Product Mindset - Product, Component and Feature
Can you clearly identify, define and manage the 3 with confidence? 🤷
It’s shocking when people who have been working as product managers or product owners for years, fail to identify, define, and explain their products in a structured, confident, and simple manner.
It indicates gaps in product mindset at the very foundational level. That leads to confusion between product and service, business and product, product and component, and many such critical defining aspects of product mindset and product management.
This is an effort to set some foundational product mindset elements right:
What is a Product?
What are the elements of a Product?
Is it a Product, a Component, or a Feature?
Is it a good or a service or a product?
What is Product Management?
Are PLC, PDLC, and SDLC the same thing?
What is the relationship between Business, Portfolio, and Product?
How is the Product different from the Project and Product Manager from a Project Manager?
Who is a Product Manager and what does he/she do?
What is the confusion about the role of Product Manager and Product Owner?
More such topics to strengthen product mindset…
This is a part of a series of posts to come; so consider subscribing to receive these knowledge bytes directly in your inbox.
We have already defined the Product and analyzed it through its elements in earlier posts. Read it 👇, if you have not done so yet. It will enable you to get more value from this post.
Now let’s put it into practice and clarify the Product vs. Component or Product vs. Feature confusion. 👍
Is it a Product, a Component, or a Feature?
In the first edition of this Product Mindset Series, we listed multiple examples of a Product. However, not every example was an easy guess and some of them were pushing towards the confused state of Product vs. Component.
We also see such confusion in the form of Product vs. Feature in day-to-day product management when the foundational Product Mindset is not in a mature state. To solve for these confusions we explained the 5 elements of a Product. 🥳
If you have understood the fundamentals of a Product and its elements and can use it to analyze any product then the scope of any confusion should be at least diminished and at best over. 😎
So now, let’s pick up some more examples and apply the lens of those elements to analyze a product, a component, or a feature.
Product Component Dilema with Car and Tires 🚗
Let’s talk about cars. When you go to a showroom to purchase 💰 a car then that car is a product for you. You have a specific objective that you want to solve. The manufacturer and the seller/dealer of the car have a particular value proposition that they are offering to you. Also, you know how exactly you're going to get the benefit out of that car.
Additionally, most of the time car is a B2C product because it is sold by a business to a consumer. However, there are many situations where a car is sold from business to business in terms of corporate purchases.
So, if the car is a product then can you say that the tire is not a product? 🤔
This could confuse you. You might be thinking that a tire is a component of a car. But, then you might also be thinking that it is a product in itself. 🤷
You cannot decide whether a tire is a product or a component until you analyze the tire from these six elements perspective. 🎯
When you are going to the showroom to buy a car in that context a tire is not a product. It is a component of the larger product that you are purchasing. The larger product (Car) can not function without a tire. It can’t be sold without this essential component. It can’t deliver its value without tires, hence a tire is a critical component.
However when you are going to a tire shop to purchase a new tire (think winter 🥶tires, for people up north) then this tire is a product in itself.
The context of that tire has changed. You have a particular objective that you want to achieve from the tire (e.g. safe driving in winter 🥶with winter tires). The seller of the tire has created that tire to be sold as a separate SKU. It has its own usage value and business objective, and all other parameters have a specific definition for a tire. So, a tire is a B2C product.
Additionally, the manufacturer or the creator of the tire will also sell tires to car manufacturing companies. In that context, a tire is a B2B product as well. It is sold by the manufacturer of the tire to the manufacturer of the vehicle with a specific objective.
In this case, the target audience for the tire manufacturer is a vehicle manufacturing company. So they would be creating this product while focusing on that specific segment. They would be considering how the car manufacturer will use it whether it will be used for commercial purposes, professional purposes (racing), or domestic purposes. Hence, indirectly, you also come into the picture.
So, a car is a B2C as well as a B2B product. However, a tire can take the form of a product as well as a component, depending on the context i.e. 6 elements. Additionally, tire as a product has its own B2C and B2B forms based on the 6 element specifications along with target segments.
