“That makes sense”

We say this when we encounter something that is both novel and familiar.

The complete picture may seem new and provide a fresh perspective, but its building blocks are recognizable.

This applies to concepts and frameworks we encounter on Twitter and LinkedIn as well. Readers can better understand the novelty of an insight when they can connect it to familiar concepts. Though examples help bridge the gap between the familiar and the novel in a framework.

The same is true for product launches. In 1898, Uria Smith, an inventor, introduced the Horsey Horseless, a car with a life-size replica of a horse head attached to the front. This prompted widespread adoption of the nascent gasoline-powered vehicles , as it made something different feel more familiar in times when horses has been the primary mode of transport for thousand of years.

The first-time experience of using a SaaS product has a similar story. From reading the value proposition on the landing page to experiencing it for the first time, the user goes through a mix of familiarity and novelty. Landing page presents the product in a novel yet familiar form, while the onboarding journey helps users realize the familiarity of the building blocks. By the time they reach the product home, it all makes sense. Successfully introducing radical innovations often involves making the difference feel familiar, just as the Horsey Horseless did.

As Oprah Winfrey puts it, “you can’t have an Aha! moment unless you already knew it. The Aha is a remembering of what you already knew, articulated in a way to resonate with your own truth”.

I break down first time product experiences of high growth SaaS products that will make you think from the lens of first principles. While we can say a lot, our users believe what they experience. Check out the link to the property that also contains learning from onboarding journey of Airtable.