What Organising Gatherings Taught Me About Product Design

Ever since I’ve started remote working, “catching up with friends more often” was bumped up my list of priorities. And since I am more flexible in terms of timing, I started to be the one organising most gatherings.

What I Realised

Well, this is nothing groundbreaking but it became clearer the more meetups I initiated. The higher the number of people invited, the harder it is for it to come to fruition. Different people have different schedules, different motivations, different preferences on different types of gatherings, and so on. To find common ground among the intersecting threads is madness.

The difficulty of finding a sweet spot increases exponentially in direct relation to the number of people we’re trying to accommodate.

How It Relates To Product Design

When I started experimenting with different product ideas, the most common feedback I get is, “it’s not targeting a wide enough audience”. Or simply put, it’s not something EVERYBODY would use.

If we relate this back to our meetups; for us to cater to everybody, it would mean compromising on many things to fit everyone in. It would also mean that it’s most likely not going to come to fruition.

Or at least take ages to accomplish properly.

Niche Is Okay Too

But really, what’s with this obsession on being everything to everyone? I really enjoy having one-on-one catch ups too! Isn’t that the whole point?

When I am creating a new experiment or product; if someone out there finds it useful, or had fun with it — that’s good enough for me. Hell, it’s more than good. It’s what I’m aiming for.

I rather create something some people love, than something everyone thinks is just-alright.

Not to mention, a niche in a world this huge, is not really that small either.