Stop Wasting Time on Features No One Uses: Here's How to Prioritise Better

In product development, there is constant pressure to build more, ship faster, and stay competitive. But too often, teams end up launching features that users do not engage with, cluttering the product, and consuming valuable resources.

The real challenge is not just building—it is building the right things. Instead of wasting time on unnecessary features, the key is to focus on what truly benefits users and automate where possible to free up time for more meaningful work.

Here is how to cut through the noise, prioritise effectively, and ensure your team’s efforts drive real results.

Stop Building for the Loudest Voice in the Room

Every product team faces requests from executives, investors, or vocal customers pushing for specific features. These ideas often sound good in a meeting but fail to add real value to the product.

Before committing resources, ask:

• Does this align with our core product value?
• Is this solving a widespread problem, or is it just a niche request?
• Will this make our product easier and more valuable, or just more complex?

Not every idea deserves a place on the roadmap. If it does not improve the user experience or drive measurable business value, it is worth reconsidering.

Focus on the Content That Guides Users, Not Just Features

More features do not automatically make a product better. Often, users do not engage with a feature because they do not fully understand its value, not because it is unnecessary.

Instead of adding more features, focus on:

• Clear onboarding content that helps users quickly see the value of existing features
• In-app guidance like tooltips and walkthroughs to improve feature adoption
• Well-crafted product messaging that explains how a feature benefits the user

A well-designed, well-explained core feature will always provide more value than multiple underutilised ones.

Automate to Free Up Your Team’s Time

One of the biggest hidden costs in product development is manual, repetitive work. If your team is constantly:

• Manually pulling data reports
• Analysing feature adoption trends by hand
• Responding to the same customer questions repeatedly
• Managing workflows that could be streamlined

Then time is being lost that could be used to improve the product.

Automation can help by:

• Setting up automated reports to track feature usage
• Using templates or AI-driven suggestions for customer support responses
• Reducing manual workflows so teams can focus on strategic work

Automation is not about replacing people—it is about enabling them to focus on higher-impact tasks that improve the product and user experience.

Measure the Right Things (Not Just What Is Easy to Track)

It is easy to focus on vanity metrics like page views, feature clicks, or sign-ups. However, these numbers do not always reflect whether a feature is truly valuable.

Instead, teams should prioritise:

• Retention rates: Are users consistently coming back and engaging with the product?
• Task completion rates: Are users successfully using features to achieve their goals?
• Customer feedback: Are users requesting improvements or expressing frustration with existing features?

By measuring what matters, product teams can make informed decisions about what to refine, remove, or expand.

Prioritisation is the Key to Building a Better Product

Success in product development is not about how many features you build—it is about how many meaningful problems you solve. By focusing on clear communication, automation, and the right metrics, teams can avoid wasted effort and ensure that every feature added has a real impact.

Instead of chasing new features, prioritise what truly matters to users, simplify their experience, and free up time for innovation. The result will be a product that is not just bigger, but better.