A lot of the time success is measured in terms of return on investment (ROI) or in plain English: How much benefit are we going to get compared to resources that are used?

Recently I’ve had some frustrations where people are not wanting to make the effort to obtain a benefit because it’s too hard – and none of their competitors are doing it anyway.

Call me an interaction designer naively stepping into some business boots, but I believe that if you’ve found something that improves the customer experience (by making something easier, or more enjoyable to do), and your competitors don’t have that something, then you’ve found a strategic advantage. If it’s difficult to build, then all the better because then it’s going to be harder for your competitors to catch up.

So, (in the theme of Margaret Cho’s mother [YouTube link]) to review:

• Number 1: Just because it’s hard to do, isn’t always a reason not to do – that attitude wouldn’t have taken Edmund Hillary very far and puts New Zealander’s can-do attitude to shame.
• Number 2: If you want to play leapfrog instead of catch up with your competitors, then loose the mindset of aligning yourself with competitors.
• Number 3: But don’t be different for differences sake – novelty alone isn’t a strategic advantage in the long run, but aspiring to have the best possible customer experience is a good place to be.

Have you been in this situation before? What are you throughts?