I really identified with what he said about Twitter. It's a service that appeals to me, with my love of the firehose of information. Most people just don't want that - and that's fine.
Invisible asymptotes
21–30 of 47 posts
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why the distaste? I treat it as a study of phenomena. It's like a social study on rather grand scale. It doesn't different species much from the crowd dynamics, useful in better design of evacuation routes. The application is not life-saving, but the conclusions are the same. It's like dynamite and atom splitting. You can use it for the good and for the bad. > it's important to understand what's going on in these com…
The distaste is from people wanting to "drive demand", doing it, or recommending it. Driving demand is, quite literally, making possibly-happy people unhappy and then offering a paid solution. Reducing people's happiness for profit is basically evil. And yeah, I'm reading about it because it's important to understand, anthropologically.
Why the automatic assumption that the people were happy before, and that they won't be happier after? Have you never been happier/better off after buying something that you didn't know you wanted?
Driving demand is how some people discover lifelong hobbies.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#23>Shipping fees. >People hate paying for shipping. They despise it. It may sound banal, even self-evident, but understanding that was, I'm convinced, so critical to much of how we unlocked growth at Amazon over the years. >People don't just hate paying for shipping, they hate it to literally an irrational degree. We know this because our first attempt to address this was to show, in the shopping cart and checkout proc…
What about tipping culture then? I wonder if that will go away as ecommerce becomes the norm.
Possible difference:
- Shipping charges are presented to the buyer in a visceral way before they commit to the transaction.
- Menu prices (sans tip) are presented to a diner and then they commit to the transaction. Later on, the tip rears its ugly head. This time delay is possibly enough for people to separate the tip as "later me's problem", or at least blissfully ignore it.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#24I know this is an Amazon PR piece but I need to point to their more recent aggressive behavior of growing revenue at the expense of user experience. My grips on their non refundable charges is a great example. Amazon will secretly renew your services without even emailing you and when you go to ask for a refund on a non agreed upon renewal, they will refuse to issue a refund. I guess that's one way of overcoming thes…
>> Amazon will secretly renew your services without even emailing you and when you go to ask for a refund on a non agreed upon renewal, they will refuse to issue a refund.
I got charged by audible over 7 months, told them I wasn't ever interested, they send me 105$ back.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel the same way about feedback about my personal performance. It's always nice to hear "you are doing great", but at performance reviews or status meetings I really want to hear how I am screwing up and (more importantly) what I need to improve. Having been on both sides of that conversation, it's really hard to deliver it, and takes humility to receive. But it's far more valuable.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but there is a difference between constructive feedback and merely negative feedback. Most of what I've seen is feedback with little understanding of the situation or empathy, and I think that is why people have become negative about receiving any sort of criticism. I had a boss that was great at that, and I always got constructive feedback, but those managers are far and few between. Mos…
> there is a difference between constructive feedback and merely negative feedback
That's totally fair, and a great distinction. I will say that learning to ask for clarification on negative feedback is a good skill to have. Not easy when you depend on a job for income, for sure.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#26>Shipping fees. >People hate paying for shipping. They despise it. It may sound banal, even self-evident, but understanding that was, I'm convinced, so critical to much of how we unlocked growth at Amazon over the years. >People don't just hate paying for shipping, they hate it to literally an irrational degree. We know this because our first attempt to address this was to show, in the shopping cart and checkout proc…
The biggest issue with taxes, and shipping fees. Is that it becomes this last minute price increase at the very end of your shopping experience. We all know it's there, but it sucks seeing a shipping fee that is half 25% the cost of the item. Give us the full cost up front, if we want it, then we'll take it. But stop wasting our time with only finding out after we've filled our carts.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#27>Shipping fees. >People hate paying for shipping. They despise it. It may sound banal, even self-evident, but understanding that was, I'm convinced, so critical to much of how we unlocked growth at Amazon over the years. >People don't just hate paying for shipping, they hate it to literally an irrational degree. We know this because our first attempt to address this was to show, in the shopping cart and checkout proc…
I just got back from Europe. I loved the way that the price of each object was exactly what I paid. The coffee for 2 euros? It actually cost 2 euros.
Now I am in the USA. I go to buy a large coffee for $2.79 and I end up paying $3.10. I hate this very much.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#28> Seduction is a gift, and most people in technology vastly overestimate how much of customer happiness is solvable by data-driven algorithms while underestimating the ROI of seduction.
This is a bit unfair, but keen.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#29>Shipping fees. >People hate paying for shipping. They despise it. It may sound banal, even self-evident, but understanding that was, I'm convinced, so critical to much of how we unlocked growth at Amazon over the years. >People don't just hate paying for shipping, they hate it to literally an irrational degree. We know this because our first attempt to address this was to show, in the shopping cart and checkout proc…
"People want simple interfaces, simpler solutions, simpler interactions."
Under what circumstances?
Numerous airlines, Southwest excluded, come to mind as an anti-example--moving toward a more complicated, convoluted pricing and buying model for tickets.
Re: Invisible asymptotes
#30>Shipping fees. >People hate paying for shipping. They despise it. It may sound banal, even self-evident, but understanding that was, I'm convinced, so critical to much of how we unlocked growth at Amazon over the years. >People don't just hate paying for shipping, they hate it to literally an irrational degree. We know this because our first attempt to address this was to show, in the shopping cart and checkout proc…
"People want simple interfaces, simpler solutions, simpler interactions." Under what circumstances? Numerous airlines, Southwest excluded, come to mind as an anti-example--moving toward a more complicated, convoluted pricing and buying model for tickets.
What consumers want != what corporations want.
If that complex scheme is more profitable, it will be used.
Perhaps this interface to buying tickets allows them to segregate the market better or exploit some psychological flaw.