[This post is an application of the framework I introduced in a prior post: A Universal Framework for Understanding Great Products.]
As part of my exercise evaluating the products at the companies I’ve worked at, here is a product perspective for GMAT Pill, a company I co-founded in 2009.
GMAT Pill is an online GMAT test prep course helping students score higher on the GMAT exam. It entered the market in 2009 with these unique angles:
- effective simulation of the private tutoring experience by leveraging video screen recording and audio recording technology
- convenient online and mobile access (24/7) via website and mobile apps
- affordable price point <$400 and in pill-sized pieces of ~$100 each
- trusted GMAT expert as private teacher (plus email testimonials, #1 rating on public forums, etc)
- easy-to-follow framework approach, 1-month study plan with notifications, and more.
I’ll go into how GMAT Pill works from a product perspective (metrics, etc) in another post. But for now, I tell you why it’s a great product from a framework approach: it’s useful, convenient, affordable, trustworthy, and easy-to-use.
A) Useful (effectively transfers ‘thinking process’)
In the GMAT test prep market, test takers wanted practice questions, practice tests, and text explanations. Ultimately, these test takers wanted higher scores.
GMAT Pill delivered on these points and went farther than its competitors by offering video explanations — specifically videos simulating a private tutoring experience, which makes the transfer of knowledge or thinking process between teacher and student that much more effective than traditional text-book studying or group classroom learning. The unique approach was useful AND effective.
B) Convenient
Traditionally, students’ options were limited. GMAT Prep books were bulky to carry around. And in-person classrooms were highly inconvenient for students (mostly busy working professionals) to attend in evenings or on Saturday mornings.
GMAT Pill was convenient because it offered its prep services via its online website — accessible anywhere with an internet connection.
C) Trustworthy
Signing up for GMAT prep services is an incredibly important decision for MBA aspiring students. Taking the GMAT exam is typically usually only a once (or mb twice) in a life-time event. So getting services from a credible / reliable / trustworthy / consistent source is a really important aspect to a GMAT prep service.
GMAT Pill takes this dimension to the extreme.
Screenshots of real email testimonials, real video testimonials with students in them, audio interviews with students, links to social media accounts, snapshots of real Official Score Reports, reviews on 3rd party websites — all attest to the credibility of results that students got and the effectiveness of the course.
Background information on the instructor, Zeke Lee, a Stanford graduate who scored in the top 1–2%ile of students is available all online. Free video previews and articles written by Zeke Lee solidify his credibility as a GMAT expert and build trust, as the audio of his voice in the video previews help students evaluate the teacher and the effectiveness of the learning style they might embark on if they sign up.
Lastly, in a combination of being “trustworthy + convenient”, GMAT Pill offered direct email support with expert Zeke Lee himself 24/7, convenient for whenever GMAT questions may pop up in students’ minds. The same level of support also offered in a comments section below every video in the course and every question on its practice question platform.
D) Easy-to-use
Traditional prep options required a lot of discipline and planning in how to prepare in the 1–3 months leading up to test day.
GMAT Pill helped facilite by offering 1-month and 2-month study plans. Rather than get inundated with a large collection of videos, we helped students navigate by organizing the course in a thoughtful way and by recommending 1–2 month study plans. Further, when subscribed, students would get an email at 6AM, every day for 30 days, telling students what exactly they should be doing that day. By taking a big goal and breaking it down into bite-sized chunks, GMAT Pill students would be able to more easily follow the study plan.
E) Affordable
Traditional books were under $50 and in-person classrooms exceeded $1000. Then, private tutoring easily went over $1500. Was it possible to provide excellent prep at an affordable price?
Leveraging technology, GMAT Pill was able to do so at a price range between $300-$450, a price point closer to the middle. Further, GMAT Pill itself was broken down into 6 pills. If the full course was too expensive, students would be able to buy just 1 of the pills at a price just under $100. These prices were new to the market and were gladly welcomed by GMAT test takers.
So, the above 5 dimensions (useful, convenient, trustworthy, easy-to-use and affordable) are what make GMAT Pill stand out as a product.
GMAT Pill — The Rise of Mobile
Now, what happened when the industry landscape changed and mobile apps became popular? Well, the decision to build mobile apps vs a mobile-optimized website is not an easy one (future post). But GMAT Pill leveraged mobile apps to improve the GMAT Pill product in the following dimensions:
A) Convenient
Mobile devices offered an opportunity for prep services to be even more convenient. Customers loved to watch prep videos on their couch with an iPad device. Yes, it may have been dangerously comfortable for some students who may have taken advantage of the couch to fall asleep, but it was definitely the preferred mode of consumption. GMAT Pill was the very first in the market to offer an iPad app.
When iPhone and Android devices began getting bigger screens, GMAT Pill made the convenience factor even more accessible by launching iPhone and Android apps.
B) Useful
The mobile apps gave GMAT Pill customers one superpower that the desktop website did not provide — the ability to download videos for offline viewing. This was incredibly useful as more and more students were accessing the course on mobile while on-the-go: in the subway, on the train, on the oil rig (yes we had students in the Oil & Gas industry), and in other places that had no wifi or internet connection. The GMAT Pill mobile apps made all of these customers very happy.
Clearly, GMAT Pill is fantastic product that really helps solve customer pain points along the dimensions of being useful, convenient, trustworthy, easy-to-use and affordable. I highly recommend.
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