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I am rediscovering the key problem of adopting new applications and softwares since i switched to mac. I noticed that the application s that work best for me are those that are very immediate to adopt. And the key success factor to that is that it should not require a change of habit or behavior in what i am doing prior to adopting this new app. The moment you require from your users a change in their behavior, even if it seems painless to you as a company, you put yourself at risk of not keeping the user. Even if the new behavior means saving time. There is something comfortable in being lazy and not learning.
So how can you be innovative in your service if your do not change consumer's behaviors? Well the key is not to change but to improve it and focus on aspects of the process to improve (not all of it). Let s take a good and a bad example
- YouTube> youtube (and video sharing) got popular because if saved the pain of sending files over email and opening videos with a soft. But it did not change the way files are being sent: you still need to upload a file. So part of the process was improved but the first step remains the same. Except the upload does not take place in an email but over the web which is the same thing but in a different software. The user habit stays the same, but the process is way better.
- DropBox> i read at least 5 posts recommending DropBox as the best file syncing/sharing software. So i tried it. It is awesomely executed, except for one detail that made me drop the application forever > you need to change your files' location to Dropbox folder. And for me and i believe many, this is a critical pain, because i want my files where they are. So what would have been a perfect solution? Very simple: a right clic functions that adds the file to DropBox and starts the syncing/backing process
The key in the adoption curve is to indentify which part of the process is really painful to change to most users and NOT change it dramatically. In Youtubes case, they focused on NOT changing the uploading, in DropBox they unfortunately ask you to change your files' architecture which is not good.
For Generation Y and young users, the problem is different since they did not have the time really to get "used to" something. Although it comes pretty fast. Let s say that for them this is less critical.
I am currently developing an iPhone app with a couple of guys. We are still working on the feasibility and we hope it can be done but one of the key aspect that we are focusing on is embracing the current user behavior on the device and dramatically improve some part of the experience. I hope to share more soon on that
