As a software development agency, one of the most important things to consider when building a product is the “path to value” for both customers and stakeholders. This is the path through your software, service, or product that creates value for customers and ultimately leads to value for stakeholders.
When building an MVP (minimum viable product), it’s important to focus on creating the most valuable product possible, rather than just a viable one. This means identifying the valuable piece of your product that creates value for customers and understanding the steps they need to take to get value out of it.
In addition to the path to value for customers, there is also the path to value for stakeholders, which involves the development and product time it takes to create and deliver the product to customers. Both of these paths should be considered when building a product, with the focus on creating value for customers first, followed by value for stakeholders.
For example, let’s say you’re building a project management tool for teams. The path to value for customers might involve creating an account, setting up their team, and adding tasks and deadlines. As they use the tool and see their team’s productivity increase, they will get value from the product.
On the other hand, the path to value for stakeholders might involve developing and testing the tool, deploying it to a production environment, and marketing it to potential customers. Once customers start using the tool and seeing value from it, the stakeholders will also get value from the product through customer subscriptions and usage.
Freemium models, where customers can access a basic version of the product for free but must pay for additional features, can be a good way to create value for both customers and stakeholders. However, it’s important to balance the free and paid elements of the product to ensure that customers are receiving value from the free version, while also providing enough incentive for them to upgrade to the paid version.
Ultimately, the key to creating a successful product is to focus on the path to value for both customers and stakeholders, and to balance the needs and goals of both groups to ensure a mutually beneficial outcome.
