Re:If you don't design your career, someone else will (2014)
by socketcluster on Monday December 22, 2025 @08:16AM
(#46353885)
Your last paragraph is an interesting way to frame it.
It's true; what appeals to people is something highly superficial. The product has to be highly optimized to generate an initial 'wow' factor. But it's almost impossible to create such 'wow' factor without sacrificing something fundamental about the product.
The goal is to make such a good first impression that people will pay for your product and then will keep convincing themselves and their friends that your product is great... When it's not because actually there are many better alternatives out there.
Among financially successful products, I see a lot of rigid, inflexible products. They create a 'wow' factor by removing complexity; by removing flexibility... These products seem 'easy' and magical but what makes them easy also makes them inflexible and fundamentally useless.
It's true; what appeals to people is something highly superficial. The product has to be highly optimized to generate an initial 'wow' factor. But it's almost impossible to create such 'wow' factor without sacrificing something fundamental about the product.
The goal is to make such a good first impression that people will pay for your product and then will keep convincing themselves and their friends that your product is great... When it's not because actually there are many better alternatives out there.
Among financially successful products, I see a lot of rigid, inflexible products. They create a 'wow' factor by removing complexity; by removing flexibility... These products seem 'easy' and magical but what makes them easy also makes them inflexible and fundamentally useless.