What not to do when you are developing a value proposition for your product.
-A day in the life of a Baby developer-
As we go deeper and deeper in a social robot production and trying to develop a core value proposition for our product, I find myself stuck in the following mindset quite often. I thought about sharing them here. Please note, though, that this is more of a reminder/note to self rather than trying to teach anyone any lessons! There are only four, and these are what I think the most important mindsets that I think encompass so many facets of product development. Here I come!
1. Try not to be Mother Teresa.
Translation: try not to change the whole world or save the entire population of the Earth with your product. I won’t deny how important it is to feel that we all have power within us to help those in trouble, but that does not mean that we need to exercise that through product development. I need to focus on what I can do for a handful of people I genuinely care about, and try to come up with a product that can put smile on their faces. (Besides, people find salvation at most random things. You might end up saving a stranger’s life if the product has a true value!)
2. “Infuse” — not create from scratch.
Sometimes, it’s easy to assume what you are creating is a brand new concept that history has never seen before. Well, the truth is, under the Sun, it has pretty much all been done before. A story has been told many times, and that same story has been tweaked, arranged, and adopted countless times. This should not be a bad thing, though. In Japan, for example, we have had many stories, novels, animations etc. about robot, android, or cyborg. Robots are looked at different angles by different creators. We are creating a social robot that has our value in it, but at the same time, we are standing on the shoulders of giants: we are taking these existing notions and building upon them, infusing them with our own ideas. Your product is going to be unique because it is you who made it, nobody else.
3. Do not sit in front of the Computer 24/7.
I guess this mantra has been repeated by sensible mothers for a while by now, and they are right all along: Stay. Away. From. The. Computer. Seriously, the Net is rife with so many ideas and seemingly correct answers. I am guilty of depending on Mr. Google on almost anything, but one thing to remember when it comes to creating something in general is that you cannot expect to find YOUR idea floating on the web. This is really obvious yet so many us forget, in my opinion. The information on the Net is someone else’s ideas! If you are trying to come up with your own ideas, stay away from it and get on with the actual thinking process on your own. Get out in nature! Get your butt moving! Read profusely (reading blogs does not count!) Your physical experience will tell you so much more about the world than reading answers on Quora (which by the way, I love….guilty as charged.)
4. Don’t be so serious and square.
If your friends tell you that your idea is “not good since it does not sound serious enough,” please ignore. If you are no having crazy fun creating your product, your users will know for sure; they will know that you know you do not love your product; that the product is not well tested; that it lacks “care.” I realized that we do not need to be smartest, or most cutting edge, nor most ingenious product out there. We just need to be playful and love the process of making something we genuinely love. I mean, who am I kidding? I am not a pro bono human rights lawyer — I am developing a social robot that is supposed to bring more smile to our lives! If I am not having fun, who will help me have fun at it? Be playful, be ridiculously fun, and be spontaneous. Again, your experience will shape your core product value and it will be unique because it is YOU who made it, no one else.
There are moments, moments where self doubt creeps in and you think that your work needs to be tackled by a smarter, better, more serious person than you are. But it does not. It just needs your attention and care, and you are the only person who can handle the problem that is represented in front of you. If it fails, then it’s OK. Be sad, and get back right on being playful soul that you are born with!
Stay well, my friends:)
YUKI
