What Makes a Product Good? – 11 Qualities to Consider

As a customer, can you recall any memories in which you had a bad experience with a product as a result of its poor quality and kept returning to that product nevertheless?

Me neither.

I think we can all agree on the fact that no customer ever said something like: ''Hey! This thing is literally making me suffer but I'm gonna pay for it anyway, because why not?''

Every great product adds value to our daily lives by solving an important problem. For example, our product, UserGuiding, adds value by allowing businesses to onboard their users simply and affordably.

Today, this article will cover some of those important qualities that you need to consider to create and maintain a good product.

So, here's what makes a product really good:

• It has great user onboarding
• It looks good
• It has a good price for value
• The time-to-master is short
• It is marketed efficiently with clear value proposition
• It solves a problem
• It has great positioning / product-market fit
• The time-to-value is short
• It has soul
• It meets a need
• It has mass appeal
• It's reliable

Let's now get into the detail of these qualities, understand what they mean, and learn how to achieve them.

12 Qualities to Consider

1. A good product has great user onboarding.

One of the defining qualities of a great product is the possession of a good user onboarding.

What (exactly) is user onboarding?

User Onboarding is the process of assisting new users to understand and experience how your product is going to help them achieve their aims. It's about ensuring them that your product will provide the solution to the problem that made them find you in the first place. Sounds important, right?

A great user onboarding can help you with many things; it boosts activation, conversion, and retention while preventing churn at the same time. It is critical to improving the general success of your product.

This is why:

When people first experience your product, they'll either understand it or they won't.

User onboarding can help them gain a better understanding of your product and thus, is highly crucial and can have a snowball effect on your growth— because it allows the users to appreciate the value of your product and consequently, think positively of you and tell more about you to friends, family, etc.

Now, if you're aiming for a good product, and I know you are, you know that one of the best things you can do is to ensure a great user onboarding process to begin with.

And to help you do that, UserGuiding has a definitive guide that you can benefit from.

2. A good product looks good.

People say that you shouldn’t read a book by its cover.

But isn't that what everybody does anyway?

There's not much we can do about it, it's always been this way, the first impression matters, folks.

Once that first impression is formed negatively, it's nearly impossible to change it for the better. This is the truth even based on our daily life experiences; job interviews, first dates, and yes, product experiences as well.

At the end of the day, it's what shapes people's perception of a particular product and helps them decide whether to stick with it or not.

There are reasons why some of the world's most popular brands are where they are right now. Could appearance be one of them?

Take Apple products for example.

They are so aesthetically pleasing with their minimalist design and it's impossible not to fall for it; they are just beautiful the way they were designed and it's the first thing that the users are exposed to when they're about to make an Apple purchase. Also maybe one of the top reasons why they're coming back to it.

I'm not saying what the product has to offer doesn't matter, I'm just saying that it comes slightly after its appearance.

Thoughts on this example?

Not your dream car, I'd suppose. And you don't even know if it's a good, cheap or fast car. You don't know anything about it, however, you do have an idea about its appearance.

Don't worry, you're not a judgemental person. It's completely normal to take looks into consideration before making a purchase.

When a user doesn't feel good about a product's look, it's highly likely that they’ll be done with it after some time.

This is why you should put in more effort to make your product engaging so that it attracts people and appeals to the eye first. This will help your product become memorable, distinctive, and permanent.

3. A good product has a good price for value.

Value pricing is customer-oriented pricing, meaning companies define their pricing parallel to what the customer believes a product is worth.

Why is this important for a good product?

A good product needs to have good value-based pricing since it's one of the most important aspects of pricing that any business can apply. When done correctly, it can grow your business.

Here's how:

A good price for value indicates the point where your users realize whether the product is worth their money, time, or energy.

As customers, it's our basic right to expect a product that we purchased to turn out good and useful. Most people will be willing to pay as much as they can to obtain a long-lasting, satisfactory product. This is why your product needs to be correctly priced for its value, for what it offers. If it offers miracles -and actually creates miracles- then the price will shape accordingly. There's nothing more natural than that.

However,

When you have a, let's say, inelaborate approach to pricing for value, I can assure you that there will be a point where your audience is unhappy about it, and make you miserable with negative feedback. Consequently, the wrong price will negatively influence your sales and cash flow, as well as your reputation.

How to avoid this?

Understand your product first. Be honest about your product's capabilities. Understand what your target audience is trying to achieve with your product.

Set an accurate price for value and remember, both a price that is too high and one that is too low can and will limit your growth. Try to offer good quality and good service at a fair price for your users.

