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This is important advice for consumer-ish software. But in other areas, it works differently. A product "grows up" as its original user cohort grows up, and that's OK. I saw this in the music creation software space. Products start simple out of necessity. They are a good fit for a cohort of users with simple needs. But as the user cohort advances, they need and want more powerful features. Typically companies add the features to create a "more professional" product, rather than see their existing users jump to a competitor. Of course after (say) 5 years of this, the product is no longer such a great fit for "beginners". So it creates space for a new product to step in, and with a fresh approach. Of course that new product will eventually accrete more features, too. Some manage it better than others, but they all become more complex. And so the wheel turns again. At the same time, plugins provide a safety valve, as well as a way to form partnerships. Plugins can be a way to give certain features an "audition" before maybe rolling them into the product itself (or bundling the plugin, maybe with somewhat tighter integration than before). TL;DR Products have a natural cohort of users. If the users grow up, the products do, too. Also plugins. |