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Thread: How to simplify a complex SaaS product 
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I& #39;ve been working on a pivot of Command over the past month and wanted to share some tips on what I& #39;ve learned in the detangling process.
There& #39;s a lot of simple stuff and mind-hacking that you can do to move forward quickly.
There& #39;s a lot of simple stuff and mind-hacking that you can do to move forward quickly.
1/ Perform an inventory of features
If you& #39;re far into dev, it& #39;s likely you& #39;ve forgotten about stuff that you built.
Taking the time to click through the app and make a list of features makes it a lot easier to figure out what to cut and what to keep.
If you& #39;re far into dev, it& #39;s likely you& #39;ve forgotten about stuff that you built.
Taking the time to click through the app and make a list of features makes it a lot easier to figure out what to cut and what to keep.
Having a list makes it easy to visualize the cruft.
It also helps you to see where the missed connections are—where features don& #39;t fit together and make the product confusing for customers.
It also helps you to see where the missed connections are—where features don& #39;t fit together and make the product confusing for customers.
2/ Figure out what your customer& #39;s questions are
Instead of thinking in feature-to-solve-problem terms, think about what questions your product is answering for your customers.
Ex: I used the ? "how are my marketing efforts impacting my leads/revenue this month?"
Instead of thinking in feature-to-solve-problem terms, think about what questions your product is answering for your customers.
Ex: I used the ? "how are my marketing efforts impacting my leads/revenue this month?"
This allowed me to build a solution from the customer& #39;s perspective, not just an engineer& #39;s checklist of things to make a feature-complete.
Not only did this help simplify the product as a whole, but it made me more confident about *what* I was building and why.
Not only did this help simplify the product as a whole, but it made me more confident about *what* I was building and why.
3/ Identify which features have become emotional.
As a developer, it& #39;s easy to get attached to the things you build. They& #39;re your baby.
But that& #39;s no way to run a successful product. The easiest features to queue for deletion are the one& #39;s that give you googly eyes.
As a developer, it& #39;s easy to get attached to the things you build. They& #39;re your baby.
But that& #39;s no way to run a successful product. The easiest features to queue for deletion are the one& #39;s that give you googly eyes.
I& #39;ve decided to kill the "cards" feature in Command which was just a glorified GitHub Issues/Trello clone.
It works and it works well, but it didn& #39;t answer any customer questions.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔪" title="Hocho" aria-label="Emoji: Hocho">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔪" title="Hocho" aria-label="Emoji: Hocho">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔪" title="Hocho" aria-label="Emoji: Hocho">
This might make you cry, but it WILL lead to a better product.
It works and it works well, but it didn& #39;t answer any customer questions.
This might make you cry, but it WILL lead to a better product.
4/ Leverage the rule of three
All you need are three core features. Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail:
"Pick three key attributes or features, get those things very, very right, and then forget about everything else."
If you have to say "and" a lot, something needs to go.
All you need are three core features. Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail:
"Pick three key attributes or features, get those things very, very right, and then forget about everything else."
If you have to say "and" a lot, something needs to go.
5/ Accept that simplifying is a constant process
It& #39;s easy to think that once you hit your product with the simple stick it will stay that way, but the truth is that it& #39;s a discipline.
You have to constantly be on guard and self-aware when you& #39;re adding stuff you don& #39;t need.
It& #39;s easy to think that once you hit your product with the simple stick it will stay that way, but the truth is that it& #39;s a discipline.
You have to constantly be on guard and self-aware when you& #39;re adding stuff you don& #39;t need.
Jony Ive& #39;s advice on focus here is paramount for understanding this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oksetv3i90&feature=youtu.be&t=7
It& #39;s">https://www.youtube.com/watch... an "every single minute" thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch...
It& #39;s">https://www.youtube.com/watch... an "every single minute" thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch...
Thanks for reading! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😘" title="Face throwing a kiss" aria-label="Emoji: Face throwing a kiss">
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If you enjoyed this thread, please give it a like or a retweet.
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