Products Must Serve Emotional and Functional Needs

The Delight Model: Creating Emotional Connection in Products

Delight is the ability to create products that serve both emotional and functional needs. It's not about sprinkling joy on top of utility, but creating experiences where emotion is at the heart of the product. This approach drives loyalty, retention, word-of-mouth, and even revenue.

What is delight?

• Delight is the combination of two emotions: joy and surprise
• It's not just "confetti effects" (visual flourishes without value)
• Delight is a differentiator in crowded markets, not a luxury
• Even well-functioning products may struggle with traction if they don't create emotional connections

The three pillars of delight

1. Removing friction

   • Identify "valley moments" where user emotion is at its lowest (anxiety, stress)
   • Create solutions that eliminate these pain points
   • Example: Uber's two-click refund process when a driver cancels

2. Anticipating needs

   • Provide solutions before users even ask for them
   • Create surprise by exceeding what users expect
   • Example: Revolut adding eSIM purchasing within a banking app for international travelers

3. Exceeding expectations

   • Give users more than they asked for
   • Create positive surprise by going beyond the expected solution
   • Example: Microsoft Edge automatically finding and applying discount coupons during checkout

The four-step Delight Model framework

1. Identify user motivators

   • Functional motivators: What users want to accomplish (find a song, book a flight)
   • Emotional motivators: How users want to feel (secure, less lonely, productive)
   • Personal emotional motivators: How users want to feel while using the product
   • Social emotional motivators: How users want others to perceive them while using the product

2. Convert motivators into product opportunities

   • Transform identified motivators into concrete product opportunities
   • Define the opportunity space rather than just the product space
   • Focus on both solving problems and honoring emotional needs

3. Identify solutions and categorize them in the Delight Grid

   • Surface delight: Features that only address emotional motivators (Spotify Wrapped)
   • Low delight: Features that only address functional motivators
   • Deep delight: Features that address both functional and emotional motivators

4. Validate with the Delight Checklist

   • User impact: Does it create meaningful value for users?
   • Business impact: Does it align with business goals?
   • Feasibility: Can it be built with available resources?
   • Familiarity: Is it familiar enough to not be jarring?
   • Inclusion: Does it work for all users in all contexts?

Prioritizing delight features

• Use the 50-40-10 model for balancing your roadmap:

  • 50% low delight (functionality-focused features)
  • 40% deep delight (features addressing both functional and emotional needs)
  • 10% surface delight (purely emotional features)

• Avoid thinking about "balancing delight versus functionality" - instead, focus on "delight in functionality"

Building a delight culture

• Make delight a permanent pillar in your product strategy
• Incorporate it into company routines and rituals
• Consider implementing "delight days" (similar to hack days) to generate ideas
• Recognize that working on delightful features increases PM motivation and engagement

When to invest in delight

• B2B products need delight just as much as B2C products (it's "B2H" - Business to Human)
• As markets become more competitive, delight becomes more important for differentiation
• Even in new markets, products that address emotional needs will stand out over time

Avoiding delight pitfalls

• Be aware of the habituation effect - surprise diminishes over time
• Plan to maintain delight through continuous innovation
• Ensure inclusivity - what delights one user may upset another
• Avoid "confetti effects" that don't provide real value