Aerial view service interface
When the word interface sounds, you unwittingly imagine the interface of a program, site or device. I want to talk about a higher abstraction of this concept - the service interface. Many of the readers in one way or another are involved in the creation of various IT products: websites, programs, hardware and I want to tell them about how to make the service interface instead of the interfaces of the above, and what competitive advantage can be obtained with it.
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The reason for comprehending this problem for yourself was the entry into the market of Yota, which achieved operational break-even for six months.
A month before this news, tired of waiting for 3G in Moscow, I bought myself a kit for accessing the Internet. I was very surprised that instead of the dreary procedure of drawing up a contract, I was just given a blue box with a “modem” and sent to connect. When I got home, I was ready to install drivers, register configurations, call support, but instead, after I inserted the device into the usb, it just started the installation procedure, asked for something a couple of times and after 5 minutes already connected to the Yota network, even by opening me a site where I had to register as a user. After another 5 minutes, I paid for the service with a bank card and used the Internet to the full.
At the same time, I absolutely do not know what tariffs Yota has, how many megabits my speed, never called them in support. I just don't need it. I have "Comfortable Internet for reasonable money."
And when I realized that I’m using Yota by no means every day, I just switched my account to daily payment mode.
Naturally, Iota has something to criticize, but what they did is not just a WiMAX network and the devices that work in it, but the interface of their services is simply obvious. And they fit this interface into a small blue box and personal account on the site.
Another example of the service interface for me was the iPhone. (I must say at once, in order not to be convicted of bias, that I do not have an iPhone and it is not foreseen.) As in the case of Yoty, it was difficult for the product to enter the clogged market. But, here again, Apple did what other suppliers of smartphones either did not have or was in a contraceptive state. Apple made the service interface. They provided the iPhone with a powerful AppStor platform, which allows the user to adapt a non-customizable device to fit his needs.
Judge for yourself, thousands of programs for a variety of needs, which are guaranteed to work and do not contain viruses with a convenient interface for buying and installing. What else can a man in the street who buys his smartphone so that he can help him solve his everyday tasks, and even those tasks that he doesn’t even suspect.
IPhone has pressed the Windows Mobile market, but you know it. Services like AppStoru appear and grow like mushrooms in yeast.
In no case do I want to say that Yota and IPhone are ideal services, but they set an example of how to act in order to exit and conquer the dense market. Moreover, I am sure that there are other cool companies that make cool services, but two examples are enough to conclude.
Guys, let's be honest. Many of us are geeks, users of our products are not. And do not give all users the desire to explore the product, because they want to use it. What you are doing solves some problem (if it does not, then you are doing a meaningless thing). Website, phone, media player, framework, whatever - it's just a tool that is part of the service for the user, and not the service itself. Rise above your product to the height of a bird's flight, see how the service looks like in general. Does he lead the user by the hand all the way to the final goal, does he smooth out sharp corners, helps the user in difficult moments, does he guess at what moments these difficulties may arise? Have you covered all the entry points or are planning (netbooks, smartphones)?
Then go up another couple of kilometers and see what your service depends on (additional programs, drivers, Internet connection), and think how it could work in “conditions of limited visibility” or help the user to overcome these obstacles.
If you make a good and useful unique product and show it to the public, then in a month or three a clone will definitely appear. If the service around your product is bad, it will be easier for users to go to the clone. If the service is good, then the user will not feel the need to consider alternatives. And if you are the same clone, then your service will be the reason for the user to flip over to you.
PROFIT !!!
see also:
How to create a technological platform for service in a broad sense (my comment in the DBAG councils)
Iota
')
The reason for comprehending this problem for yourself was the entry into the market of Yota, which achieved operational break-even for six months.
A month before this news, tired of waiting for 3G in Moscow, I bought myself a kit for accessing the Internet. I was very surprised that instead of the dreary procedure of drawing up a contract, I was just given a blue box with a “modem” and sent to connect. When I got home, I was ready to install drivers, register configurations, call support, but instead, after I inserted the device into the usb, it just started the installation procedure, asked for something a couple of times and after 5 minutes already connected to the Yota network, even by opening me a site where I had to register as a user. After another 5 minutes, I paid for the service with a bank card and used the Internet to the full.
At the same time, I absolutely do not know what tariffs Yota has, how many megabits my speed, never called them in support. I just don't need it. I have "Comfortable Internet for reasonable money."
And when I realized that I’m using Yota by no means every day, I just switched my account to daily payment mode.
Naturally, Iota has something to criticize, but what they did is not just a WiMAX network and the devices that work in it, but the interface of their services is simply obvious. And they fit this interface into a small blue box and personal account on the site.
Iphone
Another example of the service interface for me was the iPhone. (I must say at once, in order not to be convicted of bias, that I do not have an iPhone and it is not foreseen.) As in the case of Yoty, it was difficult for the product to enter the clogged market. But, here again, Apple did what other suppliers of smartphones either did not have or was in a contraceptive state. Apple made the service interface. They provided the iPhone with a powerful AppStor platform, which allows the user to adapt a non-customizable device to fit his needs.
Judge for yourself, thousands of programs for a variety of needs, which are guaranteed to work and do not contain viruses with a convenient interface for buying and installing. What else can a man in the street who buys his smartphone so that he can help him solve his everyday tasks, and even those tasks that he doesn’t even suspect.
IPhone has pressed the Windows Mobile market, but you know it. Services like AppStoru appear and grow like mushrooms in yeast.
Summary
In no case do I want to say that Yota and IPhone are ideal services, but they set an example of how to act in order to exit and conquer the dense market. Moreover, I am sure that there are other cool companies that make cool services, but two examples are enough to conclude.
Guys, let's be honest. Many of us are geeks, users of our products are not. And do not give all users the desire to explore the product, because they want to use it. What you are doing solves some problem (if it does not, then you are doing a meaningless thing). Website, phone, media player, framework, whatever - it's just a tool that is part of the service for the user, and not the service itself. Rise above your product to the height of a bird's flight, see how the service looks like in general. Does he lead the user by the hand all the way to the final goal, does he smooth out sharp corners, helps the user in difficult moments, does he guess at what moments these difficulties may arise? Have you covered all the entry points or are planning (netbooks, smartphones)?
Then go up another couple of kilometers and see what your service depends on (additional programs, drivers, Internet connection), and think how it could work in “conditions of limited visibility” or help the user to overcome these obstacles.
Competitive advantage
If you make a good and useful unique product and show it to the public, then in a month or three a clone will definitely appear. If the service around your product is bad, it will be easier for users to go to the clone. If the service is good, then the user will not feel the need to consider alternatives. And if you are the same clone, then your service will be the reason for the user to flip over to you.
PROFIT !!!
see also:
How to create a technological platform for service in a broad sense (my comment in the DBAG councils)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/82720/
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