4. A good product's time-to-master is short.

Ever had one of those experiences in which you downloaded an app/service but ended up deleting it because it was too difficult to use or it took a lot of your time to understand it?

I feel you! Nobody has all the time in the world. We want things to be simple and fast. If they're not saving us time or energy, why should we bother using them?

One of the biggest characteristics of 21st-century people is how fast they get distracted or bored. This is one of the major issues you need to be focusing on in order to create a good, long-lasting product.

A good product is sophisticated, but that doesn't mean it needs to be complex. On the contrary, your product has to be explanatory, easy to follow, and understand in order to keep your users interested and focused.

There are a number of things you can do to reduce your product's time-to-master:

• Providing product tours
• Offering interactive guides
• Collecting feedback from your users and act accordingly
• Creating brochures and catalogues
• Presenting online forums and answering questions

Keep in mind that simplicity is key. Your product needs to be simple enough to understand and use. The faster you get people to understand and use your product, the happier you will be with the results and feedbacks.

5. A good product is marketed efficiently with clear value proposition.

Efficient marketing is needed for a product to turn out well, we all know that. But what (exactly) is a value proposition?

A value proposition refers to the value a company promises to offer to customers if they choose to stick with their product.

It is primarily created to give the idea that consumers can receive the best and highest value possible or benefit from buying your product, in a way that's better than what others offer.

In a nutshell, a value proposition promises suitability, and deliverance of specific benefits. It explains how your service will provide the customers with a solution to their problems or improve their experience.

It should be convincing enough to encourage them to take the next step with the intention of making a purchase.

Here's how you can create a clear value proposition:

• Target your users' main issue.
• Identify everything your product can possibly offer.
• Talk about in what ways your product is valuable.
• Create a connection between this value and your buyer's problem.

Efficient marketing with a clear value proposition can be the difference between your next happy user or just another bounce statistic.

Because a value proposition helps you:

• Create focus
• Build confidence
• Improve customer understanding and satisfaction
• Create clear and relevant messages
• Increases effectiveness of marketing

Here are a couple of examples:

Netflix

Netflix is what we'd call a ''good product.'' Let's think about why. Because it is marketed brilliantly WITH a clear value proposition that speaks to customers, lets them know more about what they are about to experience and how qualified it is.

This value proposition is based on the fact that the platform provides entertainment to its users, 24/7 with access to a huge catalog of options with content for everybody's taste. Without ads!

Starbucks

Starbucks owes its success to its unique value proposition and its effort to keep that promise.

They offer their customers the finest coffee brought by themselves, served in an environment that provides a welcoming and warm atmosphere where everyone can feel cozy and happy.

Keep in mind that a strong value proposition immediately tells your customers what your product has to offer. When combined with a well-maintained marketing plan, there's almost nothing you can't do with it.

6. A good product solves a problem.

People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.

Thedore Levitt

The ability to offer a solution to a user's problem is what makes a product truly great.

Think about your go-to apps/services or products for a second. Your most used applications. What are they?

Google Maps?

Uber?

Google Translate?

Duolingo?

What is the common purpose of these apps?

They all offer a certain solution. If we didn't have a problem getting lost somewhere we're not familiar with, we wouldn't have Google Maps. If we didn't need someone to drive us in the middle of the night, we wouldn't have Uber. If no one wanted a learn a language, Duolingo would be off the table.

There may be many different user requirements and, of course, each individual is different, but as long as your product focuses on targeting a problem and offers a solution to it, people will appreciate it for the value it brings.

Here's are the basic steps to help you build a product that solves a problem:

• Know your audience.
• Listen to your audience.
• Target their problem.
• Take the initial step and create a problem-solving product.
• Seek feedback and act accordingly.

7. A good product has great positioning / product-market fit.

Product positioning is the core of your marketing story, an important element of your marketing plan. And one of the essentials that make your product qualify as ''good.''

Product positioning's aim is to target who your audience is, what they are looking for, and how your product can uniquely help their problem.

It's a crucial tool for an effective marketing strategy since it does a tremendous job determining if your product fits in a certain marketplace as well.

When done right, it can help you create an accurate image of your product in the mind of users, highlighting the features that make your product special and differentiating it from similar ones out there in the market.

When marketers have a good understanding of their ''product-market fit'' it's easier for them to take action accordingly such as choosing the right communication channels to connect with their audience, defining customer needs, and obtaining satisfactory results from this interaction. It's also helpful in keeping eye on competitors.

If your product manages to have great positioning/product-market fit, it is highly likely to stick around for a long time due to it being a right fit in the market and reaching out to the right people at the right time, through the right channels. That's what everything is about!

