Part Two: The product · Finding and trying

30 Say What It's For

Makers want to say everything the product can do. A stranger needs to know in a few seconds what it is, who it is for, and whether to keep reading.

A stranger arrives from a search or a link a colleague sent. They have a problem and very little time. The page says: "The all-in-one platform for modern teams." It could be anything.

That line got written because the product does many things and nobody wanted to leave one out. A broad claim also feels safer than a narrow one that might put somebody off.

The stranger needs the opposite. They need to know what kind of thing this is, who it is for, and what trouble it ends, said in the words they would use themselves. It helps to name what it replaces, because that is what they are comparing it with. If they recognize themselves, they read on. If they do not, they leave, and that is the page working. The product was not for them.

Then they need to see it. A drawing of cheerful people at laptops tells them nothing. Show the actual product, with real-looking work in it. People judge software by looking far faster than by reading, and a product that will not show itself makes them wonder why.

Rota software for restaurants shows the difference. One version of the front page says "Workforce management, reimagined." Another says: "Staff scheduling for restaurants. Build next week's rota in ten minutes and text it to everyone. No more Sunday-night spreadsheet." Under it is a picture of a real week, with names and shifts. A restaurant manager knows by the second sentence that this is for her, and those are the sentences she will repeat to the owner, who pays.

Therefore:

At the top of the first page a stranger sees, say what kind of thing the product is, who it is for, and what trouble it ends, in their words. Then show the real product doing it.

In practice. Show the page to someone outside the company for five seconds, then close it. Ask what the product is and who it is for. Rewrite until a stranger gets both right.

Goes with. What kind of thing to call it is settled by THE KIND OF THING IT IS (9). What to say about it comes from DIFFERENT WHERE IT COUNTS (8), in the language of THEIR WORDS, NOT YOURS (10).