Design Design Design! → Part XLI: The Perils of Prioritizing Feature Requests over User Needs

Welcome to Design Design Design! This series of articles focuses on a variety of topics related to design. Whether a beginner or a seasoned professional, you’ll find something here to further your design knowledge.

Why Prioritizing Feature Requests Can Lead to Product Failure

Many start-ups and companies prioritize feature requests from customers and stakeholders over conducting the necessary research to understand the underlying problems that users are facing. As a result, they may end up creating feature after feature in an attempt to solve a problem, but without a clear understanding of whether these features are actually addressing the user’s needs. This cycle of constantly adding new features and making changes can be draining on resources and ultimately lead to the failure of the product or company.

The Failure of Juicero: A Cautionary Tale

One example of a company that fell victim to this process is Juicero, a startup that developed a high-tech juicer that required proprietary juice packs. Despite receiving millions in funding, the company was unable to convince customers to pay a premium for their product and ultimately had to shut down…