Pay attention to your passionate edge cases.
Let's dig into why unconventional adoption patterns are career-making insights and not only problems to solve.
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I recently heard a story on the Vergecast that completely shifted how I think about user adoption. Meta's Ray-Ban AI smart glasses were originally positioned as a consumer gadget - take photos, get directions, maybe look cool at coffee shops. But something unexpected happened.
The visually impaired community discovered these glasses and turned them into something entirely different: a transformative accessibility tool. They're using them to read mail, identify medications, navigate airports, and accomplish daily tasks with unprecedented independence. In Facebook groups dedicated to low vision users, every third post is about smart glasses. They're spreading like wildfire, not because of Meta's marketing strategy, but because users found a completely different problem to solve.
This isn't just a heartwarming story about accessibility. It's a masterclass in recognizing when your users are trying to tell you something important about your product's real value.
The challenge of staying flexible while focused.
Most product teams are so focused on their intended use cases that they miss the signals when users start solving different problems. We build dashboards for executives, but we often overlook the fact that frontline workers are using them to make operational decisions. We create collaboration tools for remote teams and overlook how they're being adopted by in-person teams who need better documentation workflows.
When the visually impaired community embraced AI glasses, they revealed untapped market potential that companies hadn't recognized. Over 300 million people worldwide are blind or have low vision - a figure projected to double by 2050. More importantly, the features that matter most to this community benefit everyone: hands-free interaction, real-time scene description, and object recognition all improve usability for much broader audiences.
This creates a professional dilemma: how do you stay true to your core product vision while remaining open to unexpected applications? I've learned that sometimes restrictions can be so limiting that you cut off innovation at the source. If Meta had built their glasses to only work in predetermined ways, the visually impaired community might never have discovered their transformative potential.
Three ways to spot unexpected opportunities.
1. Watch for passionate edge cases.
When users are so enthusiastic about an unconventional application that they're creating communities around it, pay attention. In the AI glasses example, visually impaired users weren't just quietly using the product - they were actively sharing tips, creating tutorials, and recruiting others.
This level of organic advocacy signals you've solved a problem people didn't know they had. Look for users who are becoming evangelists for applications you never intended.
2. Look for adjacent market expansion.
The AI glasses story shows how accessibility features can appeal to much broader audiences. Ask yourself: what adjacent user groups might benefit from the same capabilities your edge users are discovering?
Map out the characteristics of your unconventional users and identify other segments with similar needs. The warehouse worker who benefits from hands-free navigation shares more with the visually impaired user than with the original consumer target.
3. Question your own restrictions.
Review the constraints you've built into your product through an unconventional lens. Are there limitations that made sense for your original vision but might be preventing valuable new applications?
I've learned to use tools like Chameleon to observe how people actually interact with features rather than just asking them about it. Sometimes the best innovation comes from removing barriers rather than adding features. When users consistently work around your intended workflow, they're showing you where flexibility could unlock new value.
Building space for discovery.
The most successful products I've seen maintain enough flexibility for users to surprise you. This doesn't mean building everything for everyone - it means creating room for people to solve problems you didn't anticipate.
Your users are constantly experimenting with your product, testing its boundaries, and finding new applications. The question is whether you're paying attention to what they're discovering. Some of the most transformative product pivots come from recognizing that users have already figured out your product's real value - you just need to catch up to them.
The next time you notice users doing something unexpected with your product, resist the urge to redirect them back to your intended workflow. Instead, ask yourself: what problem are they actually solving, and how many other people might have that same problem?
Your biggest opportunity might be hiding in the feature requests that initially seem completely off-brand.
Until next week,
Mike @ Product Party
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