I want to love Samsung products. Every time I see someone with
Samsung's flagship smartphone — the Galaxy S III — I can't help but be
impressed. It's got an impressive 4.8 inch Super AMOLED screen (read: very high quality, large size). It sports the near field communication chips I've been dying for (read: secure mobile payments, instant device to device information transfer). And no one can argue with the fact that it's certainly a beautiful device (read: It might not be as pretty as my iPhone 5, but at least people will notice that it's not an iPhone 4S).
I also love the gumption Samsung showed when they came out swinging against Apple after losing a billion to them in their epic patent infringement case. But at the end of the day, I don't love Samsung products. In fact, I don't love any Android devices because I don't buy a phone to be a spectacular piece of hardware — and that's just something no big hardware company has figured out yet.
I buy a phone because over the course of a given day, things just come up. The more problems that I can solve with given device, the better that device is to me. And even if Samsung, HTC, and Motorola had a monopoly on the world's top engineers (which they don't), there's simply no way they could anticipate and solve all my problems (and if they tried they'd end up with a disaster of a phone that looked something like this).
In reality, when a job arises in my life and I find myself in search of a solution, I tend to hire a bundle of products to complete that job. When I find myself hungry, in search of a meal, I often hire Grubhub.com and the local Thai restaurant. When I find myself trying to impress a group, I tend to hire a style magazine, a haircut, Brooks Brothers, and a new tie. When I find myself trying to entertain my houseguests, I hire an iPhone and a Philips dock built for the iPhone. A phone is often part of the solution to my problems, but much of the time it's not the whole thing.
Unfortunately, like many product designers, most Android device makers fall victim to new product narcissism: the delusional belief that their product can solve the worlds problems without regard for all the experiences consumers derive from ecosystem partners. A relentless focus on ice cream, without regard for cups, spoons, or cones. The belief that products are solutions in and of themselves, instead of parts of the whole.
For example, Samsung mocks Apple's hesitancy to change hardware design. What the hardware giant fails to see are the benefits Apple offers its customers by sticking with a standard design with similar hardware for two years at a time. Apple's sub-par but static hardware is easier to design applications for — instead of quality checking thousands of devices, Apple developers only need to QA a handful. Apple's sub-par but static hardware also draws in a slew of accessory makers. From speakers, to cases, to totally new categories of product, Apple's standard design makes the iPhone the physical platform of choice.
Avoiding new product narcissism is a necessary key to building the products that will change the world. Product teams need to spend more time evaluating and solving problems instead of engaging in unproductive feature wars. I suggest three steps.
Start with the job you do for customers. If we agree that products are only valuable in their ability to complete the jobs that arise in our lives, then before you start your next design cycle, figure out what those jobs are. What does completing the job entail? What are the experiences you need to provide for your customers? What are the must-haves and what are the nice-to-haves?
Survey current solution ecosystems. Once you have an idea of what the jobs are in the arena you're vying to complete in, identify all the industry participants who currently help do that job for customers. Who makes the products? Who distributes? Who builds complementary products? Who provides post-sale support? How does each player contribute to the solution?
Identify what jobs you can complete alone, and develop a plan to empower ecosystem partners to do what you can't. Sometimes innovation requires completely replacing members of the existing ecosystem. Sometimes it doesn't. After you've charted how current ecosystems solve your customers problems, figure out what you can and can't deliver. Be honest. Then, if you still want to target jobs-to-be-done that are beyond the capability of your team, develop a plan to empower ecosystem partners.
The Segway was a technological marvel. It took Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos just minutes to come to the conclusion that it had no market value since it didn't fit into our system. We don't have enclosed roads, we don't have convenient Segway (or, in many cities, even bike) lanes, and there were no systems to help the Segway carry my groceries home or haul my kids to school. It was a great product, but it was a terrible solution.
I want to love Samsung handsets.Technically, they're probably the best devices on the market. But while they might be the best products, they're certainly not the best solutions yet. If you want to avoid that same criticism, recognize that you're competing to be the best answer to a problem — and the value you create comes from far more than the product you deliver to your customers in the box.
I also love the gumption Samsung showed when they came out swinging against Apple after losing a billion to them in their epic patent infringement case. But at the end of the day, I don't love Samsung products. In fact, I don't love any Android devices because I don't buy a phone to be a spectacular piece of hardware — and that's just something no big hardware company has figured out yet.
I buy a phone because over the course of a given day, things just come up. The more problems that I can solve with given device, the better that device is to me. And even if Samsung, HTC, and Motorola had a monopoly on the world's top engineers (which they don't), there's simply no way they could anticipate and solve all my problems (and if they tried they'd end up with a disaster of a phone that looked something like this).
In reality, when a job arises in my life and I find myself in search of a solution, I tend to hire a bundle of products to complete that job. When I find myself hungry, in search of a meal, I often hire Grubhub.com and the local Thai restaurant. When I find myself trying to impress a group, I tend to hire a style magazine, a haircut, Brooks Brothers, and a new tie. When I find myself trying to entertain my houseguests, I hire an iPhone and a Philips dock built for the iPhone. A phone is often part of the solution to my problems, but much of the time it's not the whole thing.
Unfortunately, like many product designers, most Android device makers fall victim to new product narcissism: the delusional belief that their product can solve the worlds problems without regard for all the experiences consumers derive from ecosystem partners. A relentless focus on ice cream, without regard for cups, spoons, or cones. The belief that products are solutions in and of themselves, instead of parts of the whole.
For example, Samsung mocks Apple's hesitancy to change hardware design. What the hardware giant fails to see are the benefits Apple offers its customers by sticking with a standard design with similar hardware for two years at a time. Apple's sub-par but static hardware is easier to design applications for — instead of quality checking thousands of devices, Apple developers only need to QA a handful. Apple's sub-par but static hardware also draws in a slew of accessory makers. From speakers, to cases, to totally new categories of product, Apple's standard design makes the iPhone the physical platform of choice.
Avoiding new product narcissism is a necessary key to building the products that will change the world. Product teams need to spend more time evaluating and solving problems instead of engaging in unproductive feature wars. I suggest three steps.
Start with the job you do for customers. If we agree that products are only valuable in their ability to complete the jobs that arise in our lives, then before you start your next design cycle, figure out what those jobs are. What does completing the job entail? What are the experiences you need to provide for your customers? What are the must-haves and what are the nice-to-haves?
Survey current solution ecosystems. Once you have an idea of what the jobs are in the arena you're vying to complete in, identify all the industry participants who currently help do that job for customers. Who makes the products? Who distributes? Who builds complementary products? Who provides post-sale support? How does each player contribute to the solution?
Identify what jobs you can complete alone, and develop a plan to empower ecosystem partners to do what you can't. Sometimes innovation requires completely replacing members of the existing ecosystem. Sometimes it doesn't. After you've charted how current ecosystems solve your customers problems, figure out what you can and can't deliver. Be honest. Then, if you still want to target jobs-to-be-done that are beyond the capability of your team, develop a plan to empower ecosystem partners.
The Segway was a technological marvel. It took Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos just minutes to come to the conclusion that it had no market value since it didn't fit into our system. We don't have enclosed roads, we don't have convenient Segway (or, in many cities, even bike) lanes, and there were no systems to help the Segway carry my groceries home or haul my kids to school. It was a great product, but it was a terrible solution.
I want to love Samsung handsets.Technically, they're probably the best devices on the market. But while they might be the best products, they're certainly not the best solutions yet. If you want to avoid that same criticism, recognize that you're competing to be the best answer to a problem — and the value you create comes from far more than the product you deliver to your customers in the box.
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