Use, usability, meaning – one of the more useful frameworks I’ve come across
One of the most useful classes I took in graduate school was Needfinding with Michael Barry.
One framework he taught to analysis both product innovation and adoption is use, usability, meaning.
Consider a chair. Think of the crazy variety that exists. Why would a person choose one chair over another? Use, pretty straightforward, they are serve the primary use of resting your butt down. Usability, how easy or hard it is, how the material feels, do they stack, indoor or outdoor, how do the colours make you feel? Etc. Meaning, what does it mean to you? Does finally buying an Adirondack mean you have arrived in life? Is an antique a family heirloom that reminds you of your grandfather. Etc.
Now the interesting bit is, these three are always at play, and as a product designer, if you haven’t thought through these lenses, you may be creating the most remarkable solution or product but fail to get adoption. Barry shared an example of some white person innovation in a third world country to grind some crop easily, but the meaning was that women in the village would get together and grind that crop as a social activity. You made something “easy to do” when hard to do was a feature!
Got reminded of this because a friend send me one more attempt at solving ghar ka khaana issue in India. He is going to have it freshly cooked, range of dishes, delivered in 10 mins, perfect for double-income no kids blah blah. But hasn’t looked at the meaning layer at all