Juicy Talks
AI-powered product design. Made by Omer Frank, shaped by AI.
Juicy Talks
4 customer gain categories every designer should track with AI
Why do some products instantly resonate with us while others, despite solving problems, leave us feeling underwhelmed? The answer lies beyond mere functionality in what we call "customer gains" – the complete spectrum of positive outcomes that transform ordinary products into extraordinary experiences.
Customer gains range from the baseline "required" elements that simply keep a product viable to the "unexpected" delights that forge emotional connections and create loyal advocates. The Gainscope framework helps product teams systematically understand and implement these different types of gains, moving beyond the typical focus on eliminating pain points to actively creating moments of joy and surprise.
We explore each level of the framework in detail – required gains (the non-negotiables), expected gains (industry standards), desired gains (preference creators), and unexpected gains (delightful surprises). These categories provide a roadmap for strategic product development, helping teams prioritize where to invest resources for maximum impact. Through examples like Spotify's Wrapped feature and Tesla's hidden games, we illustrate how unexpected gains particularly drive word-of-mouth and deep user engagement.
The conversation also highlights how artificial intelligence has revolutionized our ability to identify these gains at scale. Modern AI can analyze massive amounts of unstructured feedback, recognizing patterns in language that signal different types of gains – from "deal breaker" phrases indicating required elements to emotional expressions like "surprised me" that reveal unexpected delights. This technology enables product teams to make more confident, insight-backed decisions rather than relying solely on intuition.
What if your next breakthrough isn't fixing a problem, but uncovering a joy your users didn't even know they were missing? Listen now to discover how the Gainscope framework could transform your approach to creating products people truly love.
Welcome to Juicy Talks. Have you ever wondered why some products just click with you while others, even if they solve a problem, leave you feeling a bit well flat?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a common thing. We often get really caught up in fixing what's broken right, Focusing only on the problems.
Speaker 1:Exactly. But what if that focus actually limits our potential? Today we're doing a deep dive into a framework that shifts that focus.
Speaker 2:It helps us think about how to systematically build products that don't just function. Today we're doing a deep dive into a framework that shifts that focus.
Speaker 1:It helps us think about how to systematically build products that don't just function, but genuinely delight people and create you know, memorable experiences, and this is all about understanding something called customer gains.
Speaker 2:Right, it's the whole spectrum of positive outcomes. Users get basic function, sure, but also those unexpected moments that just make them smile.
Speaker 1:We're going to explore how these gains fit into different categories and, interestingly, how AI can actually help uncover them in ways we couldn't before.
Speaker 2:It's fascinating stuff.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's unpack this Customer gains. What exactly are we talking about here?
Speaker 2:Well, customer gains are really the benefits, the positive outcomes, the value, users experience.
Speaker 1:So positive emotions, problems solved, needs met, things like that.
Speaker 2:Precisely. It's about why they choose your product, why they stay engaged, why they recommend it.
Speaker 1:But the tricky part is customers don't usually spell this out, do they?
Speaker 2:Rarely. They might just say oh, I love this app, but they won't explain which specific gain is actually hooking them. Our job is to kind of decode that.
Speaker 1:And that decoding process is where this Gainscope framework comes in handy. You mentioned four categories.
Speaker 2:That's right. It organizes all these potential gains, moving from the absolute must-haves right up to pure delight.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's start at the foundation. What's the first category? The non-negotiable one.
Speaker 2:That would be required gains. These are the things your product absolutely has to do to even function. Think baseline expectations.
Speaker 1:Like for a ride sharing app, the car actually showing up.
Speaker 2:Exactly. That's not impressive, it's just required. It's a survival requirement. If you fail here, users are gone instantly.
Speaker 1:So no point over investing here beyond making it solid.
Speaker 2:Well, you need it solid, absolutely. But the trap is trying to innovate too much on required gains when those resources could be used for higher-level stuff. Get the basics right, then move up.
