Are You Building Features or Solving Problems?

A Practical Guide for Product Leaders and Managers

In my prequel article we explored the idea that customers don’t care about how many features your product has; they care about how effectively it solves their problems. It's easy to fall into the trap of adding more features to make your product feel “rich” or superior to competitors, but this often leads to clutter rather than impact. Here’s how to strike a balance between feature-building and problem-solving, ensuring your product stays aligned with both user needs and business goals.

1. Start with Customer Problems, Not Features

A lesson I’ve carried with me throughout my career is simple yet powerful: “If you can’t clearly state it in one sentence, then you probably don’t understand it well enough.” The foundation of any great product lies in its ability to solve a key problem for the customer. Before diving into feature development, it’s essential to fully understand the pain points of your target market. This can be achieved through a mix of customer interviews, surveys, data analysis, observation, feedback loops, and customer journey mapping.

Once you have a deep understanding of the problem, you’ll be able to clearly see which features provide real value and which are distractions.

2. Prioritize Features That Directly Solve Customer Needs

After identifying the core problem, the next step is prioritizing the features that will address those issues. Not every feature deserves equal attention, so be strategic. A great tool for this is the Impact vs. Effort Matrix, which helps you weigh the potential effect of a feature against the resources required to implement it. Prioritize features that are high-impact and low-effort for quick wins that don’t stretch your team too thin.

Stay focused on solving the most pressing problems first. Trying to solve everything at once can dilute your product's focus. Addressing core needs builds trust with users, which encourages loyalty as your product evolves.

While it’s essential to solve customer problems, remember that the features you prioritize must also align with your business goals. A feature that doesn’t fit into the broader company strategy may not be worth your time, no matter how much it solves a user problem. Always ensure your efforts are both customer-centric and aligned with long-term business objectives.

3. Test and Learn with MVPs (Minimum Viable Products)

You don’t need a fully-loaded product to start delivering value. Begin with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that solves a core problem and gathers early feedback. Build your MVP to test key assumptions rather than aiming for perfection. The MVP should function well enough to address the primary issue, without all the extra features that can be added later. Focus on learning from real user interactions.

Iterate based on feedback, and avoid feature creep. Resist the urge to add unnecessary features before validating your MVP’s core value. A lean, focused MVP is much more effective in solving user problems and guiding the next steps.

4. Engage Cross-Functional Teams from Day One

A successful product isn’t built in a vacuum. Involve diverse teams from the start—customer support, engineering, marketing, sales, compliance, and operations. Each team provides unique insights that help align the product across multiple dimensions, ensuring it’s user-friendly, technically feasible, and marketable.

In product development, every product faces risks—usability, feasibility, value, and business viability. Engaging cross-functional teams early on helps identify and address these risks, ensuring your product is not just functional but successful in the long term.

5. Don’t Fall in Love with Features, Fall in Love with Solving Problems

Perhaps the most crucial principle to remember is to focus on solving problems, not building features. It’s easy to get attached to certain ideas or features, but product leaders must prioritize solving customer problems. A shiny new feature that doesn’t address a real user need is just noise.

Use data to guide your decisions. Don’t rely on assumptions or opinions—look at user behavior, feedback, and analytics to decide what features to build next. Be ready to “kill your darlings.” If a feature isn’t adding value or solving the right problem, cut it. It’s better to have a product that solves a few problems really well than one that tries to do everything poorly.

6. Measure Success by Outcomes, Not Features

Success isn’t measured by how many features your product has; it’s about how well those features solve real problems. Measure success by looking at outcomes such as:

• Customer Satisfaction: Use surveys, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and direct feedback to understand how satisfied customers are with your product’s features.

• Feature Adoption Rates: Track which features are actually being used. Are they providing value, or are they just sitting there unused?

• Retention and Engagement: A product that solves real problems keeps customers coming back. Check retention and engagement metrics to ensure you’re solving the right problems in a sustainable way.

Finally, building a successful product isn’t about packing it with features—it’s about solving real customer problems in a way that aligns with your business goals. By focusing on core issues, testing with MVPs, involving cross-functional teams, and continuously learning from data, you can strike the right balance between features and problem-solving. Always measure success by the value you deliver to your users, not by the number of features you build.