The 80-20 rule of feature usage

Not every user uses every feature. Not even close. In most cases, 80% of your users will only use 20% of the features on your device or in your app.

Before deciding what to do about it, there are two main questions you should be asking yourself:

• Are lots of users missing out on the full value of our product or brand?
• Are all of our features relevant for our target audience?

Let's look at each of those in a little more detail.

Turn more users into superusers

Superusers are your best and strongest users. They're the ones who rank highest for usage, engagement, and feature adoption. And on top of that, they'll also be your biggest promoters and beta testers.

Ideally, you should aim for a feature usage ratio of 80:80 – in other words, 80% of your users use 80% of your features.

The key here is to give them an easy option. Instead of putting all your features and options on one screen, lead with what matters most to your users. Then introduce new ones in the right place, at the right time.

Analyze the true value of your features

If you ask your product team whether all your features are essential, they'll probably say yes. But the data may tell a different story.

By measuring feature usage and segmenting your Net Promoter Score (NPS), you can go beyond which features are used most and look at how satisfied users are based on the features they've been using. This will give you a true picture of how valuable your features really are.

The question then is what to do with your best and worst features.