Wait, you did what? - The Unseen Use Case

Some of us have never been there. But for those of us who have, it's always interesting to see how our users find remarkable ways to exercise the boundaries of our products. And no, I'm not referring to stress testing or even malicious users. I'm referring to the average Joe/Jane who says, "Hum, I wonder what would happen if I did this?". In some cases, red warning lights come on and it becomes an all hands on desk hotfix situation. In others cases the results are fantastic and the system doesn't skip a beat. Regardless of whether we go down in flames or soar high into the sky, that unexpected use case can cause a little heartburn.

So what can we do to ensure we handle these instances with ease?

Prepare to be Unprepared

There's no way you can imagine every way a user would exercise the functionality of your system. In fact without proper user testing and pilots, you can't be fully aware of who your final user will be. Preparing for what you do know, lessens the chances of your product being used in ways you never intended. In most cases, you can ensure preventative methods are takin so users can't perform actions that could cause harm to themselves or others.

New Use Cases can Lead to new Features

We've all heard the stories where an innovation was created for one function but users quickly found it was also helpful for other purposes. In these instances, spending some time and money on the new features your users are already excersizing is a great investment. In fact, you want your users to expose new positive ways of exercising your product. This promotes growth for both the product and user base.

New Use Cases can Exercise a Product's Robustness

It's like being on pins and needles when discovering a user has exercised your product in an unintended way. It's also a sigh of relief when you find that the system was able to properly handle the hit. However, in those cases where we find holes or gaps, we have a chance to fix them. Of course it's not the opportune time to realize there's a flaw in the product, but it does up the ante on getting a fix in production quickly with quality.

All in all, when we encounter an unexpected use case, there is that brief moment of anxiety. How brief the moment depends on how the system responded. But it's all just a day in the life of product management.