Building Better XR Companies through Product Strategy

How adopting a product strategy built around your audiences can help XR companies attract users, developers, and buyers.

XR is evolving at speed, yet the products designed to showcase it often lag behind. The relationship between technology and experience has become uneven. Hardware keeps advancing, but the thinking behind many products has not kept pace. Too often, teams focus on showing what the technology can do instead of creating lasting value for the people who use it.

What XR needs now is a genuine shift in mindset that treats the experience itself as the product. By designing, building, and selling around value, XR companies can move from short-term novelty to long-term adoption. The key is connecting users, developers, and buyers in one continuous feedback loop that turns potential into real progress.

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Design for People, Not Technology

The first and most visible challenge in XR is usability. People do not fall in love with technology because it is new, they embrace it when it feels effortless. XR products succeed when the technology disappears and the experience feels natural, intuitive, and inclusive.

Avoid Breaking User Trust by Designing for Effortless Interaction

A great XR experience feels invisible. The more natural the movement and interaction, the more a user believes in what they are doing. Trust begins with ease, and once lost, it is difficult to rebuild.

The Challenge

When interactions are clunky or inconsistent, people lose trust fast. In XR that risk is even greater because hardware and software are so tightly linked.

The Impact

Poor usability drives abandonment. For B2B teams, that means lost productivity. For consumer products, it becomes churn and refunds. For B2B2C partnerships, it damages credibility before users even begin.

The Fix

Design clear, intuitive workflows that feel effortless. Choose headsets and platforms that reduce friction rather than add novelty. Familiarity builds confidence faster than innovation alone.

Once the fundamentals work, attention turns to the moment people first encounter your product. That first impression decides whether curiosity becomes trust or disappears altogether.

Avoid Confusing Audiences by Keeping Demos Realistic and Reproducible

A demo is not a showreel, it is a test of belief. It should help people imagine how the product fits into their world. When it prioritises spectacle over substance, it creates excitement without conviction.

The Challenge

Every XR product has a moment when people see it for the first time, and that moment decides whether they trust it. Too often, demos aim to impress rather than connect. The goal is not to show how advanced the technology is, but to make people believe in what it can do for them.

The Impact

First impressions shape credibility across every market. In consumer settings, a confusing demo can lead to poor reviews and slow adoption. In enterprise and partner contexts, it can cast doubt on reliability or performance. The more friction your audience feels, the less they believe in your product’s potential.

The Fix

Build demos that inspire trust, not pressure. Focus on clarity and flow rather than spectacle. A great demo highlights the core user experience at its best, showing the product as it truly feels in use. Don't forget to make it realistic for your customers to recreate that same quality, it sets a powerful standard for the ecosystem.

Clarity builds confidence. Once users feel at ease, the next step is inclusion, because usability that excludes people is not really usability at all.

Avoid Excluding People by Building Accessibility from the Start

Accessibility is often mentioned late in the design process, but in XR it should appear first. Inclusion is not about compliance, it is about reach. Designing for a wider range of abilities ensures your product fits into more real-world environments.

The Challenge

Accessibility is still treated as optional in much of XR, yet it defines whether products can truly scale. When teams design for a narrow group of users, they unintentionally exclude large parts of their audience. This creates barriers that no amount of visual quality can overcome.

The Impact

Ignoring accessibility narrows your potential market and weakens trust. In consumer products, it prevents adoption among users with diverse needs. In enterprise, it limits deployment options for teams with mixed abilities. In partnerships, it signals a lack of maturity or empathy in design.

The Fix

Build inclusivity into your process from day one. Test with a variety of users, document what you learn, and adapt based on their feedback. Accessible products are not only more ethical, they perform better commercially. The more people who can use your product comfortably, the faster adoption spreads.

When XR feels intuitive and inclusive, adoption happens naturally. The same empathy that shapes great user experiences also defines how developers experience the tools they build with, and that is where the next challenge begins.

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Build Tools Developers Love to Use

Are you creating a disconnect between your internal development processes and what you're asking external developers to do? Overlooking their needs creates a lack of transparency, hinders adoption, and frustrates your partners. 

Avoid Losing Empathy by Using Your Own Tools Regularly

Empathy does not stop with users. Developers shape every XR experience, and their experience of your tools determines what users ultimately see and feel. Strong ecosystems grow when developers enjoy building within them, not when they are forced to work around them.

Too often, internal teams and external partners operate on different assumptions about what is possible. That gap leads to frustration, missed opportunities, and slow adoption. The next step in rebuilding XR is to remove those barriers and make development itself an enjoyable, efficient process.

The Challenge

When teams build products they rarely use, empathy fades. Decisions about workflows or SDK design are made in theory rather than through lived experience.

The Impact

A lack of first-hand familiarity leads to poor documentation, missing edge cases, and unrealistic expectations. Developers lose time navigating the basics instead of building value.

The Fix

Task your engineers with building experiences that are representative of what is feasible, and get their feedback. Any frustration or roadblocks they encounter are underlying problems that need attention.

Once your team shares the same experience as your developers, it becomes easier to set honest expectations for what can be achieved.

Avoid Disappointing Developers by Building Demos They Can Match

Demos create expectations. They are powerful tools for inspiration but can easily become traps when they show a level of polish that is impossible for developers to replicate. The most credible demos are those that demonstrate what the product genuinely enables.

The Challenge

Demos built with hidden hacks or unreleased tools might look impressive, but they create a gap between what is shown and what developers can build.

