Another interesting article about gadgets in yesterday's New York Times, this one about people who buy lots of new gadgets and then never end up using them:
People acquire these things -- hand-held personal digital assistants, flatbed scanners, compact disc copiers and a host of other objects -- because they promise to make life more efficient, more fun, or, some confess, simply because they appear to help them keep up with what their "wired" friends and neighbors have. But many such products are simply too complicated for their own good. And all too often, the buyers find that they cannot really change their lives just by acquiring something new and different.
Back to my recent mantra about making technology that benefits the customer - that I think is exactly the point this article is making. New technology - great stuff - we love to play with it. Innovators and early adopters often spend small fortunes on technology that quite frankly looks good, suggests fantastic functionality but doesn't deliver. Why? Because usually its designed by engineers for engineers. You might have noticed that most people aren't that technical.
The effort has to be focused around marketing and design. Products need to be developed for the customer, they have to be simple to understand and most importantly simple to use, and in Europe (although apparently not the US) they need to be aesthetically pleasing (probably should say something about an aspirational tone as well but then its getting into marketing speak).
Get a grip - invest in people who understand people, then talk to the engineers.
Posted by Paul Goodison at October 17, 2003 10:30 PM | TrackBack