Problem-Solving Focus

Friday, November 1, 2024

Image Credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/black-puzzle-piece-on-white-paper-x21KgBfOd_4

I’ve seen it firsthand: two teams, tasked with similar goals, can produce wildly different results depending on their approach.

Take, for instance, a project to develop a mobile app for home fitness (in order to protect the innocent, this was not the actual product).

Team A dove straight into building features. They added calorie counters, integrated wearables, and even built a community leaderboard. On paper, it looked impressive. But post-launch, the app struggled. User feedback revealed a critical flaw—it was too complicated and failed to keep people motivated.

Team B, on the other hand, took a different route. Instead of starting with features, they started with a question: “Why do people abandon their fitness goals?” They spoke to users, ran experiments, and focused on helping users build consistent workout habits. Their key feature? A simple, science-backed habit tracker that encouraged consistency. Adoption soared, and engagement rose in three months.

The difference? Team B solved a real problem, while Team A built features without understanding what users truly needed.

This lesson has stuck with me throughout my career: the best product teams don’t just build features—they solve problems. But getting there requires a fundamental mindset shift, one that many teams and organizations still struggle with.

Earlier in my career, I worked with teams in a structurally-mature industry (again, protecting the innocent) that operated as feature factories. The goal was simple: ship features as quickly as possible. Because leadership shared on a need-to-know-only basis, while vision & strategy were a closely-guarded trade-secret rather than a tool to empower teams, success was measured by how much we delivered and how fast we hit deadlines.

But here’s the problem: features don’t guarantee value. Many of those features were rarely used, misunderstood, or outright ignored by users. They cluttered our product and made it harder to focus on what mattered.

Why does this happen?

Misaligned incentives: Teams are rewarded for execution, not impact—the biggest reason why large enterprises in structurally-mature industries are inefficient with resources and wasteful.
A lack of customer understanding: Teams don’t spend enough time talking to users.
Legacy processes: Organizations confuse shipping with success.

I’ve seen companies roll out flashy new features—hoping to wow customers, only to realize later that they solved the wrong problem.

This approach creates a vicious cycle—commonly known as the build trap—when teams equate output (features shipped) with outcomes (value delivered).

For example, I once worked on a product where the leadership team was obsessed with building an AI-powered next-best-action engine. It sounded exciting, and the tech was cutting-edge. But when we launched it, the humans who would actual take the actions from AI recommendations barely reacted to the nudge. Why? Because the mandate from leadership ignored how the AI solution threatened to disrupt the value chain—and more bluntly, threatened one’s livelihood. Simply, for a relationship-driven business, the solution was off-strategy.

The build trap wastes time, drains resources, and demoralizes teams. When features don’t drive meaningful results, teams feel their work doesn’t matter. Customers, meanwhile, grow frustrated and look for alternatives.

How might we adopt a mindset of “What problems should we solve?” instead of that of “What features should we build?”

This blog post is a recommendation on how to escape the build trap. I’ll take you through some principles and practices that have consistently worked for me and my teams.

Start with a Clear Vision

Every great product starts with a clear and inspiring vision. A strong vision answers two questions:

What is the problem we’re solving?
Why does it matter to our users?

When I worked on a guest app for one of Marriott’s brands, our vision wasn’t just “build the best guest app.” Instead, we framed it as, “How might we elevate guest experiences by surprising & delighting, while avoiding clichés?” That vision guided every decision we made—from content strategy to art direction.

Having this clarity ensures teams focus on outcomes, not outputs.

What you can do:

Define the problem your product solves in a single sentence.
Align your team on how success ties back to user value.

Empower Teams to Own the Problem

One of the most transformative lessons I’ve learned is that the best teams don’t just build—they own. Ownership means teams aren’t handed a list of features to deliver. Instead, they’re given a problem to solve and the autonomy to experiment, iterate, and deliver results.

For example, during a project focused on reducing churn, my team wasn’t told, “Build a loyalty program.” Instead, we were asked, “Why are users leaving?” That freedom allowed us to dig into data, talk to customers, and test hypotheses. The solution wasn’t a loyalty program; it was improving the data collection experience.

What you can do:

Assign teams to problems, not features.
Give them the resources and authority to make decisions.

Engage with Customers Continuously

Regular engagement with users is the lifeblood of a problem-solving culture. Too often, teams rely on assumptions or one-off research. But in my experience, the most successful teams maintain a steady cadence of user interaction.

At American Express, we set-up weekly user interviews to understand pain points during a digital transformation initiative. What surprised us was how often our assumptions were wrong. A feature we thought was critical turned out to be irrelevant, while a seemingly minor issue—cardmembers struggling to edit their account profile due to a newly deployed UI—caused significant frustration.

These insights don’t come from guesswork; they come from listening.

What you can do:

Talk to users every week.
Map out their journeys to identify gaps and opportunities.
Test your assumptions with quick prototypes before committing resources.

Measure Success by Outcomes, Not Outputs

Shifting focus to outcomes fundamentally changes how teams work. Instead of measuring success by features shipped or deadlines met, you measure success by the value delivered to users.

For instance, when I worked on a productivity app for Gap Inc., we stopped tracking the number of features we launched and started measuring task completion rates and on-time arrivals of ad campaign proposals (for alignment). This shift forced us to prioritize only the most impactful initiatives that aligned with the time-sensitivity of seasonal ad campaigns.

What you can do:

Define success metrics tied to user behavior (e.g., engagement, conversion, retention).
Use A/B testing to measure the impact of new features.
Iterate based on what the data tells you.

A Real-World Example: AirPods

One of the best examples of problem-solving in action is Apple’s AirPods. Instead of competing on specs, Apple focused on solving specific user pain points with Bluetooth headphones:

Connectivity issues: They created seamless pairing with the Apple W1 chip.
Short battery life: They designed compact earbuds with reliable, long-lasting batteries.
Clunky usability: They simplified controls and integrated voice commands.

By focusing on user problems, Apple created a product that redefined the category and dominates the market today.

Overcoming Barriers to Change

Shifting from features to problem-solving isn’t easy. Common barriers include:

Cultural resistance: Leaders may be used to measuring success by delivery.
Skill gaps: Teams may need training in customer discovery and experimentation.
Time pressures: Balancing discovery and delivery takes discipline.

To overcome these challenges, I’ve found it helpful to:

Educate stakeholders on the value of problem-solving.
Start with small, visible wins to build momentum.
Invest in developing team capabilities, especially in discovery and data analysis.

Conclusion: Solve the Right Problems

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned in over two decades of building products, it’s this: features are easy to ship, but solving problems is what drives success.

Teams that focus on problems deliver meaningful outcomes, foster happier customers, and create products that stand the test of time.

So the next time you’re building a roadmap, pause and ask:

Are we solving a real problem?
Do we understand what our users truly need?
How will we measure success?

Because in the end, great products don’t come from checking boxes on a feature list—they come from solving the right problems.

Ready to transform your feature factory into a problem-solving powerhouse? Schedule a free 30-minute exploratory call today, and let’s discuss how to align your team’s efforts with delivering real customer value.

Start with a Clear Vision

Empower Teams to Own the Problem

Engage with Customers Continuously

Measure Success by Outcomes, Not Outputs

A Real-World Example: AirPods

Overcoming Barriers to Change

Conclusion: Solve the Right Problems

Further Readings