No, I don't really love BPM modeling tools. I doubt that anyone does. If you're the exception, by all means, speak up, I'd love to meet you. Maybe we could talk about how long it has been since you had a vacation.
As April Dunford argues, technology doesn't have to be exciting to be useful, or even attractive for people to buy:
I'm not saying that it's impossible to have successful products without
inspiring people. It's possible and I know it because I've done it. I
launched a product that generated $80 million in its first year that
was as dull as paint and I couldn't find a single reference to it
online outside of our own website. It did useful yet really boring
thing very well at a time when no other product did so people paid
money for it. I don't think believe that's changed and there will
always be some markets where sheer utility works.
Sheer utility does have its own coolness factor, though. Exhibit A is the Eclipse IDE. For a lot of developers, once you start using Eclipse, you don't want to change, regardless of what competitive IDE your new employer has made standard in the development team. Ditto for people who graduated from computer science programs with an attachment with Vi and Emacs.
On the consumer side, sheer utility also has its appeal. Just visit your local hardware store this weekend to see how people can develop a passionate attachment for something as unlovely to the eye as a compound miter saw. (I admit, I'm one of those people. I'm just like Hank Hill, but without the competence.)
Sure, there are pieces of technology that can arouse people's passions. But, if I forbid you to mention any Apple product, how many examples can you think of?
In fact, efforts to wow people with flashy UIs often fall flat on their faces. For example, at bottom, users seem to want a webmail client that just makes it easy to write, read, file, and delete e-mail. Efforts to jazz up the web UI with Ajax- or Flash-based eye candy don't seem to make people fall in love with their e-mail client. E-mail is a necessity, just like your last visit to the DMV. Interesting architecture and expensive wallpaper won't make you want to hang around the DMV any longer than is necessary to renew your driver's license.
In fact, it might be worth pursuing the idea that "sheer utility" is, on average, the most important factor in adoption. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to importing some BPEL-based workflow templates.
Comments