To create something innovative that solves a problem, you can start with a group of people that have a lot in common -- teachers, auto mechanics, musicians -- and start trying to understand their lives and needs.
Or you can look for problems that are common to great swaths of humanity.
I came across PicoPad thanks to Business 2.0, and went to their website for a visit. This company appears to have exactly two products, both apparently invented to fill a personal need of the founder, Alan Regala.
Tips to Steal
There are some tips to steal from PicoPad's approach to design and marketing.
1. The product looks nice. It comes in several colors. It does not have their own branding all over the place. Why bother when you are so unique that it's obvious who you are? Plus who wants to carry another card that has a giant company logo on it?
2. The pictures are very clear, and show the product in action. What's even better, is that the pictures are HUGE. A lot of catalog clothing companies could learn from this. In fact, just about anyone selling online could learn from this. We want multiple shots of the product, big enough to really see. Oh, BTW -- some of us need glasses, so test your text size with the grown-ups, not the 20-somethings.
3. Demonstrations of the product in use. I loved the little video demo that is on the site, as well as the lovely line drawings of the product that make its features completely clear.
4. The product itself addresses a genuine problem -- not having pen and paper when you need it. It's not a complete system, it does not address your entire stationery needs, it just does its job.
5. Design within tight and demanding constraints. Like: "must fit into a wallet, must have a pen that fits into a wallet." When I learned that the founder used to work at IDEO, it made me smile. So much of what is around us appears to be designed with constraints that meet only the company's needs, not the customer's.
Aren't we all guilty of this sometimes? -- and consultants are no exception. Some of my most innovative research designs came about because a client pushed for better research within tight constraints. I could have just said 'it can't be done,' but I spoil my clients and I like a challenge, so I pushed for different approaches. Do you love your customers enough to do that, or are you just hoping that force of habit will keep people loyal?
6. Show people how it works. Showcase your products and services like you are a Parisian fashion house. The Everyday Innovations -- PicoPad's maker -- site is so visually engaging, I sent them a request for a quote for a promotional order for my next conference giveaway. Now that's conversion. I already feel like a fan, and I don't even own the product. Yet. But some products just have that Gund quality to them -- we adore them whether we own them or not.
Beautiful, Practical, Essential
So often, we want to be perceived as being better than the competition without actually being a whole lot better. We can't rely on a just-noticeable-difference. We need uniqueness, beauty and practicality to capture new customers.
I live in a small house in a great neighborhood. We do not have room to continually add more stuff. So we created a couple of guiding principles. First, when new stuff comes in, an equal quantity of stuff has to go out to maintain storage equilibrium. Second, and even more important, nothing can stay unless it meets at least one of these criteria:
It's beautiful -- it can stay because it has aesthetic value.
It's useful -- it can stay because it performs an essential function
It's sentimental -- it can stay because Aunt Fannie who we love gave it to us
If customers evaluated your product or service on these terms, how many check-marks could you get?
