Reduce Choices for Product Led Growth
Reduce Choices for Product Led Growth
To enable PLG, Enterprises need to rethink how they build products to eliminate tyranny of choice that can cause indecision and disengagement during unaided user adoption.
TL/DR - Product-led growth is in vogue. However, many enterprise products struggle to adopt PLG as they were designed for maximum customization and interoperability. However, in a PLG model where it is left to the end user to experience the product by themselves, it is very easy for them to get disoriented with a surfeit of choices, leading to disengagement and indecision. Product managers should invest in reducing choices to simplify product decisions and drive product-led growth.
Tyranny of choice
The "tyranny of choice" is a phenomenon where an overwhelming number of options can make it difficult for an individual to decide. The term was popularized by psychologist Barry Schwartz in his book "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less."
Schwartz argues that having too many options can lead to dissatisfaction and regret, even if the person ultimately chooses an option that is suitable. When we have many options, we tend to compare them and second-guess our choices, leading to anxiety and indecision.
There are several studies that support the phenomenon of the tyranny of choice:
Increased dissatisfaction: Studies have shown that people are more likely to be dissatisfied with their choices when they have more options to choose from. For example, a study by Iyengar and Lepper (2000) found that participants given more than six options for jam were less likely to purchase the jam than those given only six options.
Decision paralysis: Research has also found that when people are presented with too many options, they are less likely to make a decision. For example, a study by Schkade and Kahneman (1998) found that participants were less likely to choose a retirement plan when presented with many options.
Regret: People are more likely to experience regret after making a decision when they have more options to choose from. For example, a study by Roese and Summerville (2008) found that participants with more options were more likely to regret their decision.
Tyranny of product choices.
The "tyranny of choice" can happen in a product setting where an overwhelming number of options can make it difficult for consumers to decide. Too many options can create confusion and lead to decision paralysis.
It can also happen when consumers are presented with too many options that are not clearly differentiated, making it difficult to compare and evaluate them.
Tyranny of choice Exhibit A - Modern Digital Camera
One product that could be cited as a leading example of the tyranny of choice is a digital camera with a wide variety of features and settings.
Many cameras today come with many options, such as manual controls, various shooting modes, and advanced features like white balance and ISO. While these features may appeal to professional photographers or those interested in photography, they can be overwhelming and confusing to a casual user.
Reduce choices for product-led growth
Reducing choices for product-led growth can be a strategy for companies to simplify their product offerings and make it easier for customers to choose and use their products. This can be done by:
Identifying the core features and functionality essential for the product to meet the target market's needs.
Removing non-essential features that do not add significant value to the product or are duplicative of other features.
Prioritizing the remaining features based on their relative importance and value to the customer.
Simplifying the user interface and user experience to make it easy for customers to find and use the core features.
By focusing on the most important features and making them easy to use, companies can improve the customer's experience and increase the chances that they will continue to use and recommend the product.
This can help drive product-led growth by attracting and retaining customers.