Digital products: What makes them spark joy
Five patterns that make products great and valuable to me.
We all live in a complicated world. There is an ever-growing abundance of activities, tasks, news, possibilities and overall information. The more efficient, informed and connected we become, the more we feel the necessity to use it all. All the time. Everywhere.
For some time I had been feeling generally overwhelmed — in my physical environment as well as in the digital world. I have developed a taste for simplicity, for the need of limitation — that applying to the amount of time spent on Instagram, browsing fast fashion stores offering flashing 80% off, or the number of frying pans I own. I have been on a personal vendetta against accumulating both physical and mental clutter.
I am nonetheless not a cavewoman and I am open to trying new things and adding them to my life if I feel they are valuable. A great digital product makes me aware of a problem worth solving since it adds value to my life, not just another problem. It helps create space by sorting life and cleaning it up. I might have been living fine without this product before, but now that I am hooked, I cannot go back to the old (messy) way.
The digital products worth having in my life share some or most of these aspects:
1. Make the world simpler
A great digital product for me is before all one that helps me filter the world, to make things easier. I like products that make the world simpler to use, understand and navigate, arranged and more unified, not more divided and compartmentalized.
Example: Google maps — mostly used for how to get somewhere — the best route on foot, bike or the bus line. I will search for a place and see its rating on Google maps rather than on any specialized app since it creates a more unified experience.
2. They are consistent in goal
The good product I want to use makes me accomplish the task I expect it to in a reliable and cohesive way. And that’s all. They keep it clear why they exist and what to expect.
Example: Telegram — sending instant encrypted messages (plus a good GIF speaks a thousand words).
3. Create long term value
They don’t help only to solve a problem I might be having right now but have a long term impact. I believe we all crave some sort of coherence, to make us understand it all matters much more in the big picture than we might see right now.
Example: Google Photos — while automatically syncing photos I take on my phone, I create a visual chronicle of my life.
4. Make me feel good about myself
It creates an impression that it helps me work on myself, to manage my time better, to learn new skills, to be more efficient, to work with me in order to make me a better self.
Example: Goodreads — it serves both short term goal (finding reviews about a book I might want to read) as well as creating a catalogue of all my read books including when I read them.
Extra point:
5. They are aesthetically pleasing
I do realize that this is an extremely subjective statement. Yet, if it happens to fit into my taste, I will enjoy using it much more. I understand that esthetics are hardly the most important part of a design. But if the function meets a beautiful UI, I let myself jump a little inner jump à la Marie Condo.
Example: AirBnB — clean structure, white background and beautiful choice of illustrating photos.
To sum up, I like the technology to work for me, not against me. If the product on top of usefulness and usability creates some sparks of joy in form of longterm value, emotional attachment and desirable interface, it will be likely the one you come back to.
