Here's a view of the Nashville skyline when I moved here in 2008 versus January 2025 (below). Crazy, right? Did you know you can look at previous years of Google Maps Street View images? Likely, not. It’s not your fault; blame Google.

I taught this hidden feature to thousands of people when I was a speaker for Google. It boggles my mind why more consumer-facing companies don't hire outside facilitators to represent them. For Googlers, they probably assume everybody knows about this feature, but they don't.

I love the look on people's faces at networking events when I share LinkedIn's hidden QR code scanner in the app. Features hidden on purpose? Hardly, but they likely assume users know. They don't.

When I wrote my chapter on Twitter in my book, New Business Networking, I shared tips on creating private and public lists and using Advanced Search, both killer features most users had never heard of. Nowadays, I wouldn't recommend X to anyone, but I digress.

Not only should more consumer companies hire outside speakers and brand advocates, but they should also have them report back on what they discover in the field when speaking at events and networking at conferences. You'd be surprised by how many features you think your users know about but don't. It takes an outside perspective to shed light on solving your UX mysteries.

Wouldn't you agree?