Product delight: the secret ingredient to a successful brand-led digital product
by Jordan Jacobi ✦ 22 May 2024 ✦ 5 Min Read
I’m obsessed with product delight. Those little moments when you use an app or a website that you don’t expect, and you smile. Like Asana’s flying unicorn, Google’s Google Doodles, or Slack’s cheeky copy when no one joins your huddle (RIP me).
These moments don’t have to exist. If removed, a product would still function. But they do add an invaluable experience for users.
The problem is, it’s easy to de-prioritise adding delight to your product when you’re launching something new and focused on getting it to market as quickly as possible.
It’s not that this approach is wrong, it’s pretty sensible if you want to keep costs low and get it into the hands of users ASAP.
But this approach doesn’t always feel comfy. Particularly, if you’re a brand or founder that has an existing community with high expectations.
So how can product delight bridge the gap between a lean product and one that feels on-brand from the get-go?
MVP vs MLP
For brands launching digital products, the biggest challenge is the term MVP. Holly Brooke, Commercial Director at Skin Rocks told us: "MVP wasn’t even a word we comprehended. The thought of launching a product that was ‘kind-of’ done was really scary".
The term MVP can feel scary. It can mean different things to different people. It’s widely misused and even more widely misunderstood.
Most of the time the term MVP muddies the waters, and it can have people focused on the wrong outcomes. Like, a lean product that is all function and no fun.
One way to bring brand and product together is to rethink MVP as MLP (minimum lovable product 💖). Now, I wouldn’t bring a new Acronym to the party if it wasn’t going to liven it up.
Where an MVP - minimum viable product - is all about core functionality, user-centric design, etc., an MLP strives to go further and adds emotional connection with the user as a minimum requirement.
Rethinking your first launch as an MLP and not an MVP, will help you prioritise delight.
The value of MLP for brands
We recently launched Mila a first-of-its-kind fitness app by influencer Camilla Lorentzen. Across her social media channels with her wife Julie Lorentzen, she has over 12 million followers. That’s a lot of eyeballs. And a big brand to protect.
With Mila, our mission was to build a lean product with a strong core proposition that users would love. An MLP if you will.
From the start of the project, we were guided by the Mila brand. Staying close to the brand values we created with Camilla, helped us brainstorm moments of lightness, fun and celebration in the app which felt true to the Mila brand.
Lean can mean simple, but simple does not have to mean boring, or off-brand.
We decided that rather than over-engineer features, we would add moments of delight to our core product offering to bring Mila to life.
This included low-code moments of delight like:
Warm and supportive brand copy
Heavy use of emojis
A few inside jokes that show off the brand’s playfulnes
And more technical moments like:
A small but mighty award feature for users to see their achievements
Beautifully designed transition animations
Confetti when we could fit it in!
Delight supports product strategy
Moments of delight aren't just delights for the user, they have an impact on product awareness. A product that prioritises delight where possible increases customer loyalty.
During the Mila project, the delight that we engineered became viral moments shared across social media. Everything from the welcome confetti, to the bubbly copy, to the playful awards were shared time and again by users of the app.
Delight, if done well, will not only help your product awareness and acquisition strategy but also ensure you build a brand-led digital product that your community will love.
How to prioritise delight
With all the benefits that delight can bring a product my advice if you’re struggling to fit it in is:
Start with your brand values.
Find quick wins that are authentic to your brand. This might look like updating copy with your brand tone or adding easter eggs across your product.
Lean on your team!
You don’t need to come up with ideas in silo. Do a workshop brainstorming cool moments you could have in your product with design, dev, copy, accounting, etc! Everyone will have an idea to share.
Stretch goals in sprints.
If you know what delight you want to build but are unsure how to add it to your workflow, use stretch goals in your sprints.
Product-delight is the secret sauce to any good brand-led product
Product delight should be seen as the secret sauce to any successful brand-led digital product. In fact, some of the most well-loved products rely heavily on delight.
It’s not just the Slacks and Google’s of the world. It’s Monzo making banking more personable. Notion making project management more collaborative. Brands who prioritise delight stay-ahead.
If you’d like to chat more about how to get product delight into your product, email me at jordan@planes.agency
