A Match Made in Heaven: UX Research and Product Led Growth

Product-led growth is an end user-focused growth model that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. The focus is on creating a product that is so compelling that it generates word-of-mouth referrals and viral growth. This differs from other business strategies that rely on outbound actions such as advertising, sales teams and marketing campaigns to reach their target consumers.

This model has been gaining popularity across all sectors, though in particular, SaaS organizations have been working to adopt this strategy. According to a survey by OpenView, 74% of SaaS companies believe that their product is the primary driver of growth. This is certainly a strategic approach, as the survey also found that companies that prioritize product-led growth are 4x more likely to be in the top 25% of their market for growth rate.

Behind the success of product-led growth is an invaluable philosophy, and is perhaps that largest contributor to the models’ success. That philosophy is…

As a provider, you must let the public find our product, then use it for free, and to then get comfortable with it (and maybe even depend on it). When the free-trial period or offering ends, they’ll be willing to pay to continue using it. Only if it provided the value they expected.

Within this framework, there are elements that we can extract in order to truly understand why this philosophy works…

1

Having a product-market fit:

For the market to find or need your product, the product must be designed to meet the needs of the target market, and provide a compelling solution to a problem they are facing. This solution is geared toward end-user needs.

2

Seamless Access:

If users cannot access or navigate your product with ease, how will you experience growth? The product should be designed in a way that allows customers to easily sign-up, use, and pay for it without the need for sales or customer service interactions.”Freemium” models are a staple offering within this strategy.

3

Data-driven decision making:

Collecting and analyzing data on customer behavior, product usage, and market trends to inform product development and improve the user experience is key to achieving PLG. Your team must be in pursuit of user feedback at every turn, and then harness these insights to make quick and powerful iterations.

If a product aims to be seamless, driven by consumer needs, and is derived from fact, insights and data, then there is only one thing left to do – conduct user research.

Essentially, this means that in order for an offering to be product-led, it must be user-centric!

User experience (UX) research plays a critical role in product-led growth by informing the design and development of a product that meets the needs and expectations of target customers. From ideation all the way to launch, UX becomes a crutch in understanding target markets and personas. Though perhaps the greatest value is that UX research allows a company to identify how to improve their product, to ensure it remains helpful as the market demands or needs evolve.

This business model demands that UX research does not become a “one and done” application. In fact, in order for a product to continue “growing” it must be in a constant state of evolution. Why? Well, if the virality of word of mouth is working to grow the product, then certainly the number of users will expand. Ultimately, that means that the pool of user demands grows. How do you know what all these users need? By user experience testing & research!

Similarly, the more that markets continue to evolve – as they always will, the greater the need to adjust, adapt and even predict future demands. Without a plan to test consistently, a company misses out on the “growth” element of product-led growth, and can quickly become obsolete.

Growing means learning. Learning requires insight. Insight means testing – Then, you rinse and repeat.

If the dependencies between product led growth and UX research are not yet clear, let’s make them clear right away by looking at just a few of the benefits:

Shorter Sales Cycles: If the users are provided with a seamless experience with your product, including sign up, usage, and eventually payment, then by extension, a company can quickly get the product into a users hands, and allow them to join your product ecosystem without needing to speak with sales reps, or spend copious amounts of time in a sales funnel. UX research will remove entry barriers and points of friction, leading to a user-centered onboarding process.

Lower Cost of Acquisition: When a product becomes user-centric, end-user satisfaction is guaranteed to increase (surveys and quantitative studies help yield these results with ease, and allow for quick iterations). These end users will be inclined to tell their colleagues about your product’s value. And then, these new referrals within the same company, perhaps even in different departments, will find themselves enjoying the same seamless onboarding and usage experience. This means fewer dollars and resources spent on reaching out to customers! You may even be inclined to use these “saved” dollars on engaging in UX testing.

Both qualitative and quantitative data serve a distinct purpose in your research. Qualitative testing allows you to gain that deeper understanding of user needs and behaviors, while quantitative testing provides data to support the insights and verify hypotheses. Combining these efforts allows you to ensure that the user experience remains at the center of product development.

As the cliche goes; you don’t know what you don’t know. In product-led-growth, anything you do not know creates gaps in your user experience, and the value your product brings to your end-user. Remember to keep testing, by starting with personas and prototyping, and continue testing until you have layers of data. Use the insights to help frame your next study, and the study after that. This is the only way to remain user-centric!

If you want your product to serve as many users as possible, then it will grow to global audiences, and your research should too – especially in time of heightened globalization! Global UX research also helps companies ensure that their products are accessible and usable by a diverse range of users, including those with different cultural backgrounds, languages, and accessibility needs.

Importantly, you should recognize that users from different backgrounds might not use the same product for the same thing. For example, what good are summer car tires in the heart of Alaska?!

Cross collaboration amongst your department is essential in creating a successful product. Just remember that sharing your research and insights is just as important as sharing a product strategy. The more departments and stakeholders you involve with your research, the more impactful your results – and, the more confident you can be when making decisions. If you want more “buy-in” with your research, you must demonstrate the value of your research by showing what the users need, think and believe. You can’t argue with fact!

Here is the truth: Product led growth is not just a trend, it is a game changer. In fact, companies with a strong product-led focus are said to achieve a 63% faster growth rate compared to their peers. But the success of product led growth is determined by the extent to which UX research and design are utilized.

A company will not grow if the product itself is not growing. And, in order to do just that, it must be clear that your product is fit for a market, has a distinct type of user, and is derived from user insight and feedback – Basically, you need research.

If you are succeeding in product-led growth, it’s likely that you already understand the relationship between these two elements. But if you are yet to discover their reliance on each other, now is the time to embrace this relationship because together, UX and product-led growth truly are a match made in heaven.