Product Sense IRL: 10K Steps
10K Steps
TL;DR - Learn how to reverse engineer product sense prompts and see your real problems through a product sense case lens.
I have had a stressful summer, to say the least, which led to weight gain. A week ago, I had had enough. I started walking 30 minutes a day in Zone 2, and my clothes began to fit correctly again! I became obsessed with hitting 10K steps a day, which led me to open my Apple Health App 30+ times a day. There is no Apple Health widget for step counting!
The customer in me thinks: How stupid! The product person in me thinks: How did that fall off the prioritization list? The MBA in me wonders: Is Apple strategically not making a widget so you go to the App store for one (while they keep the data to learn from your activities)?
Why I Am Sharing
After 8 days of walking 10K steps per day and spending 3 days trying to get the Apple Health App to display a steps widget, I started looking for a step-counting app. When I was looking for them, I found myself rating the apps not based on the top-rated one, but on the one that would give me the best widget information in a format that meets my needs.
As I was going through this experience, I found myself thinking about Product Sense cases. As I flipped through my choices, downloaded 3 apps, and deleted 2 — trying to find the one with the widget that worked for me — I thought about all the other people they were building for. One app focused on gamification, another provided clean information, but it never fully met my needs. Another was more customizable for the basics.
Breaking it Down
My Job to Be Done: Lose weight.
My chosen method: Walking. (Not: Restrictive Eating or GLP-1).
My Pain Points:
I never know how far I have walked.
Forgetting and rushing to make up steps at the end of the day
Constantly wasting time on my iPhone looking for the Health App
Strolling to the Step Count part of larger solution to find the number I want
Solutions
MVP: Keep using Apple Health, moving the Step Count to the top so it is easier to see.
Simple Reminders: Download the Step Counting App and let it send me reminders.
Quick Viz Throughout the Day: A simple widget that works on my watch and phone, allowing me to check whenever I want.
Customized Reminders: Set a reminder for different milestones.
Chosen Solution
Pedometer++ : Install app on iPhone and Apple Watch
Tell iPhone Pedometer++ can read my health data
Pick the app that shows just a step with a circular progress loop
Design Choices
The design team at Pedometer++ made some subtle design choices that made my product brain connect the dots on the basics of showing users data. It also had me imagining the different users who wanted the various designs. See my choices below:
Going L to R: (1) User has a secondary goal of miles/floors (2) User mainly just focused on reaching goal, the subtle ring around the numbers show progress (3) just a different color sceme for option 1. (4) The addition of hourly spikes gives a sense of progress throughout the day with greater nuance (5) repeat of version 1 in simple black and (6) For those who just care about steps, period.
When I went in, I wanted option 6 with option 1’s design aesthetic. But realized, the progress line was equally important to me. Luckily, the app let me pick a different color, since orange isn’t a happy color for me.
Thinking About Users
This got me thinking (1) clearly most users are more focused on that extra quantification of steps plus either miles or floors (2) the beauty of the simplicity of the circle to show progress is elegant (3) the timeline bar chart format didn’t make sense to me until I had all 6 in front of me, and I saw the user preferences and (4) some people like to keep it simple.
Product Thinking
I wondered what kind of requirements the PM had for the designer. What was their design sprint like? If this were a Product Sense interview, being able to explain to the interviewer, “I would consider three main views, etc., and describe the simplicity you see above,” is crucial. I have had interviews where that kind of nuance is asked.
Thinking about what needs to be in a widget is an excellent thought exercise; you have a small space, so it naturally forces tough prioritization decisions. To prioritize, you need to understand who your users must be and what jobs they are solving for.
Reverse Engineer
Let’s take a moment and bring it full circle. The possible Product Sense prompts are:
Design a solution for people who want to lose weight
You work for a pedometer company, what features would you prioritize?
Build a solution for people who walk 10K steps per day.
Do you have a different one? Try to come up with a non-obvious prompt where understanding the user needs might lead you to a simple solution.
Your challenge for the week.
Next time you browse an App Store, or you go on Amazon looking for the solution to a problem you have: Think about how you would describe your job to be done and what goes through your mind as you decide to click buy/download. What makes you different from others, or the same as others who purchased the product? What are other problems that people might have thought they had as they considered the apps?
