From rickshaws to rural banks: hidden product lessons.
Understanding your users' world can reveal what they really need.
You've done everything by the product management playbook.
Countless user interviews. Detailed surveys. Thorough feedback analysis.
Yet, somehow, your latest feature isn't getting the adoption you expected from a key user segment. Sound familiar?
As product people, we're taught that deep user engagement is the key to success. And it is – but sometimes, even the most thorough conversations don't reveal the full picture.
Just ask the team at Jugnoo, who discovered that building an auto-rickshaw hailing app in India required far more than understanding user preferences.
What users couldn't articulate in interviews – like the impact of unreliable internet – was crucial to their success.
But here's the thing: You don't need to be launching in an emerging market to learn from their experience.
Whether you're building for rural customers with limited connectivity, elderly users navigating digital services, or small businesses with unique constraints, there's more to the story than what users can tell you directly.
Learning from the Field: Three Stories
When Indian startup Jugnoo launched, they quickly learned that beautiful features meant nothing without reliable access.
They recognized the potential of auto-rickshaws as a popular mode of transportation in smaller cities. They developed a mobile app to connect passengers with nearby auto-rickshaws, essentially creating an "Uber for auto-rickshaws" service.
Their strategy to grow:
Adapt to local transportation preferences by focusing on auto-rickshaws instead of cars
Develop a low-bandwidth app to work in areas with poor internet connectivity
Introduce cash and digital payment options to cater to different customer preferences
The strategy paid off as Jugnoo expanded from its initial market in Chandigarh to over 40 cities across India, demonstrating how understanding local transportation needs can lead to significant growth.
Think about your product: How many potential users might you lose to similar technical challenges?
The solution wasn't more user interviews – it was understanding the environment where the product lived.
Kopo Kopo, a merchant payment platform in Kenya, faced a classic challenge: getting local merchants to accept digital payments when cash was king.
Their success came not just from building good software, but from integrating with M-Pesa, a payment platform their users already trusted.
The result - $3 billion in processed payments.
This isn't just an emerging market lesson – think about why some elderly users prefer calling their bank instead of using an app, or why certain communities rely on specific payment methods.
Kopo Kopo didn't try to change user behavior – they built on existing trust to bring merchants into the digital economy.
Pickaroo, a food and grocery delivery platform in the Philippines, didn’t just enter the market - they redefined their role as the pandemic reshaped customer behaviors.
What started as a niche delivery service for specific townships quickly evolved into a nationwide platform offering everything from groceries to medicines and specialty items. The highlights include:
Expanded beyond their original townships to serve multiple cities, including Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
Moved beyond food delivery to include groceries, medicines, and other essentials, catering to a broader range of customer needs.
Focused on efficient order processing and delivery routing to optimize operations and improve customer experiences.
Collaborated with premium local merchants and launched a closed beta for invite-only users, refining their service before scaling.
Are there opportunities to expand or adapt your offering to meet your users’ evolving needs?
Like Pickaroo, you don’t need to reinvent your product - sometimes, you just need to meet your users where they’re headed.
Turn These Insights Into a Playbook
Your 15-Minute Assessment
Let’s take what we’ve learned about each of these companies and determine how we can work them into our product world.
Start with just one underserved segment of your users and answer these questions:
Infrastructure Check
Where do they actually use your product?
What fails when conditions aren't perfect?
Quick test: Put your phone in airplane mode and try your product. What breaks?
Trust & Systems
What tools/methods do they trust today?
How do they currently solve their problem?
Are there existing workflows you could enhance rather than replace?
Reality Check
Watch users in their natural environment (not just interviews)
Note their workarounds and adaptations
Are there constraints they don't mention, but is a workaround in place?
You can build out your action plan based on how you answer these questions.
A few steps you can take include -
Pick your biggest discovery from above
Design one small experiment to address it
Test in the most challenging conditions first
Iterate based on real-world usage, not just feedback
Final Thoughts
Remember: Sometimes, the most valuable insights come from understanding the world your product lives in, not just what users say about it.
Whether it's adding offline capabilities, integrating with a trusted platform, or simplifying a complex workflow – start with one change that addresses the real-world context you discover.
What's one user segment you think might be underserved by your current approach?
Until next week,
Mike @ Product Party
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