Aerial View Service Interface

    When the word interface sounds, you involuntarily imagine the interface of a program, site or device. I want to talk about a higher abstraction of this concept - the service interface. Many of the readers are involved in one way or another in the creation of various IT products: sites, programs, glands, and I want to tell them how to make a service interface instead of the above interfaces and what competitive advantage can be gained with it.



    Iota



    The reason to comprehend this problem was the entry of Yota into the market, which achieved an operational break-even for half a year.

    A month before this news, tired of waiting for 3G in Moscow, I bought a kit for Internet access. I was very surprised that instead of the dreary procedure of drawing up a contract, they simply gave me a blue box with a “modem” and sent it to connect. Arriving home, I was already ready to install drivers, register configurations, call support, but, instead, after I inserted the device into usb it just started the installation procedure, asked something there a couple of times and after 5 minutes it was connected to the Yota network, even opening me a site where I had to register as a user. After another 5 minutes, I paid for the service with a credit card and used the Internet to the full.

    At the same time, I absolutely do not know what tariffs Iota has, how many megabits I have speed, I have never called them in support. I just don’t have to. I have "Comfortable Internet for reasonable money."

    And when I realized that I did not use Yota far from every day, I just switched my account to the daily payment mode.

    Naturally, Iota has something to criticize for, but the fact that they did not just the WiMAX network and the devices that work in it, but the interface of their service is simply obvious. And they fit this interface into a small blue box and a personal account on the site.

    IPhone



    Another example of a service interface for me was iPhone. (I’ll say right away so as not to be convicted of the bias that I don’t have an iPhone and are not expected to.) As in the case of Iota, accessing a busy market for a product was difficult. But, here again, Apple did what other smartphone providers either did not have or were in a contraceptive state. Apple made the service interface. They provided the iPhone with a powerful AppStor platform, which allows the user to adapt the non-customizable device to their needs.
    Judge for yourself, thousands of programs for a variety of needs that are guaranteed to work and do not contain viruses with a convenient purchase and installation interface. What more could an average person who buys a smartphone for himself to help him solve his everyday tasks, and even those tasks that he does not even suspect about.

    The iPhone has squeezed the Windows Mobile market, but you know that. Services like AppStore appear and grow like mushrooms on yeast.

    Summary



    By no means do I want to say that Iota and iPhone are ideal services, but they set an example of how to act in order to enter and conquer a dense market. Moreover, I am sure that there are other cool companies that make cool services, but two examples are enough to make a conclusion.

    Guys, let's honestly admit. Many of us are geeks, users of our products are not. And do not give all users the desire to study the product, because they want to use it. What you do solves a problem (if it does not, then you are doing a meaningless thing). A website, a phone, a media player, a framework, anything - it’s just a tool that is part of the service for the user, and not the service itself. Rise above your product to a bird's eye view, see how the service as a whole looks. Does he lead the user by the hand all the way to the final goal, does he smooth out sharp corners, does he help the user in difficult moments, does he guess at what moments these difficulties may arise? Have you covered all the entry points or are you planning (Netbooks, smartphones)?

    Then go up another couple of kilometers and look at what your service depends on (additional programs, drivers, Internet connection), and figure out how it could work in “limited visibility conditions” or help the user overcome these obstacles.

    Competitive advantage



    If you make a good and useful unique product and show it to the public, then in a month or three a clone will certainly appear. If the service around your product is bad, then it will be easier for users to go to the clone. If the service is good, then the user will not feel the need to consider alternatives. And if you are the same clone, then your service will be the reason for the user to get over to you.

    PROFIT !!!

    see also:
    How to create a technological platform for a service in the broad sense (my comment in DBAG tips )

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