Are unmet needs an oxymoron?

Unsettling thoughts in the shower this morning... What exactly is an unmet need, and why are so many people / companies fixated on satisfying them?

Everybody talks about helping companies uncover their customers' unmet needs. I've been guilty of it myself. The term has become commonplace across many industries as well as across multiple disciplines. As far as I know, no one has ever questioned it's meaning, so I should probably leave well enough alone.

For some reason, I couldn't shake this question while in the shower this morning. When you think about it, we all have needs. Sometimes we can buy a product or service that alleviates those needs, at which time the need (by definition) goes away. I guess it is safe to say that need has been satisfied. Does that make it a "met need"? Once a need has been met, it is no longer a need...

When we help companies focus on innovation for their consumers, we look for opportunity space by focusing on their likes, dislikes, processes, and attitudes. But how do we distinguish between "unmet needs" and regular needs?

Literally speaking, I'm thinking the phrase "unmet needs" is like a double negative used in a sentence (E.g. "I won't not be there tomorrow" means "I will be there"). If that is the case, then does unmet need literally mean there is no need?

I'm going to do two things moving forward. First, I'm going to start focusing only on consumer needs (not unmet needs). Second, I'm going to try to think of more interesting topics in the shower...

The world's best garden tools

I love my job. I get to work with people all over the country, and help them develop new product and service ideas based upon the unmet needs of consumers that we study. One of the most rewarding parts of my job however, is when we see ideas that we've helped to generate, come to life.

This last weekend I decided to put a garden in my back yard. Since this would be my first garden since my youth, I decided to start "small", a mere 30' wide by 120' long. Okay, it didn't seem that big until I started to plant the thing. Having spent all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon in the thing, I have now planted about 1/3 of what I've bought to go into it. My hands are raw, my back is sore, and I'm somewhat sunburned... but as they say, it's a good kind of pain.

I decided to do this (in part) because of a project we did for Ames True Temper a year ago dealing with Gardening Enthusiasts. We spent hours watching people as they landscaped their yards and planted food for their families. We worked with Master Gardeners to discover the unmet needs that they had with their existing tools. Ultimately, we came up with a new line of tools, focused on these experts. The tools are now on the market, Ames sent me a set a few weeks ago, so... I had to start a garden.

It's one thing to watch other people use products, but its much cooler to use good products yourself. The garden rake they launched has a circular "steering wheel" handle that surrounds the shaft. It is a great feature for really pulling. As intuitive as this is, it makes me wonder why no one has done it before.

The material on these handles is a form of plastic, with a softer rubber molded in where your hands go. In spite of the hot days, these things felt good, with no slippage or unwanted twisting.

When we started this project with Ames, I was skeptical that anyone could really make a "better shovel" (or any other garden tool for that matter). After all, after the lever, it's probably the oldest tool known to man. But I'll be darned if we (collectively) didn't pull it off.

Hopefully I'll feel as good about these tools after I get the remaining 2/3 of the garden planted. If only they could do something about the aching joints and the sunburn...

The power of virginity

Remember your first time? You could barely wait for the day to arrive. Then you went to pick it up and bring it home. You almost drooled as you carefully took off the layers to get your hands on it...

Okay, so maybe you weren't quite that passionate to use your new product, but there was still an anticipation. It doesn't matter if it's a new cell phone or a washing machine. You fully expected that your life would improve because of your wise purchase.

And then you used it. Maybe you read the instruction manual, but probably you didn't. You thought some features were a bit confusing, but you eventually figured them out. You may have assembled it wrong initially, but even that got corrected.

Ah, to be a "first-timer" again. The first time we encounter anything we do so with an inquisitive mind and an assessing disposition. We immediately evaluate the product or experience for what it truly is. If asked (or observed) at that moment we could provide all types of valuable feedback to the provider in terms of suggestions or improvements. But how quickly that fades. Before long, we forget those ideas and compensate for the shortcomings in the design. Ask us three months later, and our thoughts are far less fertile.

How are you capturing your consumers' first experience with your product or service? It really is a great thing to ask someone while their "first time" is still fresh in their mind.

Switch sides of the bed

I despise routine. From experience I realize that I'm probably in the minority on this issue but it is true. Routine is the antithesis of creativity & innovation. As soon as we fall into a routine, we quit thinking about the processes that we live by and slip into auto-pilot. Once there, we no longer seek out ideas that could improve our lives.

A very simple example of this is to switch sides of the bed with your partner (this is far less impactful if you sleep alone). This simple act will generate an amazing array of new thoughts and experiences. The way that you turn and lay will be different. You will interact with your partner in a new and different way. And believe it or not, this simple act will cause your brain to process the world around you differently for a short while.

It's not always comfortable to make a change such as this. You might in fact find it hard to fall asleep the first night in this "foreign" position. But your awareness of the situation will soar. And that gets your mind working in a very positive way. You may find yourself being able to work through problems that have perplexed you all day (either while lying awake or in your dream state). In the morning, your routine will be varied causing you to start "thinking" much sooner than is typical.

Awareness is huge step toward change and creativity. Change sides of the bed. Get out of auto-pilot. See what the next day brings...

Newton's First Law of... Human Behavior?

You ever notice that even when companies express a strong desire for change, their actual efforts cause them to remain where they are? A friend of mine is in the consumer durables segment, but was talking to an executive at a healthcare company. The executive recognized a talent in skill set in my friend that his company was lacking. So he encouraged him to send in a resume.

My friend did just that, but somehow the resume was intercepted by Human Resources, who proceeded to tell him that they are not interested because he has... you guessed it; no experience in the health care industry.

How many products and services have been launched only to fail because of the same basic reason. Research clearly shows there's a need, people express an interest, even a willingness to buy. However, the offering fails in the marketplace because people have no experience with it.

Newton's first law of motion states that "an item that is at rest will remain at rest until an outside force acts upon it". It seems that this profound law is just as relative to human behavior as it is to items in the physical world. Perhaps it could be restated as "People will continue on with their current behaviors until an outside force drives them to change". That makes it hard to launch something new (or enter a new career field) in a successful manner.

Researching a new product or service (or casually talking to an executive friend at an outside company) poses people with a theoretical outside force, so the answer they give is a theoretical response at best. The same people that were positive at the "theory", are often reluctant to adapt when faced with the reality of the offering.

Something to keep in mind the next time your chasing a "sure fire" lead or opportunity. What looks certain in theory, must overcome the concept of inertia in reality, and that takes force. Hmmm....

A blog with no photo...

Okay I'm frustrated. All of my photos disappeared from my Blog. I've been using Blogo as an editor, then uploading to blogspot for posting. It worked seamlessly for several days, but now there's chaos. Google's massive integration of multiple services seems to be the culprit. Web forums are quickly filling with people with similar frustrations, all thinking it's their unique issue. Looks like the problem may reside with Picassa, Google's photo sharing site. Now, I don't really want or need to use Picassa, I'd be happy just uploading photos from my phone or hard drive, but is that an option??? NO! All uploaded photos automatically go into a library at Picassa where they are accessed by the blog. Hmmm. I'm sure there's some advantage there that I'm not seeing. But in the meantime, my frustration is mounting.

Was Google's intent to satisfy unmet needs of blog writers? Or was it merely an avenue to get us hooked on more of their proprietary software applications?

There's no question that Google has become a part of our everyday life... But is this an instance where they've gone too far? Just try to get technical support on something like this that crosses so many applications... I wonder how the Amish blog?

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