So you have created a killer feature or service. And it is REALLY a killer. You think people will jump on it right away. right? Wrong...
:: Anecdote #1 A couple of years ago, i went for a ride with my father in his new car. We wanted to discover a new place and got lost on the way. We ended up asking lots of people for the right direction to get there and also to get back. When we arrived home. I suddenly looked at the car dashboard. I realized there was a GPS on board. I said to my father why did not you use it? Answer "I totally forgot i had one"
:: Anecdote #2 I recently took Yes MAX at home a kind of Tivo in Isreal. It allows you to record any TV show in a click and view it at you own convenience. I was looking at a recorded TV show i like (very rare when it happens). I surprised myself watching all of it. Including the TV ads. I could have skipped them. I did not. Why? I did not think about it
In both cases, the feature is a killer. No one wants to get lost and no one (nearly no one) wants to see TV ads. But in both cases we just forgot the solution was right here. in Front of us.
On the web you can find tones of great examples of services that either increases your user experience or saves you time and effort. It is a no brainer to use them. But you don't. Just because you are used to do something. Even if it is wrong you still keep on doing it. This is how our brain works. We get used to things.
- Cooliris provides the best user experince to view pictures on the web. But i am not using it all the time. I forget it.
- Gmail is providing tones of cool labs features i installed. Most of which i forget (eg: quick links).
- Facebook now provides a way to create friends group which improves hugely the browsing experience in the newsfeed. But around me no one uses it.
A killer feature to get adopted need to be included in the flow of the user experience. Over time or by way of repetitive exposure or because it simply replaces what you do, but in a better, it will get adopted.
- Gmail provides an autocomplete feature for names and adresses in the search bar. Once installed you just have to use it.
- Xobni replaces Outlook search in such a better way that the first exposure is a WOW experience. Over time users stick to it.
Bottom line: what matters in a killer feature is not so much what you create but how you expose it in the natural flow of the user experience. Even if it provides a wow experience and solves a major pain and unless it really replaces what the user usually does, it takes time to be really adopted.
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