Consumers define the experience

I’ve seen a lot of companies forget its consumers that define the product experience not the product features. Case in point was last night I scored some sweet soccer tickets, which were in the second row! With these seats I should have felt right on top of the action, this would give my wife a perfect view with which to experience and learn about soccer.

Only she missed most of the game. How you say? Take a look below:

Yes with me standing and being 6 feet tall I still had an obstructed view. For someone just experiencing Soccer the idea that they should be excited enough to stand for 90 minutes was a non-starter. In effect Soccer, and the dynamics of the audience swept aside a potential customer before they even had a chance to determine if they liked the sport.

Sociology and group dynamics

Consumers in a social setting define the experience by putting into place their own rules that align with the crowd’s desire. The idea of standing up for an entire game is an accepted practice for Soccer. In movie theatres talking is frowned upon. In wine tastings the intent is to articulate flavor aspects, not to just enjoy a beverage. All three of the examples dramatically impact what the user experience becomes.

Users set their own expectations

Additionally people set their own expectations of what should be expected from a product, even if it is not a feature the company delivered. People want to shove a laptop that gets warm into a bag without first turning it off (this got Sony into some trouble). They want products like the iPhone to work on the Verizon network. Or in the case of my wife she just wanted to sit down and watch the game.

What can companies do about this?

• Be aware of the governing dynamics of your crowd/consumer.
• Look for opportunities to create additional product features by leveraging the group experience.
• Understand that user-set expectations will trump your marketing. Either play to them, or work to downplay them (but don’t ignore them).
• Understand your target audience if something hinders their consumption fix it.

Take-aways: You can build an amazing product and send it out into the world, but until it’s out in the wild you’ll never know how people might choose to experience it.