I was doing a client debrief today related to a long-term technology project. Things in the planning stages will take years to build and launch -- 3 to 5 years, most likely. I wanted to help the client team remember that our research looks at where people are at today -- their expectations and experiences. But the planning needs to be out where people are headed, not where they are today. Such a cliche, right? But true.
Customer expectations are constantly moving. These days, customer expectations are moving fairly quickly.
We did a little exercise together to think about what has changed in the last five years. Here was the list I prepared for them.
5 Years ago: May 17, 2006 – what has changed since then:
- Netflix introduced downloading of video Oct 1, 2008
- Kindle launched Nov 19, 2007
- iPhone released June 29, 2007
- Nintendo Wii – November 19, 2006
- Facebook opened to non-students – September 26, 2006
- Google bought YouTube for $1.65 B October 9, 2006 (YouTube launched Feb 14, 2005)
- Twitter launched July 2006
When you think about what you or your company needs to deliver in the future, you might ask yourself what has changed in the last few years in the relevant dimensions in your industry. Then springboard from that into the future.
Some of these changes were so profound that it's hard to believe they are so recent!
What would YOU add to this list?