Product Component Dilemma In the Digital World 💻
The same analogy will extend to the digital world as well. For example a Laptop and a Processor Chip. A Laptop is a product and in the context of you buying a Laptop, the Processor Chip is a component. However, if we look at it from the chip manufacturer's perspective then a processor chip is a product (B2B) created for laptop manufacturers and other digital device manufacturers to meet a specific need to be able to service their end customers i.e. you.
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Now, let’s get back to the topic. 👇
Product-Feature Dilemma
You might face the extension of a Product Component dilemma in the form of a product feature dilemma. I am taking an example from a well-known product that we all use in our professional lives. I am talking about LinkedIn.
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Let’s get back to LinkedIn. At a very high level, it’s a networking platform for professionals. You can use it to connect with like-minded professionals, hiring managers, influencers from your field, recruiters, and much more. You can create your brand on this platform, and find your future teammates, bosses, and employer. It has a separate offering for job searches, professional learning and development, and finding business leads.
Would you call LinkedIn Jobs, LinkedIn Learning, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator - 3 different features of LinkedIn or are they 3 separate product offerings? 🤯
It might be confusing at first. But you need to apply the product definition and define the 6 elements for each one. 😐 Then, it will become absolutely clear that all of these are separate products. 😇
These products have a large common user base but their needs, value offering and workflow are very different. In this case, LinkedIn is creating a suite of integrated products, with high interoperability and an integrated user experience. However, from a product definition and management perspective, they are all different products with their respective product managers, business objectives, value propositions, success criteria, etc. while benefiting from the larger LinkedIn ecosystems.
Hence, leveraging a lot of synergy gains through collaboration under the common strategic business umbrella of LinkedIn. 😎
More Product-Feature Dilemma
Another example is from our favorite product YouTube. A few years back the video platform was taken aback by the storm of short video formats.🎞️
This new format of video entertainment was pioneered by TikTok and was spreading like wildfire. Every major platform with a video offering was stunned by this new competition and wanted to get on this new bandwagon to capture the new creator and viewer segments.
YouTube launched Shorts, Instagram launched Reels, etc. 🎬
So, would you consider YouTube shorts a feature of YouTube or is it a Product in itself?
The answer is it depends. 🤪
If you analyze YouTube Shorts as a user then you will easily classify it as a feature. But, we are product managers 😉so we need to look at it from a Product Management perspective.
By no means I am an expert on internal YouTube product operations and strategy. However, logically speaking 🤓, YouTube Shorts leverages the larger ecosystem of YouTube; in a very similar way as in the LinkedIn example. However, YouTube Shorts will have its own business objectives, performance KPIs, strategic roadmap, product hierarchy, and customer value proposition.
There could be and should be some overlaps with YouTube for multiple operational aspects for larger synergy gains but it will be beneficial for us to Consider YouTube Shorts as a separate Product that is part of the YouTube portfolio. 😍
However, the functionality of YouTube allowing you to create your custom playlist should not be confused with a separate product. It is a feature of YouTube (Product), due to its 6 elements (Leaving it to you to analyze it for further learning).🎭
P.S. In the coming weeks, we will dig deeper into business, portfolio, and product. This example will come in handy at that time as well. 😇
Conclusion 🖖
It’s getting clearer by every elaboration that, more often than not, a product is made up of multiple components and/or features. These components/features could have their respective value propositions and can very well be considered independent products with their own definition, vision, strategy, KPIs, and 6 elements.
If you can develop the ability to look through any product in this manner then there will not be an iota of confusion between a product and component/feature. You will be able to understand, discuss, and make decisions concerning products and components/features within the right context.
We are building the product mindset bit by bit. The progress will gain momentum in the coming weeks. The journey forward is exciting, enriching, and full of learning.🤓
Do you ever feel confused about goods, services and products? Then, the next edition 📙 is just right for you. 🤩
👋 Signing off. In the meantime, I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn.