In 2017, Netflix removed its 5 star rating system. Users said they wanted high brow documentaries and foreign films. But when Netflix looked at the data, users were actually watching lowbrow comedies and true crime. The company didn’t just change how it rated content, it stopped listening to what people said they wanted and started watching what they actually did.
That wasn’t just UX optimization. It was a strategic product decision to limit feedback’s power and trust internal direction instead. Because here’s the quiet truth no one likes to admit: customer feedback only reflects what exists not what should exist. And when product teams let it lead, rather than follow, they enter a dangerous loop.
The Trap of Reactive Product Thinking
Customer
feedback loops tend to optimize usability, not strategic direction.
When companies react to surface-level input, they drift away from their core
value.
Twitter’s
“While You Were Away” timeline was built to address user complaints about
missing important tweets. But it compromised Twitter’s real-time experience and
alienated loyal users. The company eventually rolled it back not because it
didn’t test well, but because it undermined the product’s essence.
(Source: The Verge)
A similar
story unfolded at Clubhouse. The app exploded during COVID, but user feedback
pushed them to expand room types, notification systems, and interaction
features. In trying to accommodate everyone, Clubhouse diluted what made it
focused and compelling. By 2022, it had lost over 90% of its user base.
(Source: Forbes)
This
isn’t about bad execution. It’s about mistaking feedback for strategy. Unfiltered
input leads to feature bloat, brand confusion, and positioning collapse.
And worse, it makes product teams reactive instead of intentional.
Vision Must Lead Feedback, Not Follow It
Customer
feedback is a signal, not a compass. Without a clear product vision, that signal
becomes noise. But when there’s strategic clarity, feedback becomes a valuable
tuning tool rather than a decision-making engine.
Take e-commerce
platforms as an example. The feedback loop works well because the system is
already well-defined. You track clicks, abandoned carts, and returns. You A/B
test product descriptions, pricing, and CTA placement. You optimize based on customer
behavior analytics. And all of this feeds into one obvious goal: sell more,
convert faster, retain better.
Here,
feedback improves a known machine.
But in tech
innovation, feedback becomes far less reliable. Your customers live within
current mental models. They can't articulate what hasn’t been invented yet and
they often fear what doesn’t feel familiar. That’s why user-led product
development is a trap for emerging technologies. If your customers could
invent your product, they wouldn’t need you.
A great
example of staying true to vision is Figma. Despite receiving overwhelming
feedback to build offline mode, Figma resisted for years. Its entire product
thesis was about real-time collaboration in the cloud. To break that, even for
good reasons, would undermine its identity. Only when the company had scale and
leverage did it introduce a limited offline mode on its own terms. That’s not
arrogance. That’s product strategy clarity.
The Real Role of Feedback
Product
managers,
founders, and growth leaders should absolutely collect feedback. But not all of
it deserves action. Because when there's no decision-making framework,
feedback turns into chaos.
A solid
product strategy asks:
- “Does this request align
with our long-term vision?”
- “Does it improve core value,
or just satisfy a segment?”
- “Are we iterating from
insight or out of fear?”
When
those filters don’t exist, the product roadmap becomes a customer service inbox.
Everyone’s input gets a feature, and no one knows what the product really
stands for anymore.
That’s not growth. That’s drift.
Final Advice
Customer-centric
thinking doesn’t
mean you follow every voice. It means you listen with discipline. Yes,
collect feedback. Yes, use data. But filter everything through a clear
strategy. If you build based on everything users say, you’ll eventually ship
something no one actually needs.
The best
companies are relentless in gathering input but ruthless in protecting their
direction. They use feedback to sharpen execution, not shape identity. Because
in the end, successful products are not built by polling.
They’re
built by vision.
You don’t
need to ignore your users.
But you do need to lead them.
Your customers are not your product team.
—
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Farhad
Hafez Nezami
Tech
& Sports Entrepreneur | Growth Strategist
#ProductStrategy #CustomerFeedback #TechInnovation #ProductDevelopment
#StartupLeadership #ProductVision #UserExperience #EcommerceStrategy
#SaaSGrowth #ProductManagement #ABTesting #UXDesign #GrowthStrategy
#BusinessModels #ProductPositioning #InnovationStrategy #StrategicThinking
#FeedbackLoop #VisionDriven #ProductLeadership
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