An important part of a positive user experience lies in visually attractive and fairly simple feature sets that make product searching easier for users. Some believe that a good user experience lies only in the beauty and simplicity of the design. However, that is far from the truth, as the features contribute to only a small part of a decent yet interactive user experience (UX) design and instead depend heavily on the product.

Positive user experience depends largely upon answering the users questions and offering solutions to their problems via the product and its qualities. Therefore, it is crucial to include various elements in your UX design that are not only visually attractive but also fulfill the purpose of the users search for your product.

Why Product Thinking Is The Next Big Thing In UX Design

The first step of effective product thinking involves the identification of the users problem. From here, the designer proceeds to various cognitive strategies, and even design tactics, that help address and solve said problem. Product thinking lies in the middle of product management and UX design.

Users mainly focus on how a product will solve their respective problems, and more often than not, this decision is based on several elements and not solely on the product and design features. It can also be said that a purpose-built product can make it into the market without features. However, regardless of its quality, features can not make up for the shortcomings of the product.

Product thinking helps designers and developers ask the right questions and communicate correctly with shareholders. When product thinking is optimized, lead designers are able to deduce how many features are necessary to add value to the product. Similarly, it also enables designers to draw the line when they want no more additional features to be included. This is especially useful if the extra features will not add anything to the products value and visibility.

Good Practices For Product Thinking

There are several techniques, and methods designers can use to deploy an efficient approach to product thinking.

• Define Your Product

  Decent product definition is perhaps the first and most significant step in product thinking. A good rule of thumb is to create a draft containing all the important points to consider when defining your product in a way that all of the users questions are answered. Some steps you can take to help define your product effectively are:

  • Note in detail the user problem, i.e., the problem your product aims to solve.

  • Try to identify the audience you are targeting and what their interests are.

  • Understand what your vision is for the product and why you do what you do.

  • Devise a plan and select strategies to fulfill your vision.

  • Set realistic goals and targets about what you want to achieve in the near future.

  • Finally, proceed toward smart UX design and features.

• Identify The Purpose Of Your Product

  To put things simply, every product exists for a reason. The products value and demand lie in the purpose it serves to its user. Thus, a significant element of effective product thinking includes identifying the reason your product exists and what it adds to the user experience.

  A crucial mistake some designers and manufacturers make is the lack of understanding of the products demand. If the product is designed for a purpose that does not exist or the solution offered by you is unrelated to the root issue, there is a sharp decline in the demand for the product, which consequently leads to its downfall.

  Although not always, the latter problem can still be fixed by altering the product according to the circumstances. There is, however, no solution to the former. Thus, the key lies in feasibility planning and product thinking beforehand to ensure that such an issue is avoided. Hence, try to identify the customers problems and offer them the solutions they are looking for, not only the ones you believe are right and market-centric.

• Problem-Solution-Fit

  As discussed above, a product is only purposeful as long as it offers a solution to an identified problem. Therefore, the problem-solution-fit sums up the core user experience concerning a specific product. It should also be established that UX features support the problem-solution-fit and help build a better user experience.

  Regardless, these features can not replace the core product experience. Simply put, the visual attractiveness or interactiveness of the UX design can surely aid a lot in bringing the product to attention. Still, it can not make the product purposeful and meaningful.

  In order to achieve impeccable UX design, it is best to utilize professional services like WorkDo. Hiring professional services for UX/UI design can deliver product-focused and customer-centered services and help you create better digital products that leave their mark on the market.

• Think In Terms Of The Product And Design Targeted Features

  Once you have answered all the important questions about your product and devised a product definition, it automatically becomes easier to build features that successfully fulfill their respective purposes. Effective product thinking practices are always reflected in the design features because everything appears purpose-built to the user.

Wrapping Up

Product thinking enables designers to create features that are in line with their products and not the other way around. It helps them ask the right questions, identify user problems, perform detailed feasibility studies, and devise solutions according to user requirements.

Not deploying efficient product thinking before implementing UX design and features can leave a gap between your product and customers demand for such products. Therefore, suffice it to say that product thinking is the next big thing in UX design.

Most product designers need to invest time and resources in this practice to keep their products at the forefront of the market. For businesses, it is always a smart choice to look into professional website design sites in order to incorporate all the necessary elements that will help gain quality lead