Aug 29, 2025
Prioritising customer requests purely by volume is a bad choice.
Volume doesn't mean this is the right problem to solve. But it still blinds teams.
Yes, customer feedback is great for spotting patterns and surfacing needs. But raw demands don't point to the best answer. Building features based solely on who shouts loudest will result in bloated products or patchwork fixes that don't scale.
A client might demand Feature X but their request likely reflects a deeper pain point solvable in a more elegant, cheaper, faster and more beneficial way.
Strong product teams distil customer insights. Instead of asking: "What do customers want?" ask: "What problem are they trying to solve?".
Your customer problems are your problems.
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I'm a father of 3 from Sydney, a product and technology leader. I write about leadership, product management, technology and the messy reality of making work work.
I'm currently building and experimenting with a mildly alarming number of things. I also work as a fractional product leader, stepping in where the founder or CEO is still carrying product decisions on their own, and offer 1:1 product leadership coaching for senior PMs and emerging product leaders. I founded SoundingBoard, practical peer exchange for product people. Connect via LinkedIn, or follow me on X.
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