A Good Product: One that Remembers Its Past | IMAGR

In the fast-paced world that we live in today, we’ve become no strangers to the idea of innovation. New products, services, and ideas are born everyday. Whether it be condensing information into digestible chunks or cutting down on, there has never been more products out to better our lives. And betterment in the modern context means ease, convenience and simplicity.

So in a sea of innovation, what makes a particular product rise above others and more importantly, stay afloat? And how does this relate to improving through simplicity?

There are immeasurable reasons why a product may have more success over another that attempts to solve the same problem. It could be sales, marketing, operations, or any of the above amalgamated in their favour for a good chance of appeal to the market. Regardless of these external elements, the design of the product itself is a healthy indicator of its potential and longevity. If chance is thought of as the placeholder of potential, and design as the structure that solidifies its position; what principles should a new product follow?

Aside from being maintainable, dependable, and producible, for a product to succeed, it should be simple. But not simple by the means of being bland or dull, but intuitive. It should invite the user to interact with it as if it weren’t the first, without any need for conscious learning. Redesigning a familiar existing product through internal changes is an effective way of introducing newness without saying so much. It increases the chance of user adoption, since its design ethos carries on directly from the last iteration. It is an improvement made seamless; propelled by its cyclical nature.

For example, SmartCart works like a regular shopping cart, but with a boost from AI. Users place serves the same function and shoppers use it in the same way they would with any other shopping cart. From the end users point of view, there’s no need for them to change any behaviour, attitude or ideas about what a shopping cart is. The only difference is that they won’t have to wait in a checkout queue. No friction in user expectations equals seamless transition of operations.

In the words of Mies van der Rohe: “Less is more”, and that more is all the components that make it seem like less. That very notion of ease; being second to nature; and as it should be comes from a desire for simplicity and familiarity. Unless you have hardbound personal experiences of an alternative, it is probably easier to remember the way things are currently done as how they should be. So if a product can better an existing user experience, encourage minimal change in user behaviour, and solve the issue that created it; chances are that product is probably achieving its core objective in the most optimal way.