A well-made product has the power change the way people live.
The purpose of any product is to help make someone’s life better. Great products come from an insight into how the world works today, and wanting to change it. Sometimes that means refining an experience that already exists. Sometimes it means creating a new one. In either case, the work begins with the experience itself, with a clear sense of how it should feel when it is right.
A great product can communicate taste, judgement, conviction, and care, without having to say so. When someone uses a product, all of these qualities make it through, and they can be felt.
The best products came from building something the creator(s) personally wanted. They focused on making something they were proud of with their unique point of view. As a consequence, it ended up serving people who share their way of seeing the world. That kind of understanding can’t be manufactured. When you build for others, you lose the ability to create something original.
In most cases, products are built by companies. In my view, a company is simply a vessel for organizing a point of view and a way of being into a collective whole. It is a tool to operationalize ideas, beliefs, people, and resources. This way of being impacts everything downstream. The work that is done, the products that are made, the people that are hired, the customer being served, the messaging in the marketing. Everything. As a company grows, maintaining this clarity becomes harder. The best ones find ways to stay close to their original values. Leaders should provide direction not orders. When direction is clear, alignment follows.