Power users. Every product has ‘em. And boy are they great. They are happy to extol to others the hidden virtues in every crevice of the product. And a lot of times they can lead you to new ideas of where the product can be extended to new uses markets(that is when they’re not bitching about things like not being able to integrate with their new XYZ product or that your product doesn’t support the latest greatest Web 2.0 gadgety feature).
So what’s to fear? These guys know your product, they love it. Why not listen to them and do what they ask? Well…it goes like this. Power users represent only a fraction of your user base. Develop for them, and you’re screwed. SCREWED!
Oh good, you want to hear more.
Ok first, let’s step back: The whole notion of a power user is relative. For some specialty or vertically-oriented software (like Mathematica) it may seem like the user base is made-up of only power users. But even in those user bases, you can find the trusty statistical distribution that will prove most users are not product experts. So every product manager needs to realize that there is a distribution of product expertise along its base and understand the value of input from each user category.
Types of Power User
Within the power user category, there are two types. One profile tends to focus on one aspect of your product extremely deeply. The other profile will use an uncommonly large percentage of product features. Each can provide good value with input. With the “deep user”, they can give you insight into how the application holds-up under certain use cases. With the “expansive user”, they can provide insight into the overall application and where there could be new opportunities since they are more likely to use many features for a wide variety of tasks.
An example: at one company, I managed a suite of document management applications. Within the suite, we provided a document imaging module. It’s basic job was to digitize paper documents so that they could be processed, shared, changed, and published. Now we had TONS of folks that knew how to take a document, place it in a scanner, push the button, and voila, a digital representation of that document emerged. But there was a group of users that had an insane amount of expertise with document imaging down to what file type they preferred, the image type used, the level of document correction required, and the OCR engine that would product the best results. They really had no interest in document taxonomy, versioning, or how it would be managed. That’s a deep user.
An example of an “expansive user” was at yet another company. This person knew a great deal about the processes and procedures involved within their department and how the applications supported those processes at every step. However, this person did not have a great deal of expertise within each step to provide detailed information on specific tasks or how they could be improved. Rather this person was useful in identifying where the application could be adapted to support new processes.
How to Identify a Power User
How to actually identify which folks within your user base are power users is not terribly hard. They typically present themselves through enhancement requests via sales or account representatives, queries into the support center, and visits to your booth at trade shows. The deep user will probably know certain areas of your applications better than you! You know, the type of person that knows exactly what they want and isn’t afraid to tell you. And that’s where you need to watch out.
The Value of the Power User
Power users have tremendous value when you’re planning your next release, looking for extension into other potential markets or are looking to refine or bulletproof a feature set. But they aren’t the kind of user profile to which you want to target your product. Why? Because as mentioned earlier, power users are unique and not in large numbers within any typical user base. Even in specialized software the distribution of user expertise is skewed but still there is a distribution. If you plan and design your software for power users you will be making software targeted towards a small user population that really takes the time to know your software. You will neglect the far larger number of folks that are casual users or users with less expertise that really impact the overall success of your product.
“But why would anyone only plan for one user segment?”, you ask. Remember, power users by their very nature are knowledgeable, vocal, influential, and in many cases have good ideas. It is very easy to begin to lend an ear to this group in a disproportionate manner and ultimately design and deliver solutions that cater to their needs.
So to repeat: Design your product towards power users and you will make your software unnecessarily complex and therefore increase your support costs, neglect a large user base, and ultimately turn-off a market.
The key here is to incorporate power users into your system of feedback.
- For features, build towards simple and provide the option to go complex. Use power user input to understand the proper workflow or the appropriate technical requirements. Then tap into their interest in your product by recruiting these folks to help test ideas through beta releases.
- For outreach, don’t overlook that power users are often the best champions and customer references. Allow them to speak highly of your product to new customers and give them a forum to help them help other users out there.
- For market opportunities, ask them where the gaps are in the product and what other business processes might benefit. They know the software well enough (and the business it supports) to potentially help you identify new avenues for growth.
Map-out who your users really are. Create personals of the major segments. Pick out representative folks within each. And then tap into each segment’s ability to provide useful input and feedback. Just don’t get sucked-in to delivering too much to this one vocal, knowledgeable group.
