In the last video, I talked about the Product Life Cycle. That life cycle lives and dies by the Technology Adoption Life Cycle.
However, the Technology Adoption Life Cycle also describes the types of users you’ll sell high-tech products to.
Before I get into the types of users, we should talk about products. I know! products again.
There are 3 types products, I consider to exist that enter markets.
According to Crossing the Chasm [1], you have…
Discontinuous or disruptive innovations: these products or services change users’ behavior. [1]
We once read the news in newspapers; now we watch it on TV.
Yes, the result is the same, but users had to learn how to use a TV instead of just reading. The had to learn is the discontinuous part of that.
This what makes software so difficult to innovate in is that new UX or UI triggers new workflows for users to learn. Some UI and UX are intuitive where the experience doesn’t feel discontinuous.
Continuous or sustaining innovations: products or services that simply extend existing behavior or upgrade the product, but don’t change behavior.
You have glasses you wear: Visionworks or Warby Parker, as mentioned in Crossing the Chasm, promised better lenses.
For instance, I have lenses with blue-light protection; it’s just a continuous innovation.
The behavior is the same putting on the glasses I didn’t learn a new behavior.
Finally, what I consider the 3rd product type is
Mimicking innovations are products that are the same as existing innovations; they don’t offer upgrades or disruptive change to users’ behavior.
For example, coffee grounds at Walmart. If you launch coffee grounds under a different brand or packaging, this is neither a continuous nor a discontinuous innovation. Obviously just another product that provides the same behavior with no upgrades. Mimicking innovations are simply products that create competitive pressure.
There are a lot of products like this.
More often than not, products are one of these three types.
Technology evolves human behavior for instance software has effected neurons and psychological behavior of people in society dramatically.
Discontinuous and Continuous Spectrum
This is not black or white.
Products can exist across a spectrum depending on time, culture, awareness, or infrastructure.
Some products like EVs had to change the very reality and infrastructure to be adopted.
Depending on whether or not your product is Discontinuous or Continuous it effect how users adopt your product.
There is spectrum of demands for behavioral change on users between continuous products to discontinuous products. [1]
See EV years ago required charging stations they required lot behavioural changes in society for EVs to be adopted. I.e. Discontinuous.
Contact lens didn’t require large demand on users it worked as easier if not the same as glasses.
Any new product either continuous or discontinuous requires some sort of demand or cost on consumers to absorb a change in behavior.
Just reread that lines if you are a UI/UX designer when you make new flows not usually flow in minds of users.
For example everyone knows how to sign up flow, everyone doesn’t know what a network map is.
Something like network map requires the average users to spend time to learn how to use it.
Types of Users
Each group of users represent a pyschographic profile users are usually are going fit one of these profiles depending demographics and experiences.
Innovators, Early Adopters, and Laggards, form a small percentage of the bell graph. While Early Majority and Late Majority form the core of market where growth and product maturity occur.
We are going follow salesforces journey through this technology adoption cycle.
Innovators (Technology Enthusiasts)
Innovators are people who are technology enthusiasts. I am a technology enthusiasts when new feature, or product comes out I am instancely and even foolishly exicited for example Rabbit R1. Came out and that exicited however it turned out to be a bad product.
Innovators go out to seek new tech products before they even been launch.
Innovators are purely interested in the advancement and that it works.
Early Adopters (Visionaries)
Early Adopters or Visionaries are people who buy into new product concepts very early in the life cycle, they are not interested in the tech itself.
However are insterested in potential of that technology to evolutionze the industry.
Early adopters are really critical to your products success because they buy without using references and believe in gaining a competitive edge when buying your product.
Early Majority (Early and Late Pragmatists)
The early majority or pragmatists are similar to early adopters they want the competitive advantage but they want the risk.
So they look for specific use cases for the new technologies or niches to benefit their workflow completely.
The product has to either increase revenue, lower cost, or keep them legally in check. it has do something that provides clear benefit however the early majority will wait and see for evidence.
Late Majority (Conservatives)
Late Majority or Conservatives are people who are combfortable with technology but they only but new products until it becomes standard.
If they are Pfizer executive they need to see Sanofi using it and vice versa.
Laggards (Skeptics)
Laggards are customers and companies who don’t want new technology at all, they will hold out until the last minute. They will only buy a product if its been put into another product or its in another product without them knowing.
Conclusions
This should help you understand how to write about your product, present yourself with customers and targert customers.
Technology Adoption Life Cycle is a theory about how new technology is adopted/absorbed in society or community and the stages corresponds to different social profiles and segments of customers.
Now this model is not perfect and its understanding in tech has evolved to whats known as crossing the chasm. We will explore this crossing the chasm in next video/post.
At the end of this I want to ask yourself where is your product? where does it sit along the technology adoption cycle.
Work Cited
[1] Moore, G. A. (2014). Crossing the chasm: Marketing and selling disruptive products to mainstream customers (3rd ed.). HarperBusiness.
[2] Tech Comm Central. (2013, February 4). Chapter 5 – Understanding the technology adoption life cycle (TALC). Tech Comm Central. https://techcommcentral.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/chapter-5-understanding-the-technology-adoption-life-cycle-talc/