Ease of use and having intuitive appeal is any product and even some technology-based services, such as ticket booking site or any mobile phone. For example, a personal computer only became popular after Apple and Microsoft came out with simple easy to use interface. Even if you buy a new car, the manufacturers have made keys so simple, that you do not need the key to start the car, it is a button now in new cars.
Ikea is the largest furniture store because they sell easy to assemble furniture. They operate in 41 countries, they sell easy to assemble furniture (Loeb, 2012). I work in IT, and when our applications are designed, we try to build an intuitive user interface, we try to minimize mouse clicks to navigate around an application, a lot of thought and effort goes into making applications simple and user-friendly.
Let me give another example, where the technology is groundbreaking but it did not take off because it is not simple – Bitcoin. It mostly became popular because it is alternative to real money and because its price shot up. But there is no mass adaptation because it is not simple to use.
Even thinking about Segway, which was the potential alternative of personal cars in cities. But, it could not replace cars because it was not simple, the sidewalks were not ready to handle Segway, or that there were no parking spots and so on, hence Segway did not take off (Weinmann, 2011).
Any successful business provides a service or product to ease or solve a problem people face for a price that is affordable and provided the business can make a profit for that price. But, my statement might not be 100% true. We have businesses, those are loss-making yet, those are big names, such as Uber, Lyft, etc.
Understanding what problems or challenges people face every day and how to solve those challenges or problems is something entrepreneurs do. Like we read and watch in the video, the entrepreneur can start with a prototype and can gradually improvise. Based on the feedback received from users.
For example, we have Microsoft products such as Windows, or office suite. Microsoft releases those for users and then based on issues they release updates. We see the same for the apps we use on our phone. But this incremental delivery works only when the product or service delivers the minimum viable product. Say, you go to a restaurant, order hamburger and all you got was bun and patty, no lettuce or tomato or whatever else you like. The restaurant will lose business if they deliver such an incomplete product.
Although I am usually not glued to my phone smartphone is a great tool that I use every day. Calling my parents or friends to take pictures of everything can be done by phone. Smartphones have simplified our lives. We can use apps to check bank account or take pictures using a phone, so no need to carry a camera. This is a great example of mass-produced technology that is simple and adding great value to our lives.
References:
Loeb, W (December 2012). IKEA Is A World-Wide Wonder. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2012/12/05/ikea-is-a-world-wide-wonder/#7fd5074527b9
Weinmann, K(December 2011). 4 Things You Can Learn From Segway's Notorious Product Fail. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/10-years-later-the-4-big-takeaways-from-segways-flop-2011-12
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