Why Product Use Case's Suck 🤮

When I was 6 years old, my attention span wasn't the best as you would expect, a lot of things fascinated me but I also lost interest very quickly, except for one thing.

It was my dad's watch.

My dad at that time used to wear Timex Expedition MF-13. It caught my eye and I was thoroughly intrigued.

The brown and rustic leather strap, 4 buttons all with different purposes including alarm and a very cool light they called indiglo.

The coolest was that it had both analog and digital!

These features seemed very cool and futuristic to me, but more importantly, it was being worn by my idol, my dad.

I fell in love with that watch.
Every part of it.

I associated that watch with my dad, worn by the person I respected and admired.

I used to see it whenever he would come home after work, and then play with the watch.

I would purposely switch off lights to turn on the watch's Indiglo light.
This thrilled me.

Ironically I didn't even know how to tell time properly.
For me, the primary use case of the watch (tell time) didn’t matter.

That watch was never just a timepiece.

It was something else for me,
something way more.

I think that's what's beautiful about humans. From personifications like Mother-Earth, Chanda-mama etc to giving meaning and identity to the products we own; our perception is beautiful.

My backpack which I've carried for a few years and hugged while traveling, the particular smell of the rose handwash that my parents buy which reminds me of home, the Tupperware bottle I carried to school for years.

We all have things like these and all of them are priceless, might not mean much to anyone else but you know what it means to you.

I can't recall where my dad's watch went, perhaps it got spoilt, or perhaps he gave it to someone, I have no clue.

If someone somehow puts the Timex Expedition MF-13 in front of me and a Rolex -
You know what I'd choose :))

A simple watch can make a young kid a watch enthusiast and be emotionally connected to him.

It's surreal how what a product isn't just what it's designed to be, it goes way beyond its original purpose.

After 6 years of crafting products, my perspective on defined use cases is evolving.
There's a magic beyond the user persona

That’s why, we should make products simply because we can.

And this is the advice I’d give to the Unlearn PM Cohort 9…
Build because you can.

The C9 is an incredible batch - full of talented high energy folks.
The same folks are now solving 6 real-world problems by creating 6 different products from the group up.

Few products they are working on right now are:

1. Astrotalk but completely on AI.
2. ATS (Application Tracking System) which doesn’t suck.
~90% of the current ATS are highly inaccurate.
3. A pet wellness app that can design and provide the best health coverage based on specific needs.

+3 more exciting products.

I’m counting on Cohort 9 to come up with magical products.

There’s a LOT to learn from these people.
Learnings on product ideation, how to pick a problem, actually building from the ground up, and then taking it to market.

And our community suggested that we open up access to this event for everyone, so that’s why we will be live-streaming the entire Demo Day on 26th November.

If you are interested to learn how products are built, please register here.