Do you need windscreen wipers, and other seasonal features?

I was booking a time for my car to get the 20k interval check-up and the service rep asked me if I had anything specific they need to take a look at — “apart from the rear right tire losing air pressure, everything seems good” I replied.

“Do you need the windscreen wipers replaced?”

Damn. It’s that time of year now. Just the same morning I was annoyed I could barely see when the sun shined against the windscreen. Trying to clean in desperation didn’t help, as the wipers were too worn out to properly clean the window.

His question was not a coincidence. Of course everyone at the shop is briefed to ask for seasonal products and services to drive up profits.

Can we offer seasonal features in software products? Instead of offering it all year long, is it possible to introduce features of seasonal nature only “in season”?

What would it be like if we offered it as a seasonal upgrade, available for a month — perhaps two or three?

That also means we can refine or redesign a feature in time for the season, to use last seasons learnings to improve it.

When changing a feature, users won’t notice in the same way as when changing features available at all times and used daily.