAD
T H I N K A S L I T T L E A S P O S S I B L E

45. DON’T FORGET
COPYWRITING
U S E R V E R B S W I T H C O N T E X T

46. BIG CHANGE?
G I V E T H E O P T I O N T O R E V E R T B A C K

47. -TEST--TEST-

48. THE PROBLEM
WITH ACCEPTANCE
CRITERIA

49. YOU ARE
ACCOUNTABLE

50. T O O L S
T O
T E S T
U S E R E A L U S E R S
C R O W D S O U C E D
S U P P O R T T E A M
T R A I N I N G T E A M

51. BROWSING
NETFLIX
D O Y O U ?
A.W A T C H F O R A B I T ,
I F Y O U L I K E I T
W A T C H T H E S H O W
B.G E T T H E S H I T S
M O V E O N A S F A S T
A S Y O U C A N

52. A U T O P L A Y
F E A T U R E
F L O P

53. -TEST--MEASURE-

54. Q U A N T I T I V E
M E A S U R I N G
A N A L Y T I C S
B I
N P S T R A C K I N G
L O G S

55. METRICS ARE
PEOPLE TOO.
C U S T O M E R E N G A G E M E N T T O O L S
A S K Y O U R U S E R S I N P R O D U C T
M O N I T O R P U B L I C F O R U M S
P I C K U P T H E P H O N E
S U R V E Y

56. RESCUE
OR
KILL?A V O I D F E A T U R E B L O A T
D O N ’ T J U S T L E A V E I T

57. RESCUE TIPSB A S E D O N W H Y Y O U F A I L E D
I N F U R I A T E S
L O S T
P R O D U C T I V I T Y
S H I N Y O B J E C T T R A P
S O L V E P R O B L E M
Would a redesign help? Did you forget to give the option to revert back?
Move it! Tell your users. Notify in context.
Redesign to reduce clicks, change navigation, automate?
Did you solve the problem with the wrong tool? Wrong target market?
Redesign to solve the problem you set out to solve.

58. KILL
IT’S OK

59. AVOID YOUR NEXT FLOP
V A L I D A T E D E S I G N T E S T M E A S U R E
R E S C U E
K I L L

60. T H A N K S !
Carly Daff – Head of Product
http://bit.ly/2JkYN4z