“That’s just look and feel”

The “real” thing is what’s running behind it. Or so they say.

I you subscribe to thins thinking, you may be missing a fundamental fact. User Interface, or where people interact with something, is where adoption lives, and is the doorway to exponential growth. If people don’t enjoy using something, they may use it a few times while they need to, but there is no amount of training or wrangling that will keep them doing it.

If you are still not convinced, let me give you a few examples:

The Internet. The network of interconnected computers was founded in 1969, under its original ARPANET umbrella. No one used it. Once it changed the interface, and it had bulletin boards and “gopher” pages, usage ticked up a bit, but the true growth only happened once the Web Browser (Mosaic) came to life. That was mostly a change in the interface.

Automobiles. Have an internal combustion engine about to blow up and spewing fumes, with some complicated levers, and only a few enthusiasts use it. Change the interface a bit, add a roof, a better seat and a steering wheel, and now you have -mostly men- jockeying- them. Change the interface even more, add automatic transmission, electric starter motor, and all kinds of amenities, and now you have a 15-year old supplicating to drive for a date.

Bank transfers. Used to be a thing you did at a branch, and that only expert operators would venture to do. Sure, security, double entry avoidance, encryption, and ubiquitous access are important, but make it available in a form that almost looks like sending a TXT, and you get Venmo.

The digital camera. Your lugging it around, have a separate thing to recharge, you also have to download files on your computer. Only for the true enthusiast. Merge it with the Smartphone, and you get an explosion of images.

The interface matters. A lot. Make sure you get it right.