Last but not least, effective product positioning helps you create relevant marketing messages that resonate with your users and encourage them to take action and use your product.

When all combined, you can be sure that your product's gonna be a keeper. *blink*

8. A good product's time-to-value is short.

A product's time-to-value refers to the time period that passes until its users reach their ''Aha!'' moment. This is the moment where the magic happens when your users realize they can truly use your product to their benefit. And trust me, this is the peak of the mountain that you want to climb. As fast as possible.

Why is it important that it's fast?

Since this is the point where your users understand that your product is a game-changer – you should figure out how to get them there as fast as possible to keep them -still- interested. Again, try to remember the last time you deleted an app. What was the reason? Let me make a guess.

You thought it was no good for you.

You found out it didn't bring value to your daily life.

It was too complex to figure out.

Most people tend to delete an app, leave a service or throw away a product after a couple of times trying to understand how to use it or couldn't use it to its full potential. So they say goodbye.

As brutal as it sounds, it's only natural for people to want something that can help them fast, is easy to understand, and brings value to their lives.

This is where your product with a short time-to-value steps in to save the day. If you offer people something they can quickly grasp and make use of, there's no doubt they'll love it and use it for a long - I mean very long- time.

9. A good product has soul.

Yes, a good product has a soul. But what does this refer to? What does it mean?

a) Uniqueness

b) Honesty

c) Sincerety

Well, the answer is somewhere where all of them are combined.

When we buy something, we’re not just paying for a product or service.

We’re buying an emotion; this emotion can be excitement, protection, security, or a sense of companionship. Your product should evoke these positive emotions so that people will associate your service with positive vibes.

An effective product is achieved through building an emotional connection, making the users emotionally attached to your product or service.

One way to do this is to tell a story. Stories are moving, powerful, inspiring, and memorable. With honest and sincere stories you will have a chance to grab your users' attention and tell them how your product can make their lives better, in a way that speaks from the heart.

Another way to do this is to speak about yourself. People love hearing personal experiences from others, especially if it's going to help them decide to make a purchase or not.

This attitude is quite the opposite of the boring sales lines people face every day online. I'm sure we're on the same page here: Boring sales lines don't make people feel anything.

So, what you need to do is create a bond with your users through your product.

This way, people will associate certain feelings with your service and this will result in their satisfaction and appreciation in the long term. Thank me later!

10. A good product meets a need.

Remember that one kid in your project group who does nothing to be useful and still thinks he's getting credits at the end of the day? Believe me, you wouldn't want people to feel about your product the same way everybody felt about that kid.

If there's no need for a certain product, it will not be used. Period. It might as well just disappear and nobody would remember it existed in the first place.

Therefore, meeting a need is truly the basis of any ''good'' product out there. If it fails to do it, it won't be able to survive in the market for a long time. Because products are things made by humans to be used for some purpose.

The first criterion for a product is that its goal is to fulfill a need and is relevant and required by the user.

Likewise, a product that meets a need at first but doesn't evolve accordingly to the users' new requirements, will not last long either.

So, setting a clear purpose for your product and keeping it in constant motion will help you provide great service that people can benefit from and get you well on your way to success.

11. A good product has mass appeal.

Mass appeal, as the name suggests, means that whatever product that is you're selling appeals to mass markets and customers rather than a single group of people.

Mass appeal is important for your product since we live in a world of 7 billion people and the more people your product pleases, the more successful you become in your business.

Businesses usually create a strategy through which they can make their upcoming product appeal to a specific audience because it is much easier to market or advertise to a certain group of people that only needs your product to solve a specific issue, rather than making the effort to appeal to a larger audience in a much more competitive market.

However, if you succeed in making your product appeal to mass markets rather than a single one, you are sure to achieve tons of profit and success.

Here's how to achieve this:

• Don't be selective. Speak to a larger audience. Understand children's needs, housewives' needs, business owners' needs.
• Find a subject that a broad audience can relate to.
• Focus on people. What do they want?
• Give out free samples, trials, host seminars. Reach out to everybody.

There are also questions that you can ask yourself during the process of your product's debut.

Questions that can help you understand what your approximate age range of people that find your product useful or interesting is. By doing research, you can collect data on the best topics that have broad demographical appeal and consequently, can create and sell a successful product that interests anyone from teens to retirees.

Conclusion

Creating a good product is a consistent journey that requires effort, research, improvement, and customization. It’s about creating unique and effective service and a better experience for your customers.

I hope this article helped you understand some core points that make a product good and motivated you to practice what you've learned.