Whenever I truly break down why something creates value for people, the result is typically one or some combination of the following concepts:

• Provide time
• Provide information
• Provide emotion

To “provide” any of this set can take a variety of forms, but the core idea remains the same. Google provides information by converting questions to websites, Amazon provides time by delivering goods instead of requiring them to be physically collected, Facebook/Twitter/Youtube/etc provide emotion on demand at ease.
You could even apply this to more abstract value creation - such as employees “providing time” by taking and doing tasks that their bosses otherwise would’ve had to do, or friends and relatives “providing emotion” that is returned to create mutual value and form connection. Regardless of the scenario, these three types of value always appear.

Ask yourself this, does what I’m working on create value in these ways? To what extent? And can that extent be increased?
Whenever I am unpleased and confused with the results of something I’ve worked on I ask myself these questions and almost always see the answer.