Today, Apple announced a fix that will let me do that kind of work in iTunes instead. But instead of talking about the importance of usability in a product, which should be pretty obvious, let’s talk about the importance of hate, which might be less obvious but an important competitive advantage.

World’s Finest #194 & #195 present a good case for how veering into the darkness can bring you back to the light.

In World’s Finest #194, an undercover Batman suffers a knock to the head that convinces him he’s actually a mobster. In WF #195, Superman maneuvers Batman into a situation with Robin and Jimmy Olsen that so fundamentally challenges Batman’s moral code that it restores his memories.

Product managers need to do the same thing.

Not masquerade as mobsters, suffer amnesia, or threaten teens into digging their own graves. But stop trying to get customers and users to like you and your product, and instead figure out what it is about your products that people hate.

Sometimes, you can just ask them. Other times, it’s worth sitting with customer service to get a sense of what the users of your product are talking about.

Taken on a case-by-case basis, it might seem like nothing’s there. Just isolated incidents. Crazy people. Cranks. But if you take a step back, patterns may start to form.

Angry emails and hate can mask real issues. New problems to solve that could make a mediocre product good, and a good product great.

(Now, to start rearranging those apps on my iPhone via iTunes.)

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Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure those guys are immune to adamantium, so I thought we’d do something constructive instead.

See, what’s most insidious about these Social Media Experts isn’t their dubious credentials… it’s the misinformation and lies they bring to the table which people seem overly anxious to accept.

Increasingly, it seems like many companies are blindly chasing social media rather than integrating it appropriately into their long-term planning. They’re seduced by the hype, which is unfortunate since not everything online is what it seems.

For product managers, social media presents a different temptation.

Yes, social media done correctly in the PM sphere can help us hear about customer pain points, monitor the competition, and engage key influencers in the marketplace. But it comes at a cost that few seem willing to talk about.

As Emily F. Popek points out:

When we no longer greet our neighbors at the news stand, or chat with the record store clerk about the album we’re buying, we sacrifice something, however small. The paradox of the new media’s impact on our socialization lies in the fact that for each face-to-face interaction we sacrifice, we open up the possibility of connecting with thousands of like-minded people—albeit virtually—when we go online.

There can be no doubt that instant information access is transforming how businesses operate and how we do our jobs. Probably for the better. But there’s a cost.

Increasingly, it’s easier to email or tweet a partner/vendor/customer than to visit or call them–especially if there’s some kind of relationship there. Digital is easy. Fast.

And you know what else? It can feel terribly impersonal. Like your mother sending you a “Happy Birthday!” message on Facebook rather than phoning you or mailing you a card.

Social Media has the uncanny ability to bring us together while simultaneously keeping us worlds apart. As a product manager, the challenge is to balance the newfangled social networking with the old-fashioned social networking.

If you have something important to say–or important to ask–it may be better to be “old fashioned” and engage in person. Invite them to lunch. Arrange a face-to-face meeting. Send them a hand-written note. More than just good manners, it’s also a way to escape their over-flowing in-box(es) and get noticed.

As everything aside from our most basic biological functions migrates online, there may come a time when all of this becomes moot. Will that happen soon? Maybe, maybe not. For a definitive answer, ask a Social Media Expert like Matthew Robson. But do it before he becomes too big and stops returning your tweets.

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Image courtesy: Bandai corporate blog

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the anime series “Mobile Suit Gundam”, Bandai created a 60-foot-tall, in-scale replica of the legendary RX-78 mecha.

Image courtesy: Danny Choo

As if that’s not impressive enough–and, brother, that’s pretty damn impressive–Bandai also included head movements, light-up eyes, random bursts of steam, and mechanical sound effects.

Image courtesy: Pink Tentacle

Check out the movement and other practical effects in this video clip:

Which Begs The Question…

What have you done to surprise & delight your customers lately?

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New Around Here?

Subscribe to the feed to receive future updates; follow me on Twitter to keep the discussion going!

For More Dinosaur Hijinks

Check out Primeval Volume 1, starring Douglas Henshall, Andrew Lee Potts, Hannah Spearritt, and various dinosaurs attacking Great Britain.

Today, we’re going to use that recap as a springboard into a discussion on the importance of weaving a compelling product experience.

When it comes to Haunted Hair Extensions, even a deviant like Yamazaki
understands the experience is the product

Let’s Be Frank

Exte is the story of deranged hair fetishist who steals a cursed corpse sprouting copious amounts of hair, which he harvests and sells to local hair salons for hair extensions. These hair extensions are actually cursed–and seeking revenge.

