A 4-step framework for building delightful products | Nesrine Changuel (Spotify, Google, Skype)

Nesrine Changuel helped build Spotify, Google Chrome, and Google Meet. Her work has helped her discover the importance of emotional connection in building successful products. At Google, she served as a dedicated “delight PM,” a role specifically focused on making products more delightful. She recently published Product Delight, a book that provides a practical framework for creating products that serve both functional and emotional needs. Based in Paris, she now coaches founders and CPOs on implementing delight strategies in their organizations.

What you’ll learn:

1. Why delight is a business strategy, not just “sprinkling confetti” on top of functionality

2. How to identify emotional motivators that drive product retention

3. The 50-40-10 rule for balancing delight in your roadmap

4. The 4-step delight model

5. The origin story of Spotify’s Discover Weekly

6. Why B2B products need delight just as much as B2C products

7. How to get buy-in from skeptical leaders who think delight is a luxury

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Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-4-step-framework-for-building-delightful-products

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My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/174199489/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation

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Where to find Nesrine Changuel:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nesrinechanguel/

• Newsletter: https://nesrinechanguel.substack.com/

• Website: https://nesrine-changuel.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Nesrine and product delight

(04:56) Why delight matters

(09:17) What makes a feature “delightful”

(12:29) The three pillars of delight

(13:03) Pillar 1: Removing friction (Uber refund example)

(15:07) Pillar 2: Anticipating needs (Revolut eSIM example)

(17:21) Pillar 3: Exceeding expectations (Edge coupon example)

(18:35) The “confetti effect” and when it actually works

(22:02) B2B vs. B2C: Why all products need emotional connection

(29:52) The Delight Model: A 4-step framework

(30:57) Step 1: Identifying user motivators (functional and emotional)

(33:55) Step 2: Converting motivators into product opportunities

(34:46) Step 3: Identifying solutions with the delight grid

(36:46) Step 4: Validating ideas with the delight checklist

(40:22) The Delight Model summarized

(42:18) The importance of familiarity (Spotify Discover Weekly story)

(45:21) Real examples: Chrome’s tab management solution

(51:32) Google Meet’s solution for “Zoom fatigue”

(55:02) Getting buy-in from skeptical leaders

(59:39) Prioritizing delight: The 50-40-10 rule

(1:02:41) Creating a culture of delight in your organization

(1:06:45) The habituation effect

(1:08:15) When delight goes wrong: Apple reactions example

(1:10:21) How delight motivates product teams

(1:12:24) Lightning round and final thoughts

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Referenced:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/

• Linear: https://linear.app/

• How Linear builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linear-builds-product

• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

• Asana: https://asana.com/

• Monday: https://monday.com/

• The Product Delight Model: https://nesrinechanguel.substack.com/p/the-product-delight-model

• Revolut: https://www.revolut.com/

• How Revolut trains world-class product managers: The “local CEO” model, raw intellect over experience, and a cultural obsession with building wow products | Dmitry Zlokazov (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-revolut-trains-world-class-product-managers

• Microsoft Cashback: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/features/shopping-cashback

• Superhuman’s secret to success: Ignoring most customer feedback, manually onboarding every new user, obsessing over every detail, and positioning around a single attribute: speed | Rahul Vohra (CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/superhumans-secret-to-success-rahul-vohra

• Brian Chesky’s secret mentor who died 9 times, started the Burning Man board, and built the world’s first midlife wisdom school | Chip Conley (founder of MEA): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/chip-conley

• Workday: https://www.workday.com/

• SAP: https://www.sap.com/

• ServiceNow: https://www.servicenow.com/

• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/

• GitHub: https://github.com/

• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/

• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/

• Data Superheroes: https://www.snowflake.com/en/data-superheroes/

• Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/

• Andy Nesling on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andynesling/

• Matic: https://maticrobots.com/

• Diego Sanchez’s (Senior Product Manager at Buffer) post on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7365014292091346945/

• Miro: https://miro.com/

• Arc browser: https://arc.net/

• Competing with giants: An inside look at how The Browser Company builds product | Josh Miller (CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/competing-with-giants-an-inside-look

• Migros Supermarket: https://www.migros.ch/

• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell

• Building Lovable: $10M ARR in 60 days with 15 people | Anton Osika (CEO and co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika

• Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu

• Suno: https://suno.com

• Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/

• Use Reactions, Presenter Overlay, and other effects when videoconferencing on Mac: https://support.apple.com/en-us/105117

• Dr. Lipp: https://drlipp.com/

• How to be the best coach to product people | Petra Wille (Strong Product People): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-be-the-best-coach-to-product

• The Great American Baking Show: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21822674/

• Le Meilleur Pâtissier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Meilleur_P%C3%A2tissier

• The Upside on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.3cb8500f-31af-9f4f-5dec-701e086d58e8

• The Intouchables: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/

• Yoyo stroller: https://www.stokke.com/USA/en-us/category/strollers/yoyo-strollers

• UppaBaby strollers: https://uppababy.com/strollers/

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Recommended books:

• Product Delight: How to Make Your Product Stand Out with Emotional Connection: https://www.amazon.com/Product-Delight-Stand-Emotional-Connection-ebook/dp/B0FGZ93D9Y/

• Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think: https://www.amazon.com/Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Better/dp/1250107814

• STRONG Product Communities: The Essential Guide to Product Communities of Practice: https://www.amazon.com/STRONG-Product-Communities-Essential-Practice/dp/3982235189/r

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.