Zeitgeist

Product development and design is a slippery slope. It is often too easy to fall in love with your idea to an extent that everything you make seems near perfect.

While your ideas may look beautiful, and perhaps even perfect, it is important to remember that the work you’re doing while developing your product is mere theory.

The real world is full of edge-cases and overlapping realities that make your product less useful, less beautiful, and subsequently less perfect.

Cultures and markets take time to internalize concepts, philosophies, and products. A few years back all online shopping was objectively labelled “scam” in most Asian countries. Today the eCommerce market in Asia is growing at a phenomenal rate.

What the likes of AliBaba and Flipkart did was that they internalized the “spirit of the time” or Zeitgeist. They understood, before everyone else, that digital payments and a cashless economy are the future, and with the steadily growing population in Asia, the adoption and market penetration for eCommerce showed promise.

This works for every user segment or market that you intend to sell to. Don’t get high on your own supply. Understand the spirit of the time, and how your product is relevant to it.