A Solution Looking For a Problem
January 11th, 2011 § 2 Comments
Often times I come across people who tell me about this great solution they have just come up with or a ‘what if’ scenario promising then next best things since sliced bread. I always ask them one simple question: What problem are you solving for the user?
Don’t create a problem that doesn’t exist. Instead, focus on pain points that people have today.
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… before the smart phone it wasn’t a problem not to be truely mobile, before the cell phone there was no problem if you had a quarter in your pocket for a booth or a landline nearby, before the landline there was no problem communicating across distances because via telegraph, that still was not an issue when you had a stamp, envelope and a railcar which could carry your information cross-country in 2 weeks, last but not least who thought there was a problem with the pony-express?
sometimes people don’t see problems until something better comes along to compare the old methods with. sure you could make a horse run faster or you could invest and lay railtracks… Lay tracks or invent the telegraph.. be satisfied with the telegraph or make a telephone, cell or smart… focus on the smart or push to create the worlds next great problem that’s yet to exist.
cool that you blog… i like people putting their ideas on the table… be strong in 2011!
j
I agree and would add a couple of points to your comment:
1) The internet has certainly redefined many industries and products. As Dixon said in his post. Anything that hasn’t been redefined by the web, will be.
http://cdixon.org/2011/01/13/predicting-the-future-of-the-internet-is-easy-anything-it-hasnt-yet-dramatically-transformed-it-will/
2) Everything that you do in real life you can do or will able to do online Ie in a connected fashion. That is either really cool or really scary.
3) The examples you mention above are great example in technology shifts. People created problems through unique and disruptive technologies.A few examples of this in the marketplace that come to mind (think Yahoo in the 90′s, Google in early 00′s, eBay, Amazon, Skype, Facebook, NetFlix type like companies) where they defined an industry.