There are certain patterns I have been noticing in successful software products. The ideas I am going to share are not new, and some are applicable beyond the software world. The list below is not a list of best practices, but rather some observations put together to inspire product thinkers.
Products implementing a method
Some products are built on top of a methodology. To benefit from them, users need to adopt a certain way of doing things. For example, Jira is associated with Scrum, and Roam Research is aligned with the Zettelkasten system. Many product landing pages proudly mention their method, such as Linear and Know Your Team. These products and their respective methodologies come from the same organization.
There are also products that don’t explicitly refer to any method, but they represent a step-by-step predefined workflow that guides users to their desired goal. These apps coach users through activities that can otherwise be confusing. This pattern can be found in domains like legal, travel, planning, and others. Having a method at the core of a product has significant implications from marketing and sales to design and engineering.
Products based on data structures
Joel Spolsky, in his article “How Trello is different”, mentioned that great horizontal killer applications are actually just fancy data structures. Excel is based on tables, Word is a list of lines organised in pages, PowerPoint is an array of full-screen images, and Trello is ultimately a list of lists. Trello, for example, is not completely focused on a methodology but provides a structure that can be used in unlimited ways. Airtable is another product that allows users to work with tables, records and views in an open setting, using them as building blocks for their own needs.
Products delivering content
These products provide users with content, but it’s not just the content itself that defines them, but also the way they deliver it. Services like Netflix and Spotify are valued not only for their content but also for the convenient access to it. Marketplaces can also be viewed through this lens, where successful ones focus on providing the best interfaces for discovering their offerings. Some products deliver content and help users follow a methodology at the same time, such as Officevibe, which provides a team engagement solution alongside templates for 1:1 meetings. Websites with online courses often provide a path for learning alongside the educational content.
Products that ‘just work’
Certain products act as ‘black boxes’, operating automatically in the background to solve problems without needing user input. For example, antivirus software, file syncing services and AI/ML solutions leverage automation and complex models to deliver desired outcomes with minimal effort.
These four types of products do not represent a complete categorisation, but highlight some common patterns. By considering the essence of various products we encounter every day, we can look at our own products from new perspectives and understand them better.