Sound goofy? It is. Goofy. Disturbing. Satirical. But Exte is much more than the sum of its parts.

Enter: Mami

See, Exte is also the story of Yuko, an up-and-coming hair stylist, trying to balance her career with caring for her niece Mami. And it’s this relationship, and Miku Sato’s heart-breaking portrayal of Mami, that makes this movie more than just another Ringu or Grudge clone.

I tuned into the family drama, but other folks see Exte as a story about the struggle for control, or the ultimate cost of beauty, or a testament to unrestrained feminine power.

Any way you cut it, there’s real heart at the center of this movie about haunted hair–and that surprised me, in a very genuine and unexpected and delightful way.

Enter: Professor Kano

In the 1980s, Professor Noriaki Kano developed a model that can help us prioritize product requirements in relation to customer satisfaction. Scott Sehlhorst breaks it down pretty well, but I prefer how marketada puts it:

• Fundamental Features: Think: brakes on a car. You aren’t going to win a customer with any of these features, but you’ll almost certainly lose them without.
• Linear Features: Think: gas mileage for a family car. Talk to customers about your product, and these are the features you are likely to hear about.
• Exciter Features: These are the features that your customers weren’t expecting–but love. These are the features that help you to create brand loyal customers.

Applying Kano To Exte

Let’s break down Exte according to the descriptors above:

• Fundamental Features: This is J-Horror, so a scary woman with long black hair is required. Check!
• Linear Features: The scary ghost woman must kill the cursed in increasingly bizarre ways. Check!
• Exciter Features: The family dynamic among Yuko, Mami, and Mami’s abusive mother. Hair as a weapon. And the creepy, flag-wearing, hair fetishist who propels the plot.

The experience of watching this movie–of being challenged and surprised by what could have just been stock characters plugged into a well-worn formula–helps create a final product that I’ve been talking about for several days now, much to the chagrin of my friends and family who much prefer Lost to Sion Sono.

How Often Does Your Product Surprise & Delight?

Exciter Features are not easy to create. If they were, we’d talk about more than the ol’ iPod scroll wheel and haunted hair extensions.

But think about this:

If a low-budget horror movie about cursed hair can transcend itself–can make you feel for a family that isn’t really real–is there really any excuse for failing to surprise and delight the customers we ostensibly know so well? Hair-raising, I know.

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Bonus Content

Here’s a non-hair example of “the experience as product” wherein Peter Merholz suggests we focus on the experiences we want to create, first, then build the products that get us there:

Today, we’re going to use that story as a springboard into a discussion on how to tell when your customers are lying to you.

The treacherous R2-D2 wannabe Goldie relays Jedi secrets to the evil General Grievous

Goldie: Cute But Deadly

“Goldie” (the droid pictured at the top of this post) looks and acts much like R2-D2: Spunky. Quirky. Speaks in beeps and whistles. But Goldie is a rat fink.

The sneaky lil’ droid comes undone when he clearly sides with the bad guys in battle. In other words, he outs himself. Presuming your customers don’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the evil cyborgs trying to kill you–how do you tell when your customers are lying to you?

First, let’s break down the lying a little.

Why All The Lying?

Why do customers lie?

Sometimes, it’s intentional:

• To get a better price.
• To unearth information.
• To get their friends’ accounts reinstated after a community Incident on your site.

Sometimes, it’s quite unintentional.

Think about the last time a salesperson at a retail establishment asked what you were looking for. How honest was your answer? And how complete was it?

The typical customer may go into a complex purchasing decision, such as buying a new car or a new computer, with specific idea in mind (“I want a family car…”)–but that doesn’t mean they’ve identified and articulated all the requirements (“… and it needs to hold fishing gear for six people.”).

How can you tell when a customer is lying?

The Tells

First, look for physical clues…

• Unable to keep regular eye contact
• Tight lips
• Increased shrugging
• Arm crossing
• Balling hands into fists

Second, look for verbal clues…

• Being tongue-tied more than usual
• Increased usage of qualifiers (eg, “generally”, “almost”, “however”)
• Freudian slips
• Deny, deny, deny (eg, “Let me be honest”, “As far as I know”)
• Touching one’s nose

Watch for the signs–but don’t jump to conclusions based on one or two signs.

Remember to keep previous history in mind, too: Does this customer usually cross their arms and stutter in general conversation? Either they’re always lying to you or that’s just simply how they are.

On the other hand, if you catch them communicating via hologram with General Grievous, you know you’ve got a problem.

Additional Resources

• All Customers Are Liars
  How To Tell If Your Customer Is Lying

• Detecting Deception
• The Science Of Lying

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