Design Products That Won’t Become Obsolete

Many commercial offerings today can change and expand to suit users’ evolving needs.  Such products offer enormous potential to companies and their customers. Their ability to evolve can greatly extend their useful life, eliminating or postponing the need for replacements and allowing users to become more familiar with them, two factors that increase customer value.

Building a product that grows isn’t always as easy as updating software, however. Knowing what consumers want today can be difficult; now companies will have to predict what customers will want five or 10 years from now. That will require firms to rethink how they develop and design new products. And because adaptable products may be harder to build or repair than traditional ones, companies will need to figure out how to avoid driving up the total cost of ownership.   Despite those concerns, it is believed that products that grow will serve businesses well. 

The authors’ study of the market for adaptable products, which looked at more than 150 products from a wide variety of industries, reveals that they’ve been helping customers overcome seven challenges, including some they’ve been addressing for decades:  age-related developments, age-related challenges congenital limitations, desire for novelty, customers often lose interest in products that stay the same, shifting learning needs, technological evolution, and shifting performance needs.

Companies can meet those challenges in four distinct ways. The approach that works best for your company will depend on your industry expertise, the new product, and your technical acumen.

1. Configurable hardware. Some products have hardware that can be adjusted to users’ needs.
2. Preconfigured software. Some products learn from and adapt to the user to improve her experience as her knowledge of them evolves.
3. Updatable hardware. These products are designed for customization and repair. 
4. Updatable software. Unlike preconfigured software, some software receives constant updates that enhance products over time. 

Across these categories of products, there are several ways companies can separate themselves from the competition:

1. Increased engagement. A product that grows allows a company to forge valuable longer-term connections with customers. With both digital and analog products, the company can involve customers throughout the product life cycle, bringing them into the product development process and regularly probing them for insights into new opportunities rather than just gathering their feedback on existing products.
2. Flexible market response. Products that grow allow companies to react quickly to changing market demands and evolving consumer preferences. The strategic integration of adaptable features can also help companies attract new customers without undertaking a product overhaul.
3. Continual innovation. Unlike products with static designs, products that grow may require regular improvement even after they reach the hands of customers.
4. Positive social impact. The longer life of products that grow shrinks their environmental footprint. 

Several pricing and business models for adaptable products can help companies grow the value pie and share it with their customers.  These are: charging premium pricing, charging for upgrades, positioning products as services, offering complementary products, providing complementary services, monetizing maintenance, establishing brand communities, and providing resale and modification services. 

show less