“Who is this for?” is a deceptively hard question
Almost every founder thinks they’ve answered this. Almost none have.
Asked to describe their target user, most teams reach for something like “small businesses” or “creators” or “knowledge workers.” These sound like answers. They’re not — they’re categories. Categories don’t help you make decisions.
A useful target segment is sharp enough that two people from your team would describe it the same way. It’s specific enough to find and reach. It’s narrow enough to design for. And it’s real enough that you can point at actual people who fit the description.
Getting to that level of clarity takes a little work. It’s some of the most valuable work you’ll do.
Why vague segments quietly damage the product
A vague target segment lets you avoid hard ...
