Version one of the Apple Watch was pretty bad.
At launch, the value proposition was broad and ambiguous. It could do communications, health and fitness, utilities, productivity, you could send heartbeats to your friends. The trouble was, it didn’t really do any of these things particularly well.
Apple is not in the habit of shipping ‘betas’. Nearly every product that comes out of its Cupertino headquarters is as polished as they can make it. They don’t launch products they don’t think will work. So why did they ship what felt like a half baked V1 of the watch? My view, they were backing its potential.
Fast forward to today and Apple are far more clear on the value proposition, (predominantly health and fitness), the experience has been refined and the product is regarded as a success.
All good products iterate based on customer feedback. But there is a difference between tweaking features on a product where the essential value proposition is clear, and co-creating something with the market. This requires a different mindset and a different approach to product development.
Firstly, are you confident about the underpinning principles that make your product compelling? What impulse or basic need are you serving? What desire are you tapping into? Does it provide enough utility even in its embryonic state?
Without that foundational spark, you just have a bad product.
Are you giving people enough of a steer as to the possibilities, but providing enough of a blank canvas for them to paint their own vision on to? Have you considered the “Oh, if only it could do ‘X’” thoughts people will likely have? Are there a lot?
Are you approaching your V1 with the explicit strategy of letting it co-evolve with these potential use cases? If so, how are you capturing these? How are you validating them?
Are are you backing the product or the potential?