Introduction

One Product Many Users

Take a look at a kitchen table and you will see a familiar product problem. It has to support more than one job and more than one type of user. The same table might be used for homework, a full working day of video calls, and a dinner party with friends.

Most digital products look exactly the same when you zoom out. They serve different users, each with their own needs and expectations. And just like the kitchen table, some of those needs will naturally be in tension with each other.

Here is Louise to explain…

Different needs pull in different directions

A child using the table for homework needs something practical and durable. A remote worker needs space, power, and the ability to focus. A dinner host cares about comfort, layout, and how the table looks when guests arrive.

Trying to optimise for all of these at the same time usually leads to compromise everywhere. The product ends up doing a lot of things, but none of them particularly well.

Choosing a priority persona

This is where good product management shows up. You cannot meet everyone’s needs in the early stages of a product, and pretending you can only makes decisions harder.

Instead, you need to be clear about who your priority persona is. Who are you building for first? Which user’s needs matter most right now? Once that choice is made, trade offs become clearer and prioritisation becomes more focused.

Build for one, plan for the rest

Choosing a priority persona does not mean ignoring everyone else forever. It means sequencing deliberately. You build something great for one core user, then expand over time as the product matures.

If you can do that, your product will feel more coherent, your roadmap will make more sense, and your team will have a much clearer idea of what good looks like.

That is the real lesson from the kitchen table. It works best when you know who it is really for.