Product Headroom

I was thinking about ways products fit into our lives. What I was thinking of as focus and headroom are one way to think about the motivational forces known as push and pull (see Bob Moesta). Push is wanting to scratch an immediate itch, which causes me to focus on specific aspects of a product. Pull activates my imagination, which creates headroom for my relationship with the product to grow.

Think about how people buy a house. On the one hand is the “push” for change — perhaps you urgently need a room for a child or a home office. Getting a larger space will immediately satisfy this need. The amount of space is one of the criteria you will focus on.

Once that is out of the way, though, you are “pulled” by the potential of the change. You see yourself going to the local park, planting tomatoes in that sunny spot… You see room to grow, which is a comfort. In a product, this is a competitive advantage.

Various research shows that decisions are largely emotional (see Gerald Zaltman). Even purchasing enterprise software, because it’s hard to imagine or anticipate how the software will be used, which creates tension — What features do I need? Will they make things better? How much do I pay? But beyond the specifics, there is an emotional pull. Maybe it’s “this software will help me be a better leader” or “this software will help our team stay better connected as we continue to grow”. There’s headroom.

Or to take a physical product, like a synthesizer. Mine has 4 voices and a randomization feature that makes it easier to create novel sounds. These features create headroom, which makes it feel less like something that scratches an immediate itch and more like an investment, something I can grow with.

Headroom is the part that feels free, like it’s inherent in the design and doesn’t require a trade-off. If you say “You can get extra stuff for $X more”, then that’s just upselling. That’s not headroom. It’s tension. It makes you question what you really want and whether its worth the cost.

A nice yard in a house you’re considering is not like that. The yard can’t be removed. It’s a given, which liberates my “pull” forces. I believe we should make a special effort to highlight or create headroom where possible. Things that are natural are modifiable, flexible, movable. I believe the practice of monetizing every aspect of a thing makes it unnatural and is ultimately counterproductive.