Between 2015-2020, the number of public companies that have adopted product-led growth (PLG) strategies increased by over 285%. The growth of private PLG companies during this period is even more astounding.
Companies like Slack, Zoom, DoorDash have earned the reputation of being extremely successful due to PLG alone. Why are PLG companies so successful? It’s mostly down to the needs of modern-day customers.
Modern-day customers are used to software products improving with time. When it comes to the latest SaaS products, these customers want to independently test the products before paying for them.
The companies that deliver the best user experiences via their products take all the customers. However, refining a complex product and making it accessible to large user bases isn’t easy. Design plays the most crucial role in achieving this success.
The Importance of Design Thinking in PLG Companies
The main aim of PLG companies is to create and deliver products that guarantee exceptional user experiences. To achieve these objectives, PLG companies have to –
- Be empathetic to user complaints, needs, reviews, etc.
- Ensure every member of the company contributes to the product’s end design to make it as user-friendly as possible.
- Embrace changes, disruptions, and customer pain points as drivers of innovation.
By adopting a design-first approach and work culture, companies can meet these requirements. Here’s how –
Designing with a User-Centric Mindset
No one can fully understand a user’s customer journey and experience. Only product designers have the training to break down and optimize important customer insights like –
- What are the user’s intrinsic motivations?
- In what situations will customers use the product?
- Why will a new user interact with the product?
Product designers put aside their preconceived notions and focus on key user metrics to create product designs that are more empathetic to customer requirements.
Here are some of the user-driven metrics design experts consider while altering their products’ design
Conversion
This metric demonstrates how user-friendly a product is. If the user onboarding process isn’t designed to be simple, the company will have poor conversion rates. That’s because it’s failing to convert trial users into paying customers.
Engagement
This metric shows you how often people use the product. If users find the product’s design appealing and the product itself valuable, they’ll keep coming back.
Retention
Retention rate is a key operational metric that product designers use to understand the efficiency of their designs. They assess the frequency of a user’s interactions with specific product features. Then, they use these details to make appropriate changes to their products.
Growth
Growth or product adoption is another vital metric for measuring the success of product designs. It refers to the number of new users.
Using the Right Design Tools
Most companies have sufficient data and context about their customers to tailor their products’ design and make them more user-friendly. Companies that employ design thinking are constantly looking for new tools to make this process easier for their product teams.
- These companies are dedicated to leveraging user data to create even better onboarding experiences for future users.
- These design tools draw user context via integrations with important customer systems such as CRM.
- The designers can then use the product usage data to create more relevant product designs based on user behavior.
Empowering Designers to Empower the Company’s PLG Strategies
The design process is iterative. Companies that have strong design methodologies can keep improving their products until they reach perfection. That’s why adopting a “design thinking” mindset can be helpful for PLG companies that want to keep improving their products. To adopt this mindset, PLG companies need strong UX (user experience) design teams.
At Surgyy Design, we know design plays a critical role in the adoption of product-led growth strategies. We help several B2C and B2B companies adopt PLG strategies every year. Our product and UX design services help these companies adopt this strategy faster and with more efficiency!
