Blueprints to Blockbusters Sidestepping Design Failures and Finding Market Fit

Editor’s note: This is an edited transcript of Parul Verma’s speech at the GeekyAnts Design Meetup 2024. This speech has been adapted for clarity and flow and includes additional insights from Parul on how to avoid common design traps and create market-fit products.

Have you ever built a product that looks visually appealing, and works well, but still didn’t quite hit the mark in the market? Any of you? I see some hands up! So, I believe most designers can relate to this experience—pouring their creativity and efforts into something that didn’t quite find its place in the market.

We are going to talk about why that happens by diving deep into some of the most common pitfalls in product design. More importantly, we are going to explore how to avoid those traps, so that your product doesn’t just look good and work well but rocks in the market.

I’ll give a quick introduction about myself. I’m Parul Verma, a UI/UX designer here at GeekyAnts. When I’m not designing, I’m creating paintings, writing stories, and exploring a lot of different things. My friends often tell me that I look at things differently. While many people focus on the positive—thinking about how to make a product successful—I tend to think about what negative things we should avoid to make a product successful.

That’s exactly what today’s talk is about blueprints to blockbusters, design traps, and market wins. As a UI/UX designer, I always want to make sure that the work I do doesn’t just look good and function well but also stands out in the market—meeting the users’ needs, expectations, and behaviors.

One of the most common mistakes designers make—especially early in their careers—is designing for yourself, not the users. How many of you can relate to this? Just think about it: You’re sitting on your couch, and an amazing idea hits you. You believe it’s brilliant; it makes you feel like a genius. But here’s the problem—you’re not your user.

In the early stages of my career, I faced this issue. We built something sleek, seamless, and minimalistic, thinking it was innovative. But when we launched it, users were like, What is this even for? We hadn’t validated user needs or expectations enough. We had designed for ourselves.

It’s easy to avoid this mistake. Keep doing core research and interact with users in real life. Talk to your friends and family—find out if they need what you’re building. Remember, you’re solving their problems, not your own.

Now, speaking of research, another major pitfall is ignoring market research. I’ll admit, I’ve been guilty of this myself. I was so focused on building something that looked good and worked well, but I forgot to analyze what the market actually needed.

Market research is critical. There are a lot of products already out there and believe me, many of them are better than you think. By doing competitive research, you can find the missing piece for your product—the unique aspect that sets it apart from the rest. Focus on solving the pain points of the users, and you’ll be ahead of the game.

Let’s talk about overloading features, also known as feature creep. How many of you have worked with a client who just wants to add more and more features, especially in the early stages? I’m sure a lot of hands are going up. This is something you really want to avoid when launching a new product.

While it’s tempting to add more features to make the product appealing, it often dilutes the core value of the product. In the early stages, users want something simple. Even I, as a user, prefer starting with something easy to navigate. If you flood users with features from the get-go, they might feel overwhelmed.

Remember Hike, the Indian messaging platform? It was way ahead of its time with features like AI chatbots, stickers, and even hidden modes. But it was overloaded with so many features that users didn’t know how to use them. In contrast, WhatsApp kept things simple and became the preferred messaging app. In 2021, Hike was shut down.

This shows us that if your product tries to do everything, it ends up doing nothing well. Start with simplicity, establish your core value, and later, you can add features gradually.

Now let’s move on to skipping user testing—and believe me, you don’t want to skip this step. Take Apple Maps, for example. How many of you have used it? How many of you actually liked it? Apple launched its maps app without proper user testing, and the reviews were terrible.

User testing is crucial because it helps you catch potential issues before launching your product. Without it, you risk delivering a poor user experience, wasting business resources, and damaging your brand. At GeekyAnts, we always advise our clients to test the product with real users in the early stages. Based on feedback, we can make adjustments, ensuring that the final product is market-ready.

Remember, quality over quantity. It’s not about how many features your product has, but how well those features serve the core purpose.

Another pitfall is failing to adapt to market changes. Over time, the user needs to evolve, and your product should too. If you stick with your original vision without adapting, users will eventually move on to something better.

Take Nokia, for example. Once a leader in mobile phones, Nokia didn’t adopt when smartphones like the iPhone and Samsung devices emerged. By the time Nokia realized its mistake, it was too late.

On the other hand, look at Instagram. Originally launched as a check-in app called Burbn, the founders quickly pivoted when they noticed users were more interested in sharing photos. Instagram adapted to user feedback, and now it’s one of the biggest platforms out there.

Products like Instagram, Figma, and Swiggy succeed because they evolve. They continually introduce new features to keep users engaged, while still maintaining the product’s core functionality.

Finally, let’s talk about balancing user needs with business goals. Imagine building a bridge—on one side, you have user needs, and on the other, business goals. If one side is too heavy, the bridge will collapse. You need a balance.

A product that users love but doesn’t align with business goals won’t survive in the long run. Similarly, a product that prioritizes business goals over user experience will see users move to a competitor. The key is to ensure that both sides are equally strong.

Design for your users. Do your research. Avoid feature creep. Test your product. Be open to change. And always balance user needs with business goals.

Earlier, Sheikh Murad, Praveen, and Vinny talked about product market fit, aligning business and user needs, and leveraging AI for future growth. These are common pitfalls, but also common opportunities for improvement.

In closing, I’ll leave you with this: Designing a product is like telling a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s probably not that great. The same goes for design. If you have to explain every step of your design, the user journey isn’t smooth enough. Keep it simple, make it user-friendly, and go out there and design the next blockbuster product for the future.

With that, I’m Parul Verma, signing out. See you all soon at the next Indian Meetup!