by
Katrina Galway
(originally published in 'Innovation', Winter 2001, p.50. www.idsa.org)
Product Lust
Spiders and snakes are repulsive. Stalwart men and shapely women are attractive. For the sake of our survival, the fear and beauty we find in these creatures is hardwired. Lust for someone with bright eyes and smooth skin is easily explained as nature's prompting to choose a virile mate.
But lust for a car with a vase on the dashboard, what explains that? What is
it about some products that gives us such a hankering? Here I speculate that
newness, wit, Brand Me affirmation, exclusivity and you-can-have-it-all appeal
are the sparks of product lust. Enduring product satisfaction is built on more
than lust. A product's features and benefits, and qualities such as ease of
use, reliability and durability contribute to satisfaction and loyalty. Just
as a relationship with the shapely woman can turn out to be dysfunctional, so
too can using that wow orange juicer turn out to be a nuisance. Whether experience
of use undermines lust differs according to each man's predilections.
Newness
Variety is the spice of life, and new is beautiful. A familiar product with just the right amount of difference is catchy. We recognize and understand, and delight in a novelty color or re-weighted proportions. The outline of cars seems to cycle from angularity to curves, and back again. From the aerodynamic lines of the 1930s, to the pointy wing tips of the 1950s, to the rotund cars of today, car manufacturers hold our attention without eroding our confidence that we know how to drive their cars. Especially engaging is newness so peculiar we cannot describe it. The wafting roof of Gehry's Bilbao Museum is wild eye-candy. Its image floats in our mind. We are fascinated without knowing whether we like it. We must go to see it.
Wit
Koziol's amusing kitchenware has us seeing double: at once we see a paper towel holder and man's best friend. Koziol furthers the humor by calling their snail tape dispenser "Speedy".
A joke is a logical story with an incongruous turn that is suddenly understood by a shift in thinking. It is the "aha!"-the cerebral snap of the fingers that delivers a jolt of recognition-that makes a punch line funny. Similarly, products with incongruous features that we enjoy simultaneously are witty and appealing. The amusing characters of Koziol kitchenware have us seeing double: At once we see a tape dispenser and a snail. Koziol furthers the humor by calling their snail dispenser "Speedy." The vase on the dashboard of a VW Beetle is charmingly extraneous. Girls who like flowers just like the vase, while veteran hippies appreciate the nostalgic play on 1960s Beetles painted with peace signs and daisies. We smile at Hiroshi Ishii's perfume bottles. Logically, we expect a scent, but when we hear music instead, it is curious and wonderful.
Brand Me Affirmation
From snow boarding to uncorking a bottle of wine, people want to do it their way. Products that affirm what we want to be allow us to manifest our own brand. Individualized products that allow us to express ourselves are so popular, they are becoming an expectation. From Nike shoes to credit card platen, each possession makes a personal statement. Send in a favorite photograph, and Nokia will imprint it into a faceplate for your cell phone. Choose your favorite tune and make it your ring tone. Every aspect of a product can contribute to or undermine how a customer perceives it.
Animal rights activists feel good that their Body Shop cosmetics are made without
animal testing.
Corbin
Motor's three-wheel Merlin Roadster boasts an air-cooled V45 engine capable
of 110 mph, and a fully appointed interior with hand-sewn leather seating and
an integrated dash. Early adopters and panache revelers are sure to turn heads
in this zoom-by.
The early adopter enjoys second and third looks at their Corbin Motors three-wheel Merlin Roadster. When the features, design, manufacturing and marketing of a product all line up to match someone's personal sense of self, the person is sure to want it.
Exclusivity
Forbidden fruit is sweeter. What cannot be had, or can be had by only a few, is more valuable.
The
demand for Furbies was frenzied because people knew that they were sold out
everywhere. Finding a Furbie would be a coup. This upped the challenge and thus
the desire to have one. Similarly, products that are available "for a limited
time only," or "only while supplies last" become urgent needs.
Manufactured
with random variations in the height, curve of the lip and surface etchings,
each of Karim Rashid's vases is unique.
Kareem Rashid designed a series of vases that are manufactured with random variations in the height, curve of the lip and surface etchings. Each vase is unique. Knowing that no one else in the world owns an identical vase provides the buyer a special treasure and conveys a heightened sense of value.
Spacescent
perfume bottles by fuseproject are produced in limited, numbered editions. The
perfume is confined into a precious area within a commanding mass of lacquered
resin.
Spacescent perfume bottles, designed by Yves Behar's fuseproject, confine the perfume to a precious area within a commanding mass of clear lacquered resin. Each flacon is a singular work, produced in limited, numbered editions. The numbering evokes exclusivity and luxury, and propels each perfume flacon into the realm of art.
You Can Have It All
While
we actually prefer to use a regular pair of scissors or full-size screwdriver,
the Swiss Army knife is always a favorite because it succeeds in compressing
so many functions into a compact gadget. More features and more functions, and
combining the benefits of several products into one is all the rage.
Every
device today, from a microwave oven to a DVD player, has more capabilities than
the average user knows what to do with. But more seems better, and greater value
for money and convenience sound good.
We
can easily imagine that the PDAs and handsets that have served customers well
in recent years will soon be chucked for a cool, combined device.
The Scent of Product Lust
Perhaps lust for a product can be sparked by the qualities of newness, wit, Brand Me affirmation, exclusivity and you-can-have-it-all appeal. But lust alone is not enough.
A
Pet Rock can have a moment of wit, but it does not provide enduring value and
benefits to customers. Such products might win on time to market, but on time
in market they can lose. Design for greatness.
But if you intentionally infuse your next rendering with these visual, tactile and emotional pheromones, please tell me if you whiff that scent of product lust.
