When Figma saw users adopting its design tool for unintended purposes like brainstorming, it created separate, dedicated products (e.g., FigJam). This strategy prevents the core product from becoming bloated and complex, allowing each new product to develop its own focused identity and user experience.
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Build products on simple, foundational concepts rather than complex, rigid features. These core building blocks can then be combined and layered, leading to emergent complexity that allows the product to scale and serve diverse needs without being overwhelming by default.
Figma's expansion into multiple products (FigJam, Slides) wasn't based on abstract strategy but on observing users pushing the main design tool to its limits for unintended use cases. Identifying these 'hacks' revealed validated market needs for dedicated products.
To manage an infinite stream of feature requests for their horizontal product, Missive's founders relied on a simple filter: "Would I use that myself?" This strict dogfooding approach allowed the bootstrapped team to stay focused, avoid feature bloat, and build a product they genuinely loved using.
A month before launch, Figma's whiteboarding tool, FigJam, felt undifferentiated. In a high-stakes meeting with the team and board, they pivoted strategy to focus entirely on making it 'fun.' This led to features like cursor high-fives that gave the product its soul and market distinction.
Intentionally create open-ended, flexible products. Observe how power users "abuse" them for unintended purposes. This "latent demand" reveals valuable, pre-validated opportunities for new features or products, as seen with Facebook's Marketplace and Dating features.
When FigJam felt soulless a month before launch, the team made a controversial decision to differentiate it by making it fun. This seemed frivolous but was strategically crucial for encouraging participation and creative expression in brainstorming sessions, especially during the remote-work era.
To grow an established product, introduce new formats (e.g., Instagram Stories, Google AI Mode) as separate but integrated experiences. This allows you to tap into new user behaviors without disrupting the expectations and mental models users have for the core product, avoiding confusion and accelerating adoption.
The decision to launch a new app, rather than add a feature, was driven by user research revealing a different core "job to be done." One app was for getting kids to sleep; the new one was for passing on faith. Understanding this motivational difference was key to unlocking growth with a separate product.
Identify how users are already "hacking" your product for unintended purposes (e.g., using Facebook Groups for commerce), then build dedicated features to serve that existing intent. You can't make people do new things, but you can help them do what they already want to do more easily.
Instead of debating individual features, establish a clear "perspective" for your product. Artist's perspective as a "push-based product for quick insights" makes it easy to reject requests that don't align, like building an in-house video hosting tool. This aligns the entire organization and simplifies the roadmap.
