Whether it’s navigating a website for a specific item or an over complicated check-out process, we’ve all experienced complexity when it comes to buying products on the web. Today’s digital savvy and time limited consumers crave a simple and frictionless buying experience and a user friendly setup process.
Over the past several years, this notion of making things “simple” and “frictionless” has come into the requirements lists of many product managers who are working diligently to ensure their end users are up and running with as little friction as possible with their products.
So what do I mean when I say “frictionless”? One simple example is that tough plastic surrounding a product that at times seems like it requires a jackhammer and a tire iron to open. Simplifying the packaging and making it much easier to open is clearly a means for eliminating friction. The industry is trying to solve this friction with an effort called “Rage-Free Packaging”.
Now, let’s bring it back to the web and product marketing; while there is not a need for “Rage- Free Packaging” there is a need for “Rage-Free” web experiences for both consumer and the marketer. The good news is SaaS/Cloud offerings certainly go a long way in making this a reality. How are they doing this? The answer is simplicity.
Masters of Simplicity
Companies that have focused on the pursuit of simplicity have achieved amazing results. Just look at Apple and companies like Belkin with their Belkin WeMo. The WeMo is described as “a family of simple, ingenious products that allow you to control home electronics from anywhere”. Belkin clearly hit the product vision with the “simplicity stick” because the WeMo device can be up and running in less than one minute.
The same goes for the Nest product line (recently acquired by Google). However, it isn’t just about making devices simple to setup and operate; it’s also about how both WeMo and Nest devices are presented, packaged and how they operate.
KISS- Keep It Simple Strategies
Delighting a customer with a frictionless experience will gain businesses big fans. Just think about the first time you opened up your iPad or iPhone. When I have a frictionless experience, I usually respond with “wow that was easy”. In fact, it is widely known that simplicity is a “religion” at Apple and according to Ken Segall, the author of “Insanely Simple”. It was also Apple’s most powerful weapon.
The benefits of being “frictionless” are huge. In fact, it really should be top-of-mind for every product or solution being built. Here at Epsilon, in our products group, we think in terms of being as frictionless as possible but also understand that being frictionless takes time. Every product release, whether a piece of complicated machinery or a significant enterprise application stack, should have some capabilities that will help eliminate more and more friction over time. Questions that a product manager should be asking himself or herself include:
– How can I seriously improve the initial experience of my product? What can I do to elicit a delightful WOW response from my user the minute they experience my product?
– What can I do to eliminate the friction around our customer interactions and how our customers can talk to us or receive help with our products? (For example, how many steps can I eliminate to get customers help when they need it).
– How long does it take a customer to go from discovering our products to using the product? What friction can I eliminate between my product and our partners?
As you experience products in everyday life, take time and ask yourself, what would I do to make this product, service, plane ride, etc. more frictionless.
