Mark Johnson

May 6, 2023

Good products change our expectations - Friday Thing #17

One thing that’s been running around in my mind recently is that good products change our expectations.

One thing I love about my Kindle is how I can long press on a word and get the definition for a word. I don’t have to pull out my phone and search for a definition, it’s right there by pressing on the word. It’s so good that I found myself wanting to click on words in physical books to get their definitions.

I’ve recently found a similar behavior in Arc, a web browser that reimagines what it means to browse the web. We often have to copy URLs from our browser to share the current page with someone else, and it’s so ingrained to click on the URL at the top of the page and Cmd+C to get the link. With Arc, when you do this, a delightful teaching UI pops up in the top right to tell you that you can copy a webpage link with Cmd+Shift+C without having to select the URL first. Whenever I have to switch back to Edge now, I find myself frustrated at the manual labor involved with using my mouse to copy the page link.

If I have a delightful experiences with a product, I remember it and it builds loyalty, yet I also long for this experience to be replicated elsewhere, and what was delightful quickly becomes the norm.

What's an improvement you've found in a product that's changed your expectations in what should be provided elsewhere?

About Mark Johnson

Hey, I'm Mark, and I'm passionate about sport and personal finance. If you'd like to read more of my writing, check out financewithmark.com.