By Janina
“What is the one thing that every great app needs?” 🤔
Last week someone interested in app development asked me this question. I loved the question because it took me by surprise. I didn’t love my answer though 🫣
My answer was stuck in thinking about products on a superficial level of UX and features. Intuitively, a great app starts below that surface. So I kept on reflecting about that question after the call.
So, what *is* the one thing that every great app needs?
It needs someone who thinks beyond contractual scopes, budgets, and deadlines.
Someone with overflowing empathy, structure, communication.
One who will say NO to useless and YES to genius and and will convince the undecided of both (and change minds of the decided, too).
Someone who will confront with facts and connect through stories.
One who knows when to speak up immediately and when to think it over for a bit.
Someone who knows when take a risk and when to be safe.
One who digs deeper and thinks further.
One who breaks things apart and puts it back together into cohesion.
Many folks call that a product manager. I simply call it what I’ve been doing at my business and how I intend to make more customers and users happy 🫶
It’s what will set us apart from tech services in a similar niche that, as I learned, often don’t even offer product management beyond pure development services - that approach might be right for some who see their app as a nerdy hobby. It’s not right for businesses that see their app as a growth engine.