Thoughts: Building Tools that Serve, not Extract

Every software product pretends to be built for its users. But most are actually built on them... extracting value in the form of data, attention, or compliance.

We see this everywhere:

• CRMs that sales people hate but must use
• Social platforms that drain users to sell to advertisers
• Productivity tools that add complexity to generate "insights"

The list really does go on, but let's move on...

The Inversion Principle

Real service means inverting the relationship: Instead of user generating value and the company capturing it, the company should provide the value and the user participates in it.

If your users have to do work to get value, you've designed the wrong way.

Data vs Action

Most tools treat data as an end. You enter it, the system processes it, someone else gets insights.

That's backwards.

Value isn't in the data. Value is in the action it enables.

If you can't show me what to do in the next 60 seconds, I don't care about your beautiful analytics.

The 5 Minute Test

Place the tool in front of a real user. If they can't see value in 5 minutes....

• You asked for too much input
• You showed too much noise
• You didn't answer their immediate question
• You served someone else's needs instead of theirs

Who Gets the Win?

Every feature has a winner and a loser.

Ask: After using this, who feels like they got ahead? The user, or the company?

If the answer isn't "the user," you're building extraction software. You just dress it up as "productivity."

Simplicity isn't Minimalism, it's Architecture

Removing features feels like restraint. It's not.

Real simplicity is structural:

• If it doesn't help the user right now, it doesn't exist
• If it requires explanation, it's too complex
• If it serves multiple personas, it serves none

Adoption is the Only Metric that Matters

Contracts don't prove value, nor do mandates. If people don't want to use your tool, you've failed.

The goal isn't penetration, it's obsession.

One person tells another: "You need this. Here, try it."

The Anti-<Product> Principle

Don't ask: "What features do we add to become enterprise-grade?"

Ask: "What features must we murder to stay human?"

Many will say enterprise means more. I say enterprise means less... less noise, less config, less compromise.

In closing...

When was the last time you built something so simple, so directly useful, that people fet grateful... not compliant?

That's the bar.