This article from Brian Reindel raises some interesting points.
Is what we call web innovation today an isolate though of a very limited number of internet users.
Here is what Brian says:
AJAX, blogging, Web 2.0, photo sharing, browsers, social networking, or even social bookmarking .…. there is still a polarization among the early adopters, techies, and the vast majority of Internet users
If you work in the consumer market, as I do, you have to take in great respect what Brian is saying here.
The risk you are running is high and you may tend to introduce product and services that are too far away from the mass consumer market. In your innovation process to need to put in place some kind of reality checks to be sure that you are on the right path to reach the majority of your customers.
This does not mean that you need to stop looking at disrupting products and services but you should try to understand if your customers are ready for those.
Let’s bring this to the extreme: does innovation also means introducing disrupting products and services in such a manner that the end user does not feel confused?
Probably yes, and it’s not an easy thing to do.
I strongly suggest to read Brian’s article.
Why do I blog this?
I have always wondered how many people out there would be really able to understand what’s going on on the web today. Do they really care about Ajax, Web 2.0, social bookmarking etc.? This is a question that need to be answered.
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2 Comments
1 Dario wrote:
[OT] Good,interessante questo blog,complimenti. Non è facile trovare un italiano che scriva in En, io sul mio cerco di esser bilingue.
Certo, bisogna chiedersi cosa vogliono gli utenti, per questo non fermarsi sui “nuovi” servizi Web 2.0 ma andare oltre,ed a mio avviso,migliorare l’accessibilità e la semplicità di utilizzo.
2 AG wrote:
Hi Dario,
I will reply in English.
The main point in you comment is “we need to understand what user wants”. I personally think that the question we should answer is “we need to understand what most of the users want”.
These users do not understand what Web 2.0 is (actually I have some difficulties too).
At some point in time we will need to explain to these users what they can get from these kind of product and services, and, as you say, we need to make it as easier as possible.
Taking apart Web 2.0 for a second, I think that there are lot of services that could be improved for end users without any need for all the bells and whistles.