238. The Secret To User Growth: Turn Features Into Stories

Want to know how Apple turns technical features into stories that make people line up around the block for new products?

In this episode you will learn the 3 step product storytelling framework that transforms complex features into benefits users love.

Every successful tech company has mastered the art of product storytelling, so if you want your innovations to succeed, you need this skill too.

Listen to learn:

• The 3-part framework behind every great product story
• Why product storytelling is more important than investor pitching
• Why talking about amazing tech pushes users away
• Simple ways to practice better product storytelling today

Whether you're a founder trying to get users to love your product or a corporate innovator, this episode will transform how you communicate your product's value to your most important audience: your customers.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

01:20 Product Storytelling

04:32 Duolingo: A Case Study 

06:54 Spotify's Storytelling Framework

09:16 Features vs. Benefits

12:43 Implementing Product Storytelling

17:02 Conclusion

• Apple
• Spotify
• YouTube
• Amazon Podcasts
• Stitcher
• Pandora

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Transcript

Sophia Matveeva (00:00.054)
once you get your first product out, then it's actually really important to make sure that customers love using the product. And if they don't, and you keep on raising money, but nobody wants to use your thing, what do think is going to happen?

Sophia Matveeva (00:18.392)
Welcome to the Tech for non-techies podcast. I'm your host, tech entrepreneur, executive coach at Chicago Booth MBA, Sophia Matil. My aim here is to help you have a great career in the digital age. In a time when even your coffee shop has an app, you simply have to speak tech. On this podcast, I share core technology concepts, help you relate them to business outcomes.

And most importantly, share practical advice on what you can do to become a digital leader today. If you want to have a great career in the digital age, this podcast is for you. Hello, smart people. How are you today? Today, we are going to talk about product storytelling. And if you're a founder, you're probably really tired of lessons about pitch storytelling, because there are so many of them. And pitch storytelling, it's important. It's basically

a way to tell stories to get investors or CFOs, basically people with money to fund your project. And this is important because basically, you know, if you don't have money to fund your project, it ain't going to happen. But pitch storytelling as in learning how to tell stories for an investor pitch is not the only type of storytelling that you need. You also need to be able to do product storytelling. And what is that?

Essentially, it's a way to show your users, your customers, I people who use your product about why it's going to be useful for them and how it's going to make their lives better. And I find that in a lot of this kind of innovation school discourse, this is often forgotten and there's a huge emphasis on pitch storytelling and basically an overemphasis on investors. And I don't like this. I don't like this for two reasons.

One is that it assumes that everybody has to fundraise. It assumes that basically every company, every founder has to fundraise to be successful. And this is nonsense, right? In my first company, I had investors. In my second company, I don't have investors. There are pros and cons. There are lots of very successful businesses that do not have investors and that have reached scale. And frankly, if you're going to have an exit,

Sophia Matveeva (02:38.57)
it's going to be better for you if you are not massively diluted, but that's a whole other story anyway. So don't assume that you have to get investors to make your product as success. And also, even if you do have investors, the main people, the main people who really matter, like your boss, these are your customers. These are your users because yes, at the beginning, when you don't have anything,

You maybe don't have any customers and then storytelling to investors is super important. But after a while, you know, once you get your first product out, then it's actually really important to make sure that customers love using the product. And if they don't and you keep on raising money, but nobody wants to use your thing, what do you think is going to happen? Even if you're great at investor storytelling, if people don't want to use your product, you are not going to be in a good place.

trying to think of a polite way of saying that, but you know what I mean, you're basically going to be screwed. So this is why product storytelling matters. And this is what we're going to focus on today. So this lesson is important for obviously founders, technical or non-technical. My audience is mainly non-technical founders. It's also important for corporate innovators, right? Because if you are changing processes, if you're inventing something new, you need to get people on board and it's not just about money. It's about getting your users on board.

And this is especially important for people who are leading in digital transformation because what I see often is that people say, we've got this new tool and now you must use this new tool and here is a training. And basically that is a surefire way to get people to hate you. So instead you need to learn how to get them to want to do the training and get them to want to use the new thing. Okay. So I'm going to give you an example now.

of how Duolingo, an app that I absolutely love, how Duolingo has used this. So what is the problem that Duolingo solves? So the problem is that learning languages is hard and also learning languages can be really boring. So for any of you who have sat in a grammar class, you know exactly what I mean. So this is the problem. The problem is the villain. Learning languages is hard and boring.

Sophia Matveeva (05:01.378)
So the solution comes in and that's the hero. So Duolingo made language learning fun. It's gamified. So actually it's one of the things that I now do when I find myself reaching for my phone and I want to get on TikTok and I want to get on Instagram. I'm like, no, I can get an endorphin hit from Duolingo and actually learn a language. So Duolingo made language learning fun and accessible and either free or not too expensive.

