Often the hardest part while designing a product is to decide which features you will support and which you will not. It is easy to just put in that one extra feature, especially with digital systems. And most of the time we, designers, do. We succumb to pressure from the marketing department or a client, so that they can put that one extra bullet point on the functionality list. Nobody cares if customers are able to use it, and the worst thing is: it helps sell more products.
Selling more products is what we all want, but doing so by getting your functionality list expanded is wrong. This will ultimately backfire on you, as your customers will not buy their next product from you.
Case in point is Nokia. I own a Nokia 6300 and because of that, I know that my next phone will not be a Nokia. It is a wonderful device, with lovely stainless-steel covers and a solid look. The lack of attention to details is horrifying though.
- Grouping your contacts is easy, but do not think that you may group more than 50 at a time. Or that you have unlimited groups at your disposal for that matter.
- Deleting your sent text messages? Hardly a feature you can put on the functionality list, but when it takes the phone 45 minutes to do it, you know someone did not pay attention.
- Or that calling consumes more energy than the charger can feed, so you will run out of power even when it is plugged.
- And if it ran out of power, do not expect it to boot automatically when you charge it again.
- The calculator is apparently some other kind of application than all other phone functions, since it asks you if you really really want to quit
- Switching on the loudspeaker when calling can only be done after some arbitrary period of time.
- You can only lock the keypad when you quit your activity and return to the main menu, instead of just at the moment you need to lock the keypad.
This list is just the beginning of Things That Are Just Not Good Enough™, which start to annoy you after endured use. On the other hand, the phone has lots of functions I do not want to use, and even some I cannot use (push to talk? forget about it!).
All of these issue do not seem important, and mainly because you cannot put them in a sales flyer. They do however define how a user views your product. Details do not influence the initial buying decisions, but foster a longterm customer relationship.
Update. Jeremy Clarkson, of BBC’s Top Gear, tested the new Range Rover and said about the buttons: “There is another thing. The buttons and switches in de BMW and Audi are just taken out of normal saloon cars. In the Range Rover they are big and chunky. So that you can use them while wearing gloves. Little things.” View it on YouTube.
