SocialBias :: a Digital Abstraction of Michael Parkatti

Take a look at these people on the left.  I’m not sure who they are, but they look incredibly serious.  Seriously, take a look at each one of them.

Do you notice anything special about them?

I know, it’s a tough one.  As it turns out, there is something special about them — they’re normal people, doing normal things.

How about an incredibly overbearing statement?  There are very few companies that reach IPO or sell for over $100 Million that haven’t had people like this using and/or buying their products.  I know we can all think of some special cases (Bebo, Club Penguin, maybe Digg?), but on the whole, you need a person who has no heightened exposure to technology and does not belong to a special demographic to both understand and need your product.

Who is this ‘normal’ person you speak of?

Let’s talk about these peeps up there some more.  Think about their day, think about the things that they do, and then think about how your product can trickle into their happy-spheres.

What makes them normal?

• they work 9 - 5 jobs, most likely in an office setting
• they have a computer that their work gave them which is most likely restricted to outside software
• they may have a desktop computer at home that they use to watch YouTube or surf their Facebook profile for a few minutes every night
• they know and like Windows, no matter what the cool Apple ads say (and on the whole, they’re wrong)
• their favourite software applications are Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.  Happily enough, this is known as Microsoft Office.  They think these are great pieces of software (and on the whole, they’re right).
• they can’t fathom how internet startups make money (and on the whole, they’re right)
• they don’t post photos online, or share links, or make podcasts, or aggregate content, or contribute to the Linux kernel.  In fact, there is a 98% they’ve never even heard of ‘Web 2.0′.
• they probably sign up to 0-3 different new websites a year, probably after a discussion with a colleague they trust.  These are probably perceived as ways to help their careers somehow (hello LinkedIn) or as part of a wave of late adoption (hello Facebook).
• they don’t own an iPhone.  They abhor Macs.
• to perform any new task in any piece of software is a massive threshold of new ability.  They are likely to use less than 5% of any of the features of a piece of software they actually do use.
• they don’t read TechCrunch.
• they’ve been visiting the same websites everyday since 1997 (CNN.com, nytimes.com)
• the highlight of their week isn’t the gluttony of iPhone blog coverage — it’s probably Friday night when their friends are hosting a dinner party or Sunday when the Bills play football.
• they believe that a wild horde of malcontented hackers are watching their every move in unchartered internet waters.  This is most conspicuously manifested in their distrust of giving their credit card information over a webform.
• they don’t experience signal vs noise problems.  It’s hard to have noise problems when you only have a handful of signals.
• they don’t disdainfully complain about having 500 emails a day to contend with.  They probably have on average 5-15 emails a day that require their personal response.
• oh yeah, and they don’t have a problem with paying for things that offer a tangible value.

As the consumer internet frenzy reaches a nadir, I think we can safely assume that more and more startups are going to start rediscovering and embracing these people.  Their survival may very well depend on it.

But as purveyors of software, it is our duty to include these people in our designs.  We need to make their lives better, as much as we need to make our software better.

Think about these people.  Think about what they want, and why they want it.  Think about how they could incorporate your software into their everyday lives without a drastic learning curve.  Try to picture why they would bring up your product to their friends over dinner.  Try to put yourself in their shoes while designing, and do not give your vicarious-self an opportunity to mess up.  Give them a strict narrative, and an easily digestible identity.

I love it when tech-oriented consumer apps say that their target audience is ‘everyone!!!!!’.  No, actually, your target audience is the 1% of the population who could even begin to perceive what you’re doing to be useful.  And you’re fighting against 1000 other startups for their attention.

Talk about blue oceans — think about the other 99% who are sitting in their normal bubbles and have free time to encroach upon.  They also need life improving services.  Think about trying to cater to a wider iaudience, and It’ll feel like trudging into a huge patch of fresh, unbroken snow.  (For those who don’t know what it feels like to trudge into fresh snow — trust me, it’s pretty sweet).

I would posit that the frontiers of technology will not be forged amongst the 1% of uber-adopters; rather, they will be proven out when the unwashed masses can also derive some utility.  Many do evolve from catering to the 1% to eventually becoming useful by everyone… but most do not.

So think about these ‘normal’ people.  They could very well make or break your product.