And so that the solution is the hero and the problem is the villain. And then there's the transformation. What's the transformation that Duolingo gives us that users learn languages at their own pace. They build confidence and also they actually stay motivated because there's this whole gamification element. So Duolingo helped. So this kind of storytelling helps Duolingo stand out in a very competitive market and

For those of you who want to learn languages, I'm sure you've tried lots and lots of different apps. I certainly have. And Duolingo's strategy and storytelling has really, really made it stand out. And so for corporate innovators, again, let's imagine storytelling about your internal training tools. So if you are working on change management, instead of saying use this new software because it's faster, you could say,

This tool is going to save you two hours a week. So you can focus on work that matters most or just go home early. I mean, that is a selling point, right? Okay. So I've kind of given you the core framework of product storytelling. There are three bits. There's the villain, that's the problem, the hero, and then the transformation for the hero. So let's try this with Spotify.

So how does Spotify use this framework? And by the way, if you are listening to this on Spotify, hello, thank you very much. Leave the show a rating on Spotify. I'll love you forever. Anyway, so how does Spotify use this framework? What's the villain? What's the problem? Well, in the olden days, we had MP3s, we had lots of music in lots of different places. Some of us may have even downloaded music illegally. okay. Anyway.

Sophia Matveeva (07:22.318)
So Spotify, so that was the problem. Then in comes the hero, Spotify, all Apple music actually. So Spotify provides access to any song, any time without lawsuits and so on. What's the transformation for us, for the users? Well, we move from spending hours trying to organize all of our CDs, if you remember that, MP3s and so on.

Spotify is basically music at our fingertips whenever we want it. So that's the transformation. So let's try to apply this to a workforce tool or actually, you know, any tool like I'm sure, you know, there's an AI revolution happening right now. And I'm finding that a lot of AI companies are saying, we're using AI to do, you know, to do this. And it's really unclear because they're emphasizing AI, which frankly, nobody should really care about.

So instead of saying that your product in your corporate has AI enhanced reporting features, you could say, see exactly what you need in one click. It's saving hours of analysis. Okay. So this brings me to my next point. So first we covered this three stage framework. So the villain, that's the problem. The hero, that's the solution. And then the transformation. What happens to our hero? And our hero is the user. What happens to our hero?

as a result of them using our solution. And it should be something good, right? If something good doesn't happen to our hero, that means it's either the wrong hero or our product needs some help. Okay. So now that we have discovered this three pillar framework of product storytelling, there's something that I am going to go on at you, or read just about now. It's called Features versus Benefit. Now, if you are a

product maker, and I don't care if you're a founder, if you're a corporate innovator, if you're a hobbyist, whatever. If you make things, you kind of fall in love with the thing. So you call, you fall in love with your features and I totally get it because you're making it, you're putting your creativity into it. If you've got a team together, you know, you're putting all of your heads together on this, your research and your thinking. And so then when it comes out, you really want to tell people about the features that you've made. Because also frankly, some of these features.

Sophia Matveeva (09:46.444)
are really complicated and took a lot of intelligence to create. I get you. I have done this. Now I have a really disappointing thing to tell you is that users don't care. They don't care. you know, talk to other people, talk to people like me about the cool stuff that you're making because we like to nerd out on this, but your users and your customers, they don't care about the features. They care about the benefits. So let's have a look at what's up.

So WhatsApp says to us that it has end-to-end encryption. I mean, some people do use WhatsApp for end-to-end encryption. mean, I'm not one of those people. I suspect that you're probably not really one of those people. So if WhatsApp just goes around saying we have end-to-end encryption, like for most people, that's not going to mean anything. So what are the benefits that WhatsApp brings to our lives? Well,

WhatsApp allows us to make phone calls to other people who have WhatsApp in any country basically for free, which means that if you are an immigrant, a worldwide traveler, you can stay in touch with all of your friends no matter where they are without having to pay extortionate international calling rates. So this is an example of how if you lead with your features rather than your benefits, then your customers will just switch off and they'll get really bored.

And this is especially, I'm saying this especially for the AI founders right now, because yes, love AI, love using AI, it's amazing, all of these things. But your customers are not necessarily going to care that you are using AI to do something. What they care about is the time that you save them, the stress that you save them. They care about the fact that maybe you're minimizing mistakes. So always think about the benefit and the benefit.

That's the transformation. let's think about Uber. Uber's product story is get a, what do they say? They say actually tap a button, get a ride. Okay. So that is Uber's product story. And it's really, really clear because it basically makes us think, okay, what did we have to do before Uber? We had to stand in the rain to get a taxi. We had to get taxi numbers. It was all a nightmare. Now you get your phone out, you tap a button and a

Sophia Matveeva (12:13.998)
taxi magically appeared. Now, these are all benefits. In order to create this, Uber had to have a ratings mechanism. It needed to have a matching algorithm. It needed to actually pay taxi drivers to ride around in a city when they were launching to make sure that there was always a driver available. You know, I care about this because I find it interesting and frankly, because I'm an innovation teacher. So I find this really interesting. But as a user,

