Users You Don't Want by Michael Seibel

Summary

Users You Don’t Want

The most profound aspect of the topic "Users You Don't Want" is the challenge of dealing with hijackers who use a product for unintended purposes.

Key points:

Startups often attract users with a strong idea of a problem they want to solve.
Opening up the product to all users may lead to encountering hijackers.
Hijackers are initially seen as unwanted users.
Example of justin.tv being hijacked and used to stream inappropriate content.
Some hijack users can be valuable and lead to the discovery of new communities and opportunities.
Overall, the topic explores the challenges and potential benefits of dealing with users who use a product for various purposes.

The spectrum of how users are using your product

The spectrum of how users are using a product includes those who use it as intended, those who use it in interesting ways with potential, those who provide short-term value but no long-term value, and "hijack users" who actively decrease the value of the product. It is important to recognize and remove hijack users to maintain the product's value.

Users that take a lot of customer support time

Users referred to as "hijack users" consume a lot of customer support time
These users may not have bad intentions but use the product in a way that harms the business
If these users generate enough revenue to justify the support time, it's acceptable
For free products or if there is no learning or improvement happening, it's not worth it
Example of someone using Airbnb to host illegal drug parties highlights negative impact
Don't be swayed by the fact that these users are paying
Focus on solving one problem well rather than catering to problematic users
Avoid prioritizing every user's satisfaction to maintain a strong product roadmap and complete problem-solving
Find a balance and avoid excessive resources on users who may not contribute to overall success of the product.

Don’t let the hijack users control the product roadmap

Users should not have complete control over the product roadmap
Exploring different use cases is acceptable, but users should not dictate the direction of the product
Having an opinion is important and not solely relying on customer feedback is necessary to shape the product.