The functional product is the product as typically understood in product development: the features, the interface, the performance, the reliability, the integrations. Everything that can be specified in a roadmap, tested in a QA cycle, and measured in a usability study. The functional product sets the floor for the user experience. If it doesn't work; if it's unreliable or significantly inferior to alternatives in the core use case; it will break the meaning that the symbolic product has established. Someone who arrives fully pulled will have that conviction shattered by a product that fails to deliver. The functional product is a necessary condition. It is not, however, the source of value. Value is experienced; it's what the user feels, not what the product contains. And experienced value is determined by meaning more than by features. The functional product is the foundation. The symbolic product is the building. See also: Symbolic Product, Product Meaning, Experienced Value.