Savage Mindset: The Behavior Change Principle

Welcome to my newsletter. Each month, I share things that I've been thinking about. This April, I'm focusing on what we can learn from new technology and what it takes for society to embrace it.

If you feel you can't keep up with tech these days, you're not alone. The pace of innovation is faster than it's ever been.

As AI proliferates, we're seeing visionary products. While some resonate, others fail catastrophically, much to the bewilderment of their creators.

So many startup founders are baffled when they have what seems like an incredible product, but they can't get adoption to go. They'll show it to people in their circles, who will validate their certainty that the big idea is good. They'll demo the product beyond their inner circle to potential customers, who seem excited.?

Then, the same people who expressed enthusiasm for the product won't use it. Why won't they use it?! The misalignment between user intention and action is deeply frustrating.

This situation can occur if the habit change required is too significant. Habit change is hard. If it weren't, there wouldn't be so many books and techniques to change behavior.

Here's a look at recent new additions to the market, and what we can learn from them to understand just how important habit is to mass adoption.

Apple Vision Pro — An Imperfect Design That You Won't Be Able to Live Without?

Last month, I braved the potential embarrassment of wearing the Vision Pro on two recent international flights.

The travel case for this device is enormous. The size is a real downside, as almost my entire backpack was dedicated to it.

It was cumbersome, but there were so many ways it fit into my regular flying routine and exponentially improved it.

The killer use case for the Vision Pro was watching movies on a plane. It's delightful to be fully immersed in a different world while flying.

While I could venture into another world (in my case, Star Wars and Tatooine) to pass the time, the Vision Pro didn't interfere with the communal, human-to-human rituals we're all used to on long trips.?

The EyeSight feature and face detection worked well, allowing me to interact in a way that was close to normal. My kids talked to me as if nothing were different, and the fact that I could see their faces and they could see my eyes helped.

My experience was the same for interactions with the crew. No one noticed it. People already wear and do odd things on airplanes, so it fit right in.

I'm sure the form factor will get smaller, and the potential use cases for the Vision Pro will improve, but it's a big upgrade for something I will always do on a plane — watch a movie.

Why watch on a small handheld box when you can enter a whole new world without interruption to the one you're in? If Apple can tweak the design, the Vision Pro's benefit is clear.?

Humane Pin — Flashy With No Clear Function

In contrast to the Apple Vision Pro is the Humane Pin.

The tech community has been buzzing about the Humane Pin, a wearable device, which promises to get us off our screens and replace our phones.?

While the vision is appealing, and the product launch video showcased a revolutionary vision for how we interact with technology, it left us with more questions than answers:

+ Who is the pin intended for??

+ Why wouldn't I just use my phone for everything I need?

+ Isn't what we really want just an upgraded Siri?

The confusion around this hotly anticipated tech was a reminder that sometimes, we don't want the bells and whistles. We want the simplest, best version of what we normally do.

The Behavior Change Principle

So, what can you do to create a product with adoption momentum instead of one with a flashy start that fizzles?

1. Build a brand that is so enticing that it shakes your customers out of their existing habits. This is next to impossible, but it does sometimes happen.
2. Build integrations that remove the need to change a habit.
3. Draft off of existing distribution by partnering with an ecosystem with much momentum.
4. Try to wait it out. I don't recommend this, but every once in a while, startups will time a societal or customer change just right.

Ultimately, the best way to create a product that takes is to abide by the behavior change principle:

"The #1 way to drive product is to bring the most value to your potential customer with the least behavior change."