To make new or to go the same old proven route? What do you do as a customer or a creator?

[Poenald Palen]

I want to change some things about a car, but then again...I dont' want the features to never be used or understood!

So, I ask here: What do you, the user or creator, experience with new features and different ways of using an item?

Innovation or just plain old being different in a useful way, is it worth it to break from the status qou? Did it cause you to not enjoy a object? Did your customers not understand things?

Do you wish you had the old product, the new one is worse?

Any response is welcome, thank you...well, ok I guess way of topic ones are not as welcome...unless they are funny!

[Knowl Paine]

My first thought when I see New written on or describing a product that was fine, is: some 85k per year new product developer is being lead by a 285k per year Marketing Director who found a new artificial chemical, sweetner, fiber or filler to adulterate, dillute, degrade and pollute the Company's product to increase revenue.

 

A good video on the Status Quo

 High volume Warning: I didn't realize it is loud.

 

 

 

part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ArLXug9y8&feature=grec_index

 

[Randall Ahren]

Whether customers buy your products is merely an indicator of the rightness of your efforts. It is effect, not cause. You don't need anyone to tell you what is good and what is not good. The test of a build is the satisfaction it gives you. If the build produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong. Just build it.

[Void Singer]

new features are fine, but heavens help you when you change how users access those features....

if you must change how they access them, addition is better than subtraction, and if the methods change, then offering a way to use legacy methods is preferred. that applies to  upgrading existing owned content... content that is for sale... have at it, and see if it survives through the next market cycle

[Poenald Palen]

@Void: Ah, but adding some things can have a percieved effect though. I mean, you add a texture and some will claim "more lag!" and so on lol. Som stuff you can prove, which is no big deal. But sometimes...well, I remember people arguing about avatar height effecting a products lap times. This was in races with winnings. Some have won the equivelent to hundreds of dollars, so this gets a bit upsetting with soem people. No, one wants to put money into something that is almost rigged, they want a chance to win and that is why they are racing spec series stuff that is supposed to be equal. So, yeah...it is an odd mess with some things.

@Knowl: Chemicals? Yeah, the old wholesome old fashioned stuff is maybe with food. Digital? New is better, usually. You get better, faster, more detialed, more features, smoother runnig in most cases. But software and stuff like internet? not sure. But chips, new is sort of better. Some people say no, but compared to previus digital is what I mean.

@Randell. Yeah, this is sometimes the issue, all things being equal and having data that can be trusted to indicate what is up with the new features. This is far far easier said than done though lol.

I gues I also notice that context is so important that this question and posting such a vague question was a bit of a waste. But the idea is sort of any stories, thoughts experiences so it seems to have worked because there are some interesting thoughts.

[Knowl Paine]

Sorry for having disappointed you with vague answers.

A new car or vehicle idea would be great. I don't mind updates or having to learn new things to use a new product.

You should have a product line for traditional buyers who resist change.

If you have a idea you should pursue it, if it is a success, all your competitors will say it was their idea.

I have a car idea, my idea is to put the script in the engine and buyers could pick their favorite chassis and then choose from many different engines with different performance features. The engines would interchange from one car to another car. I know that the script can be changed for performance but it is not as fun.

 

I have constructed several combustion engine models in SL. The engines are static models. I could show them to you if you are interested.   

[Poenald Palen]

@Knowl. Thread Makers Remorse is a bit of an exageration, just sort of sort of pondering the whole issue of what works, what fails and how there isn't a rule...or is there? So all answers are interesting to me, but I read my OP and don't like it.

As for you inventions...I rarely speak to anyone in world and will most likely continue with that. I used to, which is why I have some stuff I post, but I seem to lurk/listen more. Which brings me back to why I post less and don't bother making threads and also pondering how I spent my time the past few weeks!

[Void Singer]

stories eh... I'll give you a great one...

once upon a time there was a product that was well loved by it's users, but it's creators thought it was too difficult and too different for people to be able to get used to it. The product makers had some great ideas for adding new features, but they also got a bit too caught up in marketing hype, and they drastically changed how the product looked and how people operated it. in this process they completely abandoned fixing the previous version, but even though they had spent a lot of time working on the new one, it still had all the old problems and plenty of new ones too. still they rushed forth and made it the standard. the only problem is that they now had all the old problems to fix, and several new ones, plus they were trying to introduce even more new features, which not only took time away from fixing the current problems, but also introduced new ones. many users abandoned the new product for more stable products by other creators, creating a large rift in use and adoption.

ok, so you've heard this story before. but there is a moral to it... when upgrading your product incrementally, you must always be sure to stabilize new features as you go, and account for all use cases. (and I sorely hope someone at LL reads this little tale because frankly, they could use the lesson, not that they are the only ones guilty of it)