A 4-step framework for building delightful products | Nesrine Changuel (Spotify, Google, Skype)
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
Nasreen Shengal, former product leader at Skype, Spotify, Google Chrome, and Google Meet, shares her comprehensive framework for building delightful product experiences that drive retention and business growth. (07:07) She explains that delight isn't just surface-level confetti features, but the strategic ability to create products that serve both emotional and functional needs simultaneously. The episode explores when delight matters most (especially in competitive markets), provides real-world examples from major tech companies, and walks through her four-step delight model for systematically identifying and prioritizing the highest-impact delightful features.
- Core theme: How to build emotionally resonant products that stand out in crowded markets through systematic delight
Speakers
Nasreen Shengal
Nasreen Shengal is a product leader and author who spent years building some of the world's most widely used consumer products at companies like Skype, Spotify, Google Chrome, and Google Meet. During her time at Google, she served as a dedicated "delight PM" - a specialized role focused on making products more delightful and emotionally resonant. She recently published the book "Product Delight: How to Make Your Product Stand Out with Emotional Connection" and now coaches founders and CPOs on building delightful product experiences.
Key Takeaways
Delight Is Built on Three Core Pillars
Nasreen defines three fundamental approaches to creating delight: removing friction (eliminating stress points), anticipating needs (providing solutions before users ask), and exceeding expectations (surprising users with more than they requested). (12:24) The Uber refund example perfectly illustrates removing friction - what should have been a stressful, essay-writing experience became two simple clicks. Revolut's eSIM feature for travelers demonstrates anticipating needs by solving a problem international users didn't even know they had. Edge browser's automatic coupon discovery shows exceeding expectations by saving money users weren't even seeking.
Deep Delight Beats Surface Delight
Not all delightful features are created equal. Surface delight (like Spotify Wrapped) serves only emotional needs, while deep delight simultaneously solves functional and emotional needs. (36:02) Nasreen recommends a 50-40-10 allocation: 50% low delight (functionality only), 40% deep delight (blended functional and emotional), and only 10% surface delight. This ensures products remain useful while building emotional connection. Deep delight features like Google Meet's emoji reactions solve the functional need for participation while addressing the emotional need to feel heard and connected.
The Humanization Question Transforms B2B Products
The most powerful delight strategy is asking "If my product was a human, how would the experience be better?" (24:44) At Google Meet, instead of comparing to Zoom or Teams, they compared to in-person conversations. This led to breakthrough features like minimizing self-view to reduce Zoom fatigue, based on Stanford research showing that seeing yourself during video calls creates mental strain. The humanization lens helps teams set higher bars and think beyond incremental improvements to fundamental experience redesigns.
Get Leadership Buy-in Through Value Alignment
Don't try to convince skeptical leaders that delight is important - instead, understand what they value most and show how delight achieves those goals. (55:36) Nasreen shares how a startup founder initially resisted delight discussions until she asked whether users were proud enough to recommend the product to others. This reframed delight as a growth and retention strategy rather than a nice-to-have, leading the founder to make user pride the core business strategy. The key is connecting emotional outcomes to business metrics leaders already care about.
Use the Four-Step Delight Model for Systematic Implementation
Nasreen's delight model provides a repeatable process: 1) Identify user motivators (both functional and emotional), 2) Convert motivators into product opportunities, 3) Categorize solutions using the delight grid, and 4) Validate through a comprehensive checklist including inclusion considerations. (30:55) The Chrome inactive tabs feature exemplifies this approach - they identified the emotional stress of tab management, created a solution that preserved user trust while reducing anxiety, and validated that it wouldn't alienate different user types. This systematic approach prevents random acts of delight that don't drive business value.
Statistics & Facts
- Google Meet usage skyrocketed when Nasreen joined just one month before COVID hit Europe, requiring the team to rapidly understand the emotional impact of the shift to 100% remote meetings. (54:54)
- Nasreen recommends a 50-40-10 feature allocation: 50% for functional-only features (low delight), 40% for features that blend functional and emotional needs (deep delight), and only 10% for purely emotional features (surface delight). (60:45)
- Chrome's tab management data shows users frequently have 99+ tabs open, with the real numbers often much higher since the browser doesn't display three-digit counts. (47:21)
