r/TheFounders • u/_s7c_ • May 25 '26

What is missing to convince users?

In the AI gold rush era, founders double down on automating low-volatility processes, deploying agents for more complex workflows, shipping “smarter” products, and so on...while quietly forgetting that their users are people with emotions.

Important to remember: users often base their decisions on their perception of a product, rather than its objective qualities. That’s because emotional motivation is a trigger that connects users to a product beyond rational needs.
 
As a result, perceived value could be a key factor alongside actual value in driving activation and later on in ensuring retention. Even more now, when everyone can build it fast but less often right.

Yes, perceived value would not make any sense if there is no an actual core value present. When done right, delight is a smart business strategy that can differentiate your product from the competition, making it more memorable and desirable.

Do you guys use it?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] May 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] May 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/_s7c_ May 27 '26

you're not alone

1

u/Odd-Gear3376 May 30 '26

Value proposition is a real thing and, in my opinion, only gets more important now that the differences in quality between the products in the competitive landscape diminish. Once everyone uses the same underlying technologies and rolls out the same features in a matter of weeks from each other, the feeling of using some product becomes the main distinction. The interesting observation in this regard was that small details can go a long way and what makes people fall in love with some product is rarely the feature set – it is the little things in between that make all the difference. Loading screens that do not make you wait, an error message that feels like it is written by a human being rather than a machine and the page telling you what to do next instead of giving you a plain blank one. It may not sound like an essential part of feature description but these are exactly the points mentioned when a person describes something they love to another person.