Experience not Characteristic

Weekly I/O#64


People aren't buying your product for the molecules. They're buying it for the way it makes them feel. The subjective experience matters more than the objective characteristics of the product.

Podcast: Kunal Shah: Core Human Motivations [The Knowledge Project Ep. #141]

The concept of focusing on the subjective experience (how it feels) instead of the objective characteristics of a product (what it is) has been noted repeatedly in Weekly I/O. In #11.2, Rahul Vohra from Superhuman mentioned that "Consider how your product makes customers feel instead of what it functionally does for them."

In #22.3, Maya Angelou quoted: "People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Also, in the book, The Design of Everyday Things, the author stated, "Great designers produce pleasurable experiences. Engineers tend not to like it; it is too subjective. Experience is critical, for it determines how fondly people remember their interactions."


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