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If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

paulbuchheit.blogspot.com

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Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#61

Post by stnikolauswagne »

palata wrote: post #59
keane wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This writeup looks at a successful product with a small number of features that was thereby distinguished from a field of unsuccessful products with a large number of features. Accounting for many products, considering both successes and failures (i.e. using a wide selection of data), it argues that the distinguishing factor of less features was related to the device’s popularity. In the canonical example of survivor…

Did you read it? Where do you see mention of "a field of unsuccessful products"? It mentions the iPad, the iPod, Gmail as successful products. It mentions "laptops" (but in the description it actually includes all desktop computers, I would say) as unsuccessful products. I wouldn't call desktop computers or even just laptops "unsuccessful products". Would you?

>I wouldn't call desktop computers or even just laptops "unsuccessful products". Would you?

With the caveat of "Casually browsing the web" I would, actually. They have been near completely subsumed by Ipads or Phones.

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#62

Post by sph »

moring wrote: post #48
sph wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been thinking deeply about this problem. I bought a great, silent fan from Rowenta, with beautiful housing and does what it says on the tin with no fancy accessories. 3 speed + 1 very silent mode for sleep. Hey, it’s a European product, not some Chinese knockoff. At some point during design, one person must have said “you know, why not add a brilliant white light that turns on in silent mode? Wouldn’t that be…

And yet, you did buy the fan despite the bright LED (because you didn't know it was there when you bought it). Rowenta got your money, so from their perspective, they did everything right.

Well, I know I will actively avoid the brand now. Perhaps when they see the declining sales due to bad design, marketing will suggest to add even more lights and useless features.

The cycle of enshittification.

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#63

Post by dijksterhuis »

lwhi wrote: post #42

If the barrier to adding that new feature is removed, what happens? If the cost is reduced — and becomes closer to zero — there's probably more chance the feature will be added .. .. in which case, the product is less likely to be great. -- So perhaps, the key superpower in the age of LLM developed software is the ability to say no.

> So perhaps, the key superpower in the age of LLM developed software is the ability to say no.

no, it’s never not been a superpower.

sorry, couldn’t resist some wordplay. it has always been one of the most important skills, but it doesn’t advance your career easily. enshittification happens because people don’t say no.

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#64

Post by altmanaltman »

sph wrote: post #62
moring wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, you did buy the fan despite the bright LED (because you didn't know it was there when you bought it). Rowenta got your money, so from their perspective, they did everything right.

Well, I know I will actively avoid the brand now. Perhaps when they see the declining sales due to bad design, marketing will suggest to add even more lights and useless features. The cycle of enshittification.

I don't think they will care about 1 customer. If it sells well right now, it means its doing the right thing from its pov and it also means that while it might feel wrong to you, that is what the market wants.

Lets say the sales do start dropping once you avoid it. At some point it will make sense to change it because most people likely want the change.

But from their pov, nothing is really different right? They are always catering to the most common demand in the market. How will this affect them or teach them a lesson?

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#65

Post by altmanaltman »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #6
ChadNauseam wrote: post #5

Apple messed up one thing about the iPad, which made me never use mine and eventually give it away. Basically, my iPad would die in a couple days if left unplugged. Because I only want to use it about once a week, that means I have to leave it plugged in all the time. Of course I or someone else inevitably wants to plug something else into that charger, so the iPad gets unplugged and forgotten about. Then, in a week…

Is it even possible for tablets to hold a charge so long and provide near instant wake? Why didn't you try powering it off when done?

I have a very old samsung tablet that i still use from time to time. It never connets to the internet and wifi stays off. It can last easily a week or more on a single charge still. With wifi on, it dies within a few hours

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#66

Post by nottorp »

sph wrote: post #40
jonplackett wrote: post #3

Read something similar the other day about the original Walkman. The engineers wanted to add recording function, thinking it would help with sales and to only cost a negligible amount to add. Someone cleverer said no, because if you add that feature now people will be confused what it is for. If they don’t want to record audio, they’ll think the product isn’t for them.

I have been thinking deeply about this problem. I bought a great, silent fan from Rowenta, with beautiful housing and does what it says on the tin with no fancy accessories. 3 speed + 1 very silent mode for sleep. Hey, it’s a European product, not some Chinese knockoff. At some point during design, one person must have said “you know, why not add a brilliant white light that turns on in silent mode? Wouldn’t that be…

Black... nail... polish...

Solves every LED problem.

Xerox, why did you think the power led on your multifunction should light up not only my home office, but the room next to it too?

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#67

Post by palata »

stnikolauswagne wrote: post #61
palata wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read it? Where do you see mention of "a field of unsuccessful products"? It mentions the iPad, the iPod, Gmail as successful products. It mentions "laptops" (but in the description it actually includes all desktop computers, I would say) as unsuccessful products. I wouldn't call desktop computers or even just laptops "unsuccessful products". Would you?

>I wouldn't call desktop computers or even just laptops "unsuccessful products". Would you? With the caveat of "Casually browsing the web" I would, actually. They have been near completely subsumed by Ipads or Phones.

Sure, but is it fair to call something an unsuccessful product given an arbitrary caveat? With the caveat of "brushing my teeth", iPads and smartphones are a complete disaster.

I don't know the definition of a "successful product", but "selling billions of them every year" doesn't exactly sound like a failure to me.

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#68

Post by nottorp »

> I believe this "more features = better" mindset is at the root of the misjudgment,

It always amuses me when some new device is launched and it has "bigger numbers" and "moar numbers" in every metric. And it's crap to use.

Unfortunately this article is from 2010. Apparently Apple's competition went so low, usability wise, that even Apple is forgetting what usability is.

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#69

Post by nottorp »

jonplackett wrote: post #3

Read something similar the other day about the original Walkman. The engineers wanted to add recording function, thinking it would help with sales and to only cost a negligible amount to add. Someone cleverer said no, because if you add that feature now people will be confused what it is for. If they don’t want to record audio, they’ll think the product isn’t for them.

... and later, the fancier and more expensive walkmans started to actually have a recording function among the differentiators :)

Re: If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good (2010)

#70

Post by lelanthran »

jongjong wrote: post #24

In any case, the landing page needs to be perfect. Anything less and you have 0 chance. The most important innovation is in sales and marketing. If you don't have brand recognition, your landing page has to make up for that. Making up the difference seems to be getting more difficult with each passing year. People are extremely cautious and getting increasingly so. The average B2B user nowadays is literally triggered…

> If you don't have brand recognition, your landing page has to make up for that.

And high traffic on a terrific landing page only tells you is that your product might be good enough.

OTOH, if you have a product that is dog-ugly, but still have people willing to pay for it, you have lightning in a bottle.

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