What people really value

Scientific evidence on what people really want

Our job as product managers is to deliver value to people. This can range from solving problems to creating new opportunities.

What is value?

There is scientific evidence about what people actually value.

For copyright reasons I will not show the picture here. You can find the original here https://hbr.org/2016/08/the-30-things-customers-really-value

I quote the full list of things people value:

Social Impact:

1. Self-transcendence

Life Changing:

2. Provides hope

3. Self-actualization

4. Motivation

5. Heirloom

6. Affiliation/ belonging

Emotional:

7. Reduces anxiety

8. Rewards me

9. Nostalgia

10. Design/ aesthetics

11. Badge value

12. Wellness

13. Therapeutic value

14. Fun/ entertainment

15. Attractiveness

16. Provides access

Functional:

17. Saves time

18. Simplifies

19. Makes money

20. Reduces risk

21. Organizes

22. Integrates

23. Connects

24. Reduces effort

25. Avoids hassles

26. Reduces cost

27. Quality

28. Variety

29. Sensory appeal

30. Informs

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/08/the-30-things-customers-really-value, Copyright 2015 Bain & Company Inc.

Observations

It is easy to recognize the pyramid: most values are functional. The more personal value you get, the fewer there are. This does not mean that there are fewer opportunities to fulfill those desires, or fewer business opportunities. But it does mean that you can focus on fewer values to fulfill personal goals.

Another difference is between B2C and B2B products. Consumer products may provide functional values at the bottom of the list, but mainly they provide the more personal values at the top.

Business products, on the other hand, almost exclusively provide functional values at the bottom of the list. This is not inherently better or worse, but rather the nature of business.

How to use this list

This list is complete, as far as science can tell. This means that:

• Every product/feature/use case can be associated with one or more values from the list.

• The values are independent of the framework you are using. If you are using a business canvas, opportunity solution trees, or any other framework: You should end up with one or more of these values.

• Actively try to figure out the value you want to provide as you build new features. If you build a product but can't tie it to one of these values, chances are your customer won't find the value.

• If you're building something and don't know what value you're providing (from the list!), you might want to dig deeper into your reasoning, or there may be no value in your plans.

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What I read

As usual, I will list some of the best articles I read on the Internet. I will keep a list of the best articles (currently >800) at https://www.digital-product-management.com. These are today’s picks:

Story Points are Pointless: Why Story Points are so broken and how to avoid dealing with them ever again.

Maarten's Sprint Goal Template: Focus on Collaboration over Filling in a Template.

Personal Values: A list of personal values the people can have. Not to be confused with the values of this article!