The Impact

External teams lose confidence. They struggle to match the showcased quality and begin to view your SDK or toolkit as opaque and unreliable. Over time, this weakens your ecosystem and slows third-party innovation.

The Fix

Ship demos that are fully reproducible with public tools. Provide walkthroughs, starter projects, and clear documentation. Realistic examples set the standard without discouraging contributors.

When your demos reflect what developers can truly achieve, they become motivation, not marketing. That trust continues when those same developers look for help and documentation.

Avoid Frustration by Making Documentation Simple and Supportive

Good documentation is the bridge between great ideas and working products. It shows respect for the time and attention of the people who build with your tools. When the path is clear, developers become advocates rather than customers.

The Challenge

Incomplete or scattered resources make learning your platform harder than it should be. Even talented developers give up when basic examples or reference code are missing.

The Impact

Support channels flood with simple questions, frustration grows, and community energy fades. Poor onboarding prevents your ecosystem from reaching scale.

The Fix

Invest in structured, accessible docs written in plain language. Combine it with quick-start guides, annotated examples, and responsive support. Make it easy for developers to succeed on their first try.

When developers can trust your tools, they invest more deeply in your platform. The same principle applies to buyers, who need to understand the real value your product delivers rather than just the technology behind it.

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Show Buyers Clear Value, Not Complexity

Buyers sit at the end of every product decision, translating excitement about new technology into investment, budgets, and real-world deployment. Their confidence depends on understanding value quickly and clearly. The most successful XR teams do not sell features; they show outcomes.

As XR matures, this clarity will become a competitive advantage for XR companies. When you make the impact of XR obvious and measurable, you give buyers the proof they need to turn pilots into long-term adoption.

Avoid Unclear Value by Showing Measurable Results Early

Every buyer wants to know whether XR will deliver a return. They might believe in the vision, but vision alone cannot justify investment. Demonstrating impact through data is how you convert belief into budget.

The Challenge

Many XR teams lead with vision instead of validation. Buyers, however, need clear proof that the product delivers measurable results before they can justify investment.

The Impact

In B2B settings, unclear value leads to stalled deals or cancelled pilots. In consumer markets, there is skepticism and slow adoption. When both partners and end users lack confidence in ROI, enthusiasm fades quickly.

The Fix

Quantify outcomes early. Use metrics that matter to each audience such as engagement, efficiency, retention, safety, or cost reduction. Build dashboards or reports that visualise success clearly and make the business case effortless to share.

Once buyers understand what makes you different, you must ensure that your message remains simple enough for them to share.

Avoid Blending In by Defining What Makes Your Product Different

Differentiation is not about shouting louder than everyone else. It is about defining the specific advantage you offer and why it matters. Buyers compare you not just to other XR options but to everything they already do without XR.

The Challenge

In a new market, it is easy to act like you are the only option. Buyers, however, are comparing your product not just against alternative technologies, but also their current way of doing things which likely doesn’t involve XR at all.

The Impact

Without clear differentiation, even strong products feel replaceable. B2B buyers default to what they already know, while consumers look for what feels familiar.

The Fix

Position your XR product with precision. Highlight the specific problems you solve better than anyone else, and express that in everyday language. Competitors can copy features, but they cannot copy clarity.

Strong positioning only matters when it’s understood. Once you’ve defined your edge, the next step is communicating it in a way that anyone, from buyers to partners, can grasp instantly.

Avoid Losing Interest by Explaining Benefits in Plain Language

The best sales stories are simple. Buyers do not want to decipher technical language; they want to understand how your product helps them succeed. Every word that adds complexity risks losing their attention.

The Challenge

Technical language can quickly distance you from your audience. When every explanation sounds complex, buyers stop listening before they understand the value.

The Impact

When buyers cannot immediately understand what you do, they tune out. Confusion erodes trust and slows decisions, especially when competitors explain similar benefits more clearly.

The Fix

Simplify without diluting substance. Use plain language to describe how your product helps people save time, reduce errors, or unlock new opportunities. The clearer your message, the faster people see the value.

Buyers, like users and developers, respond to clarity, empathy, and evidence. When your story connects measurable outcomes with human benefit, XR stops being an experiment and becomes a strategic decision. This is what it means to think like a product team.

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TL;DR

Building better XR companies means leading with product strategy, not with technology. The companies that will shape the future of XR are the ones that connect users, developers, and buyers through shared understanding and measurable value.

• For users, success depends on designing experiences that feel effortless and inclusive. Products that prioritise usability and accessibility over novelty will build lasting trust and adoption.

• For developers, the opportunity lies in empathy and enablement. Teams that use their own tools, share reproducible examples, and offer simple, supportive documentation will attract stronger ecosystems and faster innovation.

• For buyers, clarity is the differentiator. They need proof of value, not promises of potential. Showing measurable results, defining what makes you different, and communicating in plain language will turn curiosity into confidence.

Across all three audiences, the message is the same. XR will mature when companies build with empathy, communicate with clarity, and focus on outcomes that matter. That is how product thinking becomes market growth.

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Ready to Future Proof Your XR Product?

If you want to build user-friendly XR experiences, empower developers, and show clear business results for decision-makers, I can help.

As a fractional product leader with extensive XR experience, I can help you develop a winning product strategy. Book a chat with me, or ping me an email and can discuss your specific needs and how I can help you achieve your goals.