I don't care. I just want to get my phone out, get a ride and make sure that that driver doesn't kill me. Right. So these are the benefits. Okay. So I think we've kind of got the point now. So now let's take it over to you. So how are you going to implement this? So number one, I've got some ideas for you. Number one is let's play the app store game. So you could take any app on your phone right now and just look at

the features in it and then just think about, what is that benefit? So for example, let's think about Instagram. So Instagram has AI enhanced photo editing. I mean, that just sounds really boring, but so that's the feature, AI enhanced photo editing. What's the benefit? Make your photos look amazing with one tap. What's the benefit to me? Basically it's like, well, you don't have to wear makeup.

and your skin is going to look flawless. That is wonderful. Love that. If somebody says AI enhanced photo editing, even if you understand it, even for somebody at my level of understanding, I still have to kind of stop and think exactly what it is. And you don't want your users to stop and think exactly what's useful for them. You want them to go like, my God, yes, please give this to me. I need it. So let's play the App Store game to understand how to translate features to benefits.

Another thing that you can do is actually look at the iPhone and iPhone launches. So iPhone launches are really, really spectacular storytelling events all the way back from when Steve Jobs was doing it to now. And yes, they are, know, feats of engineering and feats of design, but actually when they're being launched, there's a lot about product storytelling and basically it's all about

Sophia Matveeva (14:38.712)
How do you make users feel? Why do people want to use your thing? So for example, they could say, in this new iPhone, we've got a 12 MP camera. I mean, I don't know what that means. Maybe you do, but most people don't. Or you could translate that to, if you are a lover of football, you could capture every detail of the game winning goal. Okay. So that actually makes sense.

So you could look at Apple press releases, you could look at Apple iPhone releases, you could also actually just look at Apple advertising for their products and they're emphasizing the benefits. And as a result, you can work backwards to what the features are. And here is a workplace tool test that you can do. So you can rewrite internal tool descriptions into benefits. And actually, if you're working in an innovation department, this is something that you could do and, you know, maybe that'll make your boss happy.

So for example, I bet if you work in corporate, a lot of you are going to have something called an advanced project management dashboard. And that sounds incredibly boring and also super vague, right? So what could you translate that into? What is product storytelling? Change that into benefits. Your dashboard keeps your team aligned and on track without extra meetings. Okay.

Is that clear? Is that better? I want to use a tool that's going to help me minimize meetings and thus save me time and stress. I don't want an advanced project management dashboard. Okay. I think, think we've got this. I think we've got the fact that product storytelling really matters. And I would argue that product storytelling matters more than pitch storytelling. So for those of you who are either pitching to investors,

or trying to shake down the CFO for money on your innovation project. I would say that product storytelling actually matters more because yes, you need to understand market size for your investor storytelling and so on, but you primarily need to tell people why are you making this thing? What problem is this thing solving? Why will people really want to use it? And fundamentally, why will they pay for it?

Sophia Matveeva (17:02.518)
And that's all about product storytelling. So if you are sitting there and you're thinking, well, I have all of these skills that I need to learn. This is the start of 2025. I have all of these skills that I want to learn in 2025. I suggest you pick product storytelling first, if you actually want to make new things. So what I like to do with my students in my programs, after I've taught them this, I usually give them a worksheet so they can fill in this three pillar thing.

Remember the three pillars are the problem, that's the villain, then the hero, your product, and then the transformation. So I get them to fill in this worksheet that basically says, what problem are we solving? What is our solution? What is the transformation that people are going to get as a result? And sometimes people get stuck because they're like, well, I'm not sure exactly how to phrase it. I don't know exactly what to do. That's completely normal. Just do that. And what I say to people, just...

Fill that out as best as you possibly can. Do not spend ages on it. know, half an hour to an hour is fine. An hour is actually probably too long. And then go out to your target market and try it. See how people respond. If your target customers are like, my God, I totally have that problem. And yes, I really want to have this transformation. Then you're on to something. But if your target customers are like, well, I have that problem, but it's not really a big deal. Well, I don't have that problem.

or this transformation isn't really worth me downloading a new app, like it's a problem, but I don't care about solving it, then that's something to investigate. It's something to investigate about your target market, about your product and about your idea as a whole. Okay. So your calls to action. What is it that I want you to do is I want you to try this. If you're working on your own products, try product storytelling to your target customers.

And if you are not working on your own product, just look at the products that you have on your phone and understand how a feature like AI enhanced photo editing gets translated into a benefit because the biggest tech companies in the world know how to do product storytelling at an expert level, which is why they keep on creating billionaires upon billionaires. All right. Well, thank you very much.

Sophia Matveeva (19:27.352)
for watching this video. I'm really curious about how you are going to implement all of this. So please get in touch with me on social media. LinkedIn is usually my favorite place. So get in touch with me on LinkedIn. Let me know how you're implementing all of this. And also what I would really appreciate is that you subscribe and tell your friends about this and if you're watching on YouTube, then please like this video because it really helps. If you just press like, it really helps basically spread this content.

to other smart people so we can spread this knowledge and spread this free education and make the world a better place. Okay, on that note, thank you very much for watching. I love you and I'll be back in your delightful smarties next week. Ciao.