What Good Is Your Product If Your Users Can’t Figure Out How To Use It?

So I am finally getting around to talking about cocktails but couldn’t help myself with this one. Hope you enjoy!

I came across this new whipped cream flavored vodka in my friend’s liquor cabinet the other day as we were mixing up some drinks for the poolside and was intrigued. I mean it was whipped cream flavored vodka! YUMO! So I asked ‘what can we mix this with?’ and she didn’t know. She said she bought it for the very same reason I wanted to try it so bad but we both couldn’t come up with anything to mix it with.

Over the rocks? Blech! Not so good.

Chocolate milk? Not bad but doesn’t last very long at the pool on a hot day.

Cranberry juice? Ugh! Why didn’t we even attempt this?

Orange Hawaiian punch? Now we are getting somewhere but still room for improvement.

So then we started brainstorming about what drinks would come with a whipped cream topping. Aha the daiquiri. But still nothing too inspiring to make a drink with vodka that delivers the essence of whipped cream. Is there such a thing as strawberry juice? Maybe that would work.

Is ‘edgy’ really the best way to go?

I was reading a post this past week on the 3 Hats Communication blog about making your product ‘dirty’ and emphasized the importance of not just serving up a unique product to the market but to give something edgy and funky and creative.

But what if the product is so creative and ‘dirty’ that your users can’t even figure out how to use it or what to do with it?

It’s very difficult to succeed in the long term if you are creating things that are so off the wall that people don’t know what to do with them. The fact that’s its new and different is enough to get sales but don’t we strive for repeat, loyal consumers to keep coming back for more?

Why are we creating things people can’t actually use?

Brands and companies are creating ‘innovative’ products and services all the time. Some we buy into and use and they help us do things faster, better, easier but sometimes they just give us a headache. The same is true about your content. Your headline is the bait, its the whipped cream flavor enticing readers to click and from there, you need to provide some direction so they don’t leave confused and disappointed. Always use headlines and accentuate specific points you are trying to make. Add visual support to your content. And always make it easy and fast for them to do the next step (subscribe, comment, download something, whatever).

Step back and look at things from the outside in. Stop becoming so obsessed with your awesome idea and start thinking about what the market will actually do with it. Conduct usability studies, poll customers, track engagement and performance. Just take yourself out of it for a minute.

Have you ever come across a product you bought because it was so different and then you realized you didn’t really know how to use it or what to do with it?