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The problem of too many product offerings (the paradox of choice / analysis paralysis) is something I'm trying to address with my startup Kallow. The issue wit

by jordanf 17y ago

The problem of too many product offerings (the paradox of choice / analysis paralysis) is something I'm trying to address with my startup Kallow. The issue with Adams' solution (which may work for some) is that customers sometimes don't know exactly what they want, and have a hard time describing it, especially when it comes to things like personal electronics. You are essentially asking them to design a product for themselves, which sounds kind of cool, but will leave a lot of people confused.

frossie 17y ago
customers sometimes don't know exactly what they want, and have a hard time describing it, I don't want to minimise the problem quoted, but that is not the entirety of it. There is still a problem for people who do know what they want, due to the one thing that is hard to quantify: whether the device performs its function well. The toaster example is particularly apt. I can start off knowing precisely what I want: Say, I want a white 4-slice toaster with wide (bagel) slots and a defrost function for under $150. Ta da! If that is all there was to it, I could be finished in 3 minutes - it's not actually that hard to find one (though not with Google - you need a real e-commerce site like Amazon). The problem is that when you do find a few toasters that match your requirements on Amazon, most have reviews like "stopped working after 2 months" "completely uneven toasting" "doesn't pop toast" etc etc. So then you have to wade through review upon review on model upon model in order to find the least sucky toaster. That is when the toaster hunt becomes a time sink. Now there are sites like consumer reports who are supposed to give you a recommendation based on some actual testing, but of course they are too slow moving - whatever model of toaster they recommended 18 months ago is no longer to be found.
- efaith 17y ago
  "The problem is that when you do find a few toasters that match your requirements on Amazon, most have reviews like "stopped working after 2 months" "completely uneven toasting" "doesn't pop toast" etc etc. So then you have to wade through review upon review on model upon model in order to find the least sucky toaster. That is when the toaster hunt becomes a time sink." No, you don't have to. You didn't in a brick and mortar store. Why do you have to here? Because there are customers saying the product broke? But the only difference is that in a brick and mortar store the failures are hidden from you. Look, products fail. That's just the way it is. Get over it. Realize that every product has a potential story of failure and the best products will have unsatisfied customers. Counting is good. Statistics are good. I've found Rotten Tomatoes to be much more reliable than individual reviews, and I don't even have to waste my time reading the reviews. Similarly, the Bestselling ranking at Amazon is not a bad way to sort out the better from the worse, if you don't want to spend the time. If you don't want to spend the time you don't have to! Sure, if you don't spend the time, your choice won't be as good as it could have been. But if we were back in brick and mortar land your choice would be worse! Now you have the choice, and even if you choose not to spend the time, your resulting purchase is still better. It's win win win in every direction.

by jordanf 17y ago

frossie 17y ago

customers sometimes don't know exactly what they want, and have a hard time describing it, I don't want to minimise the problem quoted, but that is not the entirety of it. There is still a problem for people who do know what they want, due to the one thing that is hard to quantify: whether the device performs its function well. The toaster example is particularly apt. I can start off knowing precisely what I want: Say, I want a white 4-slice toaster with wide (bagel) slots and a defrost function for under $150. Ta da! If that is all there was to it, I could be finished in 3 minutes - it's not actually that hard to find one (though not with Google - you need a real e-commerce site like Amazon). The problem is that when you do find a few toasters that match your requirements on Amazon, most have reviews like "stopped working after 2 months" "completely uneven toasting" "doesn't pop toast" etc etc. So then you have to wade through review upon review on model upon model in order to find the least sucky toaster. That is when the toaster hunt becomes a time sink. Now there are sites like consumer reports who are supposed to give you a recommendation based on some actual testing, but of course they are too slow moving - whatever model of toaster they recommended 18 months ago is no longer to be found.

efaith 17y ago
"The problem is that when you do find a few toasters that match your requirements on Amazon, most have reviews like "stopped working after 2 months" "completely uneven toasting" "doesn't pop toast" etc etc. So then you have to wade through review upon review on model upon model in order to find the least sucky toaster. That is when the toaster hunt becomes a time sink." No, you don't have to. You didn't in a brick and mortar store. Why do you have to here? Because there are customers saying the product broke? But the only difference is that in a brick and mortar store the failures are hidden from you. Look, products fail. That's just the way it is. Get over it. Realize that every product has a potential story of failure and the best products will have unsatisfied customers. Counting is good. Statistics are good. I've found Rotten Tomatoes to be much more reliable than individual reviews, and I don't even have to waste my time reading the reviews. Similarly, the Bestselling ranking at Amazon is not a bad way to sort out the better from the worse, if you don't want to spend the time. If you don't want to spend the time you don't have to! Sure, if you don't spend the time, your choice won't be as good as it could have been. But if we were back in brick and mortar land your choice would be worse! Now you have the choice, and even if you choose not to spend the time, your resulting purchase is still better. It's win win win in every direction.