In spring 2015, Matt Tucker, the Digital Initiative platform manager, interviewed Laura Day, a research fellow in Professor Clay Christensen鈥檚 Forum for Growth and Innovation at HBS from June 2014 to October 2015.
Tucker: What was your motivation in going to CES?
Day: I鈥檝e gone each of the past five years. Every year I like to go to CES because I want to understand more about the cutting-edge products that are coming out. This particular year, being here at the HBS Forum for Growth and Innovation, I am doing a deep dive industry analysis into the consumer robotics space. I鈥檓 particularly fascinated to understand how the industry is seeing the next generation of robotics and how we鈥檙e seeing that manifest itself in something like CES. Being able to actually touch and feel the products and see the energy in the room really helps me to think about what the next big thing is going to be.
Tucker: What was your feeling in terms of the commercial viability of the things you saw there? Because so many things that we think of as cutting edge don鈥檛 necessarily have the right application yet and that鈥檚 one of the things that you鈥檙e thinking about. How do you feel about the things that you saw at CES?
Day: From my background working for the military in basic and applied research, I鈥檓 familiar with that space of trying to figure out what鈥檚 possible from a technology, science and mathematics perspective鈥娾�斺�妑eally trying to push the envelope and the boundaries of what鈥檚 possible. The Consumer Electronics Show really showcases the breakthroughs in technology. I can relate to that excitement of, 鈥淥h, that鈥檚 really interesting. I haven鈥檛 seen that before.鈥� But when we think about the next step, from a business perspective, we have to go much further beyond just the technology. That鈥檚 where you shift from basic research to the actual applications of products and bringing new things to market.
There were a couple of things that I wanted to see from a product standpoint. There鈥檚 a company called Inmotion庐 and they鈥檝e come out with two products, the R2 and the V3, that look very similar to a Segway in many ways, but they鈥檙e a little bit smaller platform. The R2 has two wheels and you are standing on a platform whereas the V3 is more similar to a unicycle.
As I was walking around the booth, I kept looking for some indication that the lessons from the rise and fall of the Segway were incorporated into the R2. As others have noted, the form factor of the R2 is quite similar to the Segway, but more importantly the promotion posters included a laundry list of product features鈥娾�斺�妛hat was the top speed, how much does it weigh鈥� all of these features that we think about from the technical designer standpoint. The thing is consumers don鈥檛 think like that. We are all trying to make progress in our lives in some way or another.
Segway was a breakthrough technology, the first commercially available of its kind. I used the Segway extensively in military applications with a DARPA-funded project, even becoming a certified Segway trainer, so I definitely knew the product inside and out. Regarding the US consumer market, however, the Segway was a solution looking for a problem.
One of the theories that I believe especially applies to the technology world is the theory of Job-To-Be-Done. Former HBS Professor Ted Levitt famously said, 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want a quarter-inch drill bit, they want a quarter-inch hole!鈥� While this may seem obvious, you鈥檇 be surprised how often we forget that a product is bought to perform a service. Back to the Segway, you could keep iterating on this concept of saying, 鈥淗ey, this is half the price of a Segway,鈥� or, 鈥淚t鈥檚 smaller now, it鈥檚 more lightweight, so you can move it around,鈥� but you鈥檙e still not getting to the point: what is the Job that people have in their lives that they would hire your product for? I kept thinking, 鈥淥kay, great, but what comes after 鈥榗ool鈥�? How are you trying to help people?鈥�
Tucker: The thing that occurs to me as you鈥檙e saying that, especially in the dichotomy between 鈥淭his is cool鈥� and 鈥淭his helps me makes progress in my life,鈥� is how it plays into the adoption curve. The early adopters always go out and find that cool new thing鈥娾�斺�奺specially the mind candy at CES. But there鈥檚 a very strong role for Jobs To Be Done in making the jump on that curve, going from the early adopters to the majority.
Day: The scariest words for a marketer when asking a customer why he or she bought should be, 鈥淏ecause I thought it was cool,鈥� because you have no idea what that means. How do I design cool? How do I place cool? Also, if you don鈥檛 understand the causal mechanisms behind why people bought your product, you鈥檒l have no idea why they鈥檒l buy again. This will lead to a spike in sales and then a complete drop off鈥娾�斺�妝ou鈥檒l fall into the chasm!
Tucker: Cool is ephemeral.
Day: Your product hasn鈥檛 found a place in people鈥檚 lives who are trying to make progress on something. I think that that鈥檚 particularly applicable to the consumer drone space. In the commercial space, we鈥檝e seen some real applications. From a movie industry perspective, they鈥檙e actually able to find a job; they have a job that they want to hire the commercial drone for, which is something along the lines of, 鈥淚 need to be able to get these different shots and I鈥檓 willing to pay for it.鈥� Similarly, what you have with farming for example, farmers have always had a job to check on their crops, regardless of whether the drone was in existence or not. You think about that and you hire the drone to be able to do that.
When we think about it in the consumer space, again, we get back to that scary space of, 鈥淥h, it鈥檚 cool.鈥� It鈥檚 cool to have a drone鈥娾�斺�奍 could fly around take pictures鈥娾�斺�奲ut if it鈥檚 just fulfilling the job of 鈥渆ntertain me,鈥� then the competitive set really opens up. Does a drone compete with going to a movie? What are the social and emotional jobs people have? Do people fly drones in a social setting? Does a drone compete with rock-climbing, playing Wii, or even a Happy Hour? Understanding the causal reasons behind why people buy drones will really help the industry take-off. I really wanted to see more at CES around Jobs.