You can’t please everyone – and that’s your competitive advantage

“If you try to target everyone, you end up targeting no one.”

This phrase has become a staple in marketing and branding circles – and for good reason. It reflects a core truth: the more specific you are about who you’re trying to reach, the more powerful and effective your product or message becomes.

Positioning experts like Al Ries and Jack Trout have long emphasised that differentiation and focus are the keys to cutting through noise, as outlined in their classic work Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. And in the startup world, the same idea shows up in the mantra: “Nail a niche before you scale.”

But this principle isn’t just for marketers. It’s just as important in product design – especially in today’s saturated digital landscape. When you try to build something for everyone, you often end up creating something generic, unfocused, and ultimately forgettable.

In contrast, when you design for a specific audience – and deeply understand who they are, what they value, and what problems they face – you create something with purpose, clarity, and competitive edge.

Define your users – define your strategy

In the early stages of a product, it can be tempting to keep the vision broad. In my experience working with startups, many hesitate to define their specific audience. There’s often a fear that narrowing their focus will mean excluding potential users – and losing business as a result.

But here’s the truth: vague products don’t solve clear problems.

And in a competitive market, the products that win are the ones that solve real problems exceptionally well – even if only for a small group to start with.

In the tech industry, where countless apps and platforms compete for attention, narrowing your focus isn’t a weakness – it’s a strategic advantage. It allows you to:

→ Find product-market fit faster.
→ Build stronger messaging and brand positioning.
→ Prioritise features and UX with more confidence.
→ Create meaningful value that drives loyalty.

When competition heats up, it’s time to niche. Successful businesses know that clarity beats breadth. You don't need to be everything to everyone – you need to be the best at solving a specific problem for a specific group.

UX Design: Starting with the right people

As UX designers, defining target users is one of the very first steps we take. We begin with research – interviews, observations, analytics – to uncover who we're designing for and what matters to them.

These insights are translated into personas: detailed, research-based profiles that bring user groups to life. Personas help us make design decisions with empathy, focus, and consistency. They prevent us from designing for "everyone" – and instead guide us to design for someone.

Instead of guessing what features people might want, we design with real users in mind – their needs, their goals, their frustrations, and their lives.

Why this matters for your business

Defining your target users gives your product a strong foundation and long-term relevance. Here’s why it matters for business:

◼︎ Better usability = higher adoption.
Products designed for real people, not abstract averages, are easier to understand, use, and love.

◼︎ Clearer differentiation.
You stand out not by doing what everyone else does, but by doing something specific exceptionally well.

◼︎ Loyalty through empathy.
When people feel seen and understood, they form stronger emotional connections with your brand.

Niche First, Scale Later: Products that did it right

Airbnb: Starting with budget-conscious conference-goers

Airbnb began when two roommates couldn’t afford their rent and decided to host travellers attending a local conference. The first version of Airbnb was hyper-targeted: it was for people looking for cheap, short-term accommodation when hotels were fully booked. That small niche – overlooked by traditional hospitality – helped validate the idea. Only later did it evolve into a global platform for travellers of all types.

Slack: From developers to teams everywhere

Slack started as an internal tool for a game development company. Its early users were developers and tech teams who needed a better way to communicate. Because it focused tightly on solving a problem that engineers deeply cared about – persistent chat, integrations, searchable history – Slack was able to grow quickly within a very specific segment. Only after gaining traction there did it expand to broader business teams.

Eventbrite: Empowering independent event organisers

Eventbrite didn’t set out to serve every kind of event from day one. Instead, it focused on a specific group: independent event organisers who lacked access to professional ticketing tools. These were local yoga instructors, community theater groups, small music venues – people who needed a simple, affordable way to sell tickets and manage events. By solving their pain points with self-serve tools, flexible pricing, and easy promotion, Eventbrite built a loyal base. That initial niche gave it the momentum to expand into larger events and partnerships over time.

What happens when you lose focus

Abandoning core users: X’s mistake

When Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X and set out to build an “everything app”, the platform began drifting away from its original purpose: a real-time, text-first network for news, conversation, and niche communities. In trying to expand too broadly – integrating payments, long-form video, AI tools, and more – the platform lost its product focus and alienated many of its core users. By failing to serve its original niche – users who valued public discourse, breaking news, and community-driven content – X opened the door for more focused competitors to gain ground.

The Lesson: X’s decline illustrates what happens when you stretch too thin and try to serve everyone – you lose the very people who made your platform successful.

eBay’s decline – and the rise of niche resale platforms

Ebay dropped their selling fees for second-hand clothes, trying to compete with apps like Depop and Vinted.

eBay was once the go-to marketplace for secondhand goods, collectibles, and peer-to-peer sales. Its appeal was broad – from vintage fashion lovers and tech tinkerers to everyday people looking to make extra cash. But over time, eBay expanded in all directions: auctions, retail, refurbished goods, business sellers, and even brand partnerships. In trying to cater to everyone, it became cluttered, inconsistent, and overwhelming for many users.

That opened the door for niche resale platforms that offer a more focused, user-friendly experience, including Vinted, who took off by focusing exclusively on secondhand clothing and accessories – with no seller fees, a cleaner interface, and a stronger community vibe.

The Lesson: When you stop solving a clear problem for a clear audience, users will find a platform that does. And often, that platform is built by someone who started with a niche.

Start with someone – that’s the competitive advantage

The most successful digital products didn’t start by trying to win over everyone. They started with a clear focus – by solving a meaningful problem for a specific group of people.

Defining your users, and designing for them with empathy, gives your product a reason to exist. It helps you stand out in a crowded market. And it lays the foundation for growth that’s grounded in real-world value.

As UX designers, we do more than craft interfaces – we help shape product direction. By identifying who we are designing for and why, we ensure that every decision supports both user needs and business goals.

In a noisy, fast-moving digital world, clarity is your competitive edge. When you define your users, you define your strategy. You build with intention. You design with empathy. And – just like Airbnb, Slack, and Eventbrite – you might discover that solving a specific problem for a specific person is what makes your product truly universal.

So instead of asking, How can we make this appeal to everyone?

Ask, Who are we designing for – and how can we make their lives better?

That’s where great products begin.

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