The Myth of Linear Effort
We grow up believing in a 1:1 relationship between Input and Output.
- If I study 1 hour, I learn 1 unit.
- If I study 2 hours, I learn 2 units.
In software and business, this is a lie. The relationship is non-linear (Power Law). A single feature (like “Stories” in Instagram) can drive more engagement than the other 50 features combined.
Applying 80/20 to Product Management
1. The Feature Trap (Bloatware) Open your analytics. Look at your navigation bar. I guarantee that 80% of your users only click on 2 or 3 buttons. The other 15 buttons are just gathering dust.
- The Mistake: We try to “improve” the unused features to get people to use them.
- The Fix: Kill them. If a feature isn’t in the top 20%, it is likely technical debt that is slowing you down. Focus your design energy on making the core 20% flawless.
2. The Customer Trap (Whales vs. Minnows) Not all revenue is created equal.
- The 20% (Whales): They pay full price, rarely complain, and love the product.
- The 80% (Minnows): They are on the free tier, they submit 80% of the support tickets, and they leave angry reviews.
- The Strategy: Fire the bad customers. Stop building features for the noisy minority who don’t pay you. Build for the quiet majority who do.
3. The Bug Trap (Triage) You have 500 bugs in your backlog. You will never fix them all. If you fix them in chronological order, you will fail. Identify the 20% of bugs that cause data loss or block payment. Fix those today. Mark the rest as “Won’t Fix.” A bug that only happens on Internet Explorer 9 for one user is not a bug; it’s a ghost.
How to Find Your 20%
You can’t guess. You have to measure.
- Tag every feature in your analytics (Mixpanel/Google Analytics).
- Sort by usage frequency.
- Draw a line under the top 20%.
- The Challenge: Ask yourself, “If I deleted everything below this line, would the business collapse?” The answer is usually No.
Conclusion
Steve Jobs didn’t save Apple by launching 100 new products. He saved it by cutting 70% of the product line so the team could focus on the Macintosh. Be ruthless. Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.