Applying Maslow's hierarchy to technology ========================================= Area that was a desert has become a habitat Order of market priorities Safety Prosperity Socialization Maslow: Survival: Web 0.0: arpanet -- defense. software runs (no segfaults) Security: Web 1.0: buying and selling things. software be useful Belonging: Web 2.0: be social. social beings. software be pretty Esteem: be myself. Enlightenment: (help others) -- small text Businesses like Target sell hot dogs so they can get you to the 2nd level to buy stuff Product is a more careful balance of features, functionality and fun than you want it to be. Think about needs you forgot to consider. The more energy users spend on finding the basics (help, login, contact us), the less they have to spend doing something useful. Are people really using your products to do what you think they're doing? Consider the social aspect of whatever you're doing. Inflection points of expectation. High expectations, then you can't do it or it lacks the feature. Then it seems to have the feature, but it doesn't. etc...