Speaker 1:Okay, makes sense. So once we've nailed those required basics, what's next?
Speaker 2:Next up are expected gains. These are the features customers pretty much assume will be there, based on what else is out there Industry standards.
Speaker 1:Like a banking app loading your balance quickly. You just expect that now.
Speaker 2:You do. If it's missing or slow, it's frustrating, but if it's there and works fine, well, it just meets the baseline. It keeps you competitive but it doesn't make you stand out.
Speaker 1:Right, you're just keeping pace, not really differentiating.
Speaker 2:And there's a real danger there, getting stuck just playing catch up on expected features and never breaking out.
Speaker 1:So, beyond just meeting expectations, what about what people actually hope for the nice-to-haves?
Speaker 2:Precisely that brings us to desired gains. These are features customers actively want, things they might wish for but don't necessarily expect everywhere.
Speaker 1:Can you give an example?
Speaker 2:Sure, think of a project management tool that seamlessly integrates with all your other tools, or maybe a mobile game with really unique engaging social features.
Speaker 1:Ah, okay, things that make you choose one product over another.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Delivering these well creates preference, gives you a competitive edge. It really showcases smart design choices. This is where innovation starts to feel tangible to the user.
Speaker 1:And then my favorite part, yeah, those moments that just genuinely surprise and delight you.
Speaker 2:Yes, those are the unexpected gains, the delightful surprises.
Speaker 1:Like Spotify's wrapped year in review or those hidden games in a Tesla.
Speaker 2:Perfect examples. They aren't forced. They usually come from a really deep understanding of users mixed with creative thinking. They generate buzz, word of mouth, real emotional connections.
Speaker 1:The kind of thing people talk about.
Speaker 2:Absolutely the aha moments. Users didn't even know they wanted until they got them.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we have these four types required, expected, desired, unexpected. But finding these, especially the desired and unexpected ones, from user feedback sounds hard, especially at scale.
Speaker 2:It can be incredibly labor intensive sifting through interviews, reviews, support tickets, all that unstructured data.
Speaker 1:So how do we manage that? You mentioned AI earlier.
Speaker 2:Right. This is where AI, especially advanced models, can really change the game. It gives us the ability to listen effectively at a massive scale.
Speaker 1:You mean training AI to spot specific language linked to each game category?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Going beyond just keywords.
Speaker 2:Exactly. It's not just about finding must have or wish it had. Modern AI, like natural language processing models, can understand sentiment context, even subtle phrasing.
Speaker 1:So it can pick up on things we might miss.
Speaker 2:Definitely For required gains. It might identify phrases like deal breaker or unusable For expected things like standard feature or assumed it would and for the higher levels for desired gains maybe it flags comparisons users make, or what if it could type language? And for unexpected gains. It's great at spotting that emotional language. Surprised me, delighted.
Speaker 1:Didn't expect that wow, so it connects dots that a human analyst might miss just because of the sheer volume. Or you know, know, cognitive bias.
Speaker 2:Precisely that ability to surface latent desires hidden in the noise. That's the real power of using AI here. So, when you put this Gainscope framework together with AI analysis, what's the big picture benefit? You shift from relying purely on intuition, which is still important, to making decisions backed by insights from actual customer language and emotions. It enhances your creative judgment.
Speaker 1:It gives you more confidence.
Speaker 2:A lot more confidence that you're building features and experiences that truly resonate, because you understand what kind of gain you're delivering.
Speaker 1:Imagine knowing your next design decision is grounded in that deeper understanding of what actually makes your users tick.
Speaker 2:By systematically thinking about all four types of games, you can craft experiences that go way beyond just solving problems.
Speaker 1:You can genuinely delight, differentiate yourself and build those really memorable connections.
Speaker 2:What if your next big breakthrough isn't fixing a pain point, but uncovering a joy point your users didn't even realize was missing?
Speaker 1:Something to think about.
Speaker 2:Definitely.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to Juicy Talks.
