Why Underestimated Features Can Lead to Higher User Dissatisfaction

In the fast-paced world of product development, it's crucial to recognize that not all features are created equal. Often, certain features may be underestimated by product managers, leading to significant ramifications for user satisfaction. This article explores how these underestimated features can create dissatisfaction among users & consequently derail the product’s success.

When users interact with a product, they have certain EXPECTATIONS based on marketing, peer recommendations, & previous experiences. If these expectations aren’t met, it can lead to disappointment.

Features serve as a bridge between user needs & product functionality. If users expect a particular feature to perform a certain way & it doesn’t, their dissatisfaction can skyrocket, impacting retention rates & overall product credibility. Take for example software like Shopify — users expect a robust platform that can handle e-commerce needs seamlessly. If a critical feature, like inventory management, isn’t adequately implemented, the user experience can plummet, leading to a loss of trust in the product.

This phenomenon often stems from what psychologists term the planning fallacy, which suggests that people underestimate the time & resources needed to complete tasks. In product management, this flaw can manifest when features expected to provide tremendous value are instead given less importance during development cycles. A post on Amara's Law beautifully illustrates that product managers tend to overestimate the impact of new features in the short term while underestimating their long-term effects.

As a result, when teams focus their resources on new features set to