I was extremely amused by a story I saw today about the new Droid smart phone offered by Verizon. I always get mildly amused when I see the next “iPhone killer” but this one in particular got my attention because of the direct head-to-head challenge to the iPhone as seen in this teaser commercial.
Is the commercial cute and a little bit clever? Sure. Is it going to make people buy the Droid instead of the iPhone? I doubt it.
I don’t understand why the Verizon, Motorola, and all the other players in the industry simply continue to remain oblivious. What they (and most companies, for that matter) don’t get is that features do not sell products.
Now I realize that this is a generalization and that there are some cases where features do indeed make a difference but on the whole, it’s not about features. It’s about how your product enhances the life of your customer.
The problem is that most engineers design products for other engineers. Technology-driven people like features. They read manuals and compare features and get excited over technical specs. The rest of us don’t care. The rest of us want something that’s easy to use.
The Droid boasts lots of features that the iPhone doesn’t have. Guess what? Nobody cares. Does my mother care that the Droid has a “real” keyboard? Nope… the iPhone’s software keyboard seems to work just fine. Does my neighbor care that the Droid takes 5-megapixel photos? Nope… what’s wrong with the iPhone’s photos? They look just fine on Facebook. Does my co-worker care that the Droid runs widgets? Huh? What’s a widget?
Guess what the iPhone does that the Droid doesn’t? It enhances your life by being simple. The iPhone is pretty, shiny, colorful, and easy to use. Want to make a call? Press the big green button and you’re only a few clicks away from any phone-related function. Want to check email? Press the big jelly-filled envelope. Want to get on Facebook? Look! There’s a big bubbly icon for that!
Additionally, how many moving parts does the iPhone have that could potentially break? One: the big round “home” button. The rest of the phone is basically one smooth unit with no other moving parts. It’s hard to break something that self-contained.
What most engineers and the companies that employ them fail to realize is that the vast majority of people do not care about a long list of fancy features. They want technology to make their lives simpler, easier, and more productive. They want to accomplish simple things and then they want the technology to get out of the way so they can get on with their lives.
In fact, people will often avoid buying a product if it appears too complicated. What’s the best way to make a product look complicated? Show off a long list of features.
Whether it’s a consumer product, a piece of software, or a website, people want simplicity. They want your product or service to make their lives easier and simpler. This is why “iPhone killers” continue to miss the mark.
