What are you willing to let go for a better product?
Decluttering can raise the bar from mediocrity to the best out there.
It’s tricky to master a recipe that contains just a few ingredients. On the other hand, a recipe with a long list of ingredients is quite forgiving. A screw up here or there will still give you an edible result because the role of each ingredient in the overall dish is negligible. Artisan bread lovers frown at the 10-ingredient list on a supermarket bread pack. Why not dish out the emulsifiers, corn syrups, sugars, and low-grade oils?
Unless it’s feeding poor and hungry souls, why settle for the mediocre stuff? After all, it’s not about what all can I add to make my bread yummy. It’s about how can I make a fantastic bread using just flour, water, and salt.
It’s not about how can I write a long article, it’s about how can I convey my idea in a 3–5 min read.
It’s not about how many new habits can I pick, it’s about which bad habits can I let go.
It’s not about what all can we do half heartedly in our app — food, delivery, subscription, e-scooter, hotels, videos, tickets, transport 😵 — it’s about what one thing can we do better than no one else in the market.
It’s not about getting more customers, it’s about getting loyal customers (who will eventually get you more customers).
It’s not about who all can use my product, it’s about who will benefit the most from my product.
It’s easier to hoard than to let go. It’s easier to clutter than to declutter. It’s not about which all features to include, it’s about which all features to toss.
At Bayzil, we realise that letting go doesn’t come easy. To help our clients get rid of the clutter and start on a brand new canvas, we use the Black and White canvases (pun intended).
It helps them compare their understanding of the customers (The Black Canvas of Business Discovery) vs a true picture (The White Canvas of Customer Discovery).
The White Canvas is a result of a one-week deep customer research that we conduct.
There are so many other product canvases in the market. Why use the Black and White?
We use it for the simple reason that it works. At the very beginning of a project, it helps the team trash the clutter and focus on the crucial elements.
Following is a sample of the Black and White canvases for a team trying to build a savings tool. The Black Canvas shows their understanding of their customer. It’s a typical persona. It’s all correct but you are all over the place. It doesn’t help you make any decisions. It doesn’t narrow down your focus.
The White Canvas describes a much focussed group of customers who will potentially benefit the most from a product.
This specialised group of customers is called the high-expectation customers (HXC for short). Focussing on the HXC is the most organic way to build and scale a product.
Narrowing down their time and attention to a specialised group of customers gives the team a better focus and a higher chance of success in the market. At the least, a help in prioritising the features list 📝. More importantly, it’s a big help in figuring out how to address their pains in a way better than ever.
To download your free copies of the Black and White Canvases, click here and here. Have fun decluttering ✨✨✨.
It’s not about what all you can add to your new, shiny product. It’s about what all are you willing to let go.
Thanks for reading! I am Prachi, co-founder of Bayzil, a product strategy and design studio based in Singapore. We help teams innovate and build digital products that customers love. To work with us or just to say hi 👋, get in touch at prachi@bayzil.com.
