Using the power of subtraction to improve your product
Have you ever used subtraction to solve a problem with your product?
It doesn’t seem like much of an option these days. We add features when our products aren’t doing well. We add because we’re trying to keep up with competitors. And we add in hopes that it’ll reach a broader audience.
The natural response is that choices are a good thing. I won’t lie, I get excited when a product I love comes out with a new feature. But the thing is, I rarely use the new feature, and that’s likely the behavior of most of your customers. New features are great for stirring up excitement, but it’s temporary and not worth the cost.
Studies show that too many choices can leave us feeling dissatisfied with our final decision. It can also keep us from making a decision at all.
Take a cue from these studies and stick to the problem you set out to solve with a few features, and do that well.
Netflix is a great example of a company that’s kept to their path. They started with a DVD rental and purchase service (they only sold DVDs for a year) through the mail. Their next big, and necessary, change was streaming content, and then they began making their own content to stream. The changes they made were logical and didn’t stray from their objective, which was video entertainment.
The subtracting solution approach came from an article I read about Tim Ferriss. It was talking about ten life-changing questions he’s asked himself.
One of those questions was, “What if I could only subtract to solve problems?” Check out the article. I’m sure you’ll find other ways to apply this and some of his other questions to your business and life.
Once we’ve heard a cliché enough times, we no longer appreciate its meaning. Next time you’re evaluating your product, consider, “less is more.”
