A digital product is anything you create that delivers value through a digital interface.
That could be an app, an online platform, a booking system, a customer portal, a subscription service, a calculator, a marketplace, a learning platform, or even a tool built around a very specific business problem.
And no, it doesn’t have to be the next big startup.
A digital product can be much smaller—and much more useful.
A website isn’t necessarily a digital product
This distinction matters.
A website primarily communicates. It tells people who you are, what you do, why they should care, and how they can get in touch.
A digital product usually does something.
It lets someone book an appointment.
Manage an account.
Track an order.
Generate a document.
Learn something.
Make a payment.
Collaborate with a team.
Solve a recurring problem.
The line between a website and a digital product can sometimes be blurry, but the important question isn’t what we call it.
The important question is:
What job is the thing doing for the user?
Examples of digital products
Imagine a property company that currently handles tenant applications through WhatsApp and spreadsheets.
Instead of simply building them a better brochure website, you could build a tenant portal where people can:
- create an account
- submit applications
- upload documents
- track their application
- make payments
- receive notifications
That’s a digital product.
Or imagine a furniture business that receives dozens of enquiries every week.
A custom product configurator could allow customers to choose dimensions, materials, finishes and options before requesting a quote.
Again, that’s a digital product.
It doesn’t need millions of users.
It just needs to solve a real problem well.
Does your business actually need one?
Probably not if you’re still trying to answer basic questions like:
What do we do?
Who are we serving?
How can someone contact us?
Those are website problems.
A digital product becomes interesting when you notice that people repeatedly perform a particular task—and you’re doing that task manually, inefficiently, or through a collection of disconnected tools.
Look for repetition.
If your team keeps:
- copying information between spreadsheets
- answering the same questions
- manually generating documents
- processing bookings
- tracking orders
- collecting information through forms
- managing customer accounts
- sending the same updates
- performing calculations manually
there may be an opportunity to turn that process into a product.
Don’t build an app just because you can
This is where businesses can waste serious money.
Having an app sounds impressive.
Having a useful app is another matter.
The goal shouldn’t be:
“We need an app.”
The better question is:
“What problem are we trying to solve?”
Sometimes the answer is a website.
Sometimes it’s a better form.
Sometimes it’s an automated workflow.
Sometimes it’s a small internal tool.
And sometimes, yes, it’s a full digital product.
Technology should follow the problem—not the other way around.
Start small
A common mistake is trying to build the finished product immediately.
You don’t necessarily need twenty features.
Start with the smallest version that proves the idea.
If customers need to book appointments, you might not need a complete customer-management platform on day one.
Build booking first.
Learn from real users.
Then improve it.
This approach reduces unnecessary development and gives you something much more valuable than a massive feature list: evidence.
So, do you need a digital product?
Ask yourself three questions:
Is there a recurring problem?
If the problem happens once a year, software may not be necessary.
Are enough people experiencing it?
A solution can be technically interesting and still have no viable audience.
Would software make the experience significantly better?
If the answer is yes, you may have something worth building.
A digital product isn’t valuable because it’s digital.
It’s valuable because it makes something better.
At NUMBER 54, that’s where we start.
Not with the technology.
With the problem.
Then we figure out what should be built.
