A product’s purpose is to deliver joy.
A product has a singular purpose — to deliver joy.
It’s just a question of to whom, when, how, how often, and why.
So, how can a product deliver joy?
It might solve a problem. Joy.
It might avert a problem. Joy.
It might address a need. Joy.
It might teach a skill. Joy.
It might deepen a connection. Joy.
It might grow an audience. Joy.
It might provide a surprise. Joy.
It might provide pleasure. Joy.
It might alleviate pain. Joy.
It might provide comfort. Joy.
It might provide safety. Joy.
It might be beautiful to look at. Joy.
It might make things beautiful. Joy.
It might ease the act of doing something. Joy.
It might amplify a moment. Joy.
It might make a memory. Joy.
It might hold a memory. Joy.
It might give someone more time in their life. Joy.
It might get something done faster. Joy.
It might get something done cheaper. Joy.
It might put a smile on someone’s face. Joy.
It’s that simple. It applies to anything — social media, email, your favorite apps, balloons, books, candy, candles, vegetables, bread, medicine, cans of soup, software, hardware, skateboards, hammers, nails, faucets, walls, carpet, tiles, chairs, tables, paintings, shoes, socks, phones, headphones, microphones, photo frames, backpacks, musical instruments, shopping carts, glue, lip balm, flashlights, cars, pencils, pens, every appliance in your house and mine, kitchen sinks, and, yes, even toilet paper.
People often think of products as being useful, and identify with the product’s utility and revenue.
I like to think of products as delivering joy.
Because, once you can “see” the user and “see” how they will experience joy out of your work, user empathy is a given. You can build the product the right way — with the user’s joy at the center of it.
A joy-centered approach makes it easy to define the product’s mission (and, indeed, our own mission as product builders). It’s easier to decide whether or not to build a product, if your decision-making process is focused around questions of joy.
- Who does the product deliver joy to? (users)
- Why does it deliver joy? (need)
- How many people want this type of joy? (product-market fit)
- How many people can it deliver joy to? (scale)
- When does the product deliver joy? (timing)
- How often does the product deliver joy? (frequency)
- How does the product deliver joy? (functionality)
- How can it continue to deliver joy? (retention)
- How will we know that it delivers joy? (KPIs)
- Is this joy worth paying for? (revenue)
All that fun stuff — scale, retention, KPIs, product-market-fit, revenue — it turns out they are all side-effects of being focused on delivering joy. Yes, that fun stuff determines whether or not you decide to build the product, but it all starts with joy. Joy for the user.
Delivering joy is the mission. Making revenue is a side-effect.
And, the next best part? We, as humans, like bringing joy to others, and we relish the idea that our work brings joy. It makes us feel good about ourselves, about our work. If you build something with the intent of delivering joy, the joy rubs off.
It gives us joy to build things that we know will bring joy.
Yes, you might be overjoyed if the product succeeds beyond your wildest expectations, but you’ve already won. You found joy in building it. You found meaning.
When I think of a new product, I start with a joy-centered approach.
If I can articulate a product’s joy — its purpose — the decision is automatic for me. I’ll build it.
