"New and Improved:" Genuinely Better or a Response to Boredom?

Sometimes I find myself reading advertisements, or even just strolling the aisles of the supermarket, and I see the words "new and improved" sprayed across some product I've used for quite a long time.

Whenever I see this, a variety of thoughts invariably go through my head... including the very real possibility that I'm about to become annoyed...

Why do these products get "improved" all the time? Was there something wrong with them to begin with? I ask that, because most of the time I'm actually quite satisfied with the product the way it is and I'm actually not particularly interested in anything being changed about it, particularly not if I have to learn something new in the way I'm using it!

Which leads me to the next question that enters my mind: Are these products really improved and better, or are the makers just adding features that people might not care about because they're afraid that their consumer base is getting bored?

There's little doubt that boredom is becoming more and more of an issue in our fast-moving modern world. When I was a kid, it was unlikely you'd get bored with a much of anything. Sure, maybe we got bored with school but when we were out of school we didn't have much trouble inventing something to do.

When it comes to such things as product design, I often wonder why the need to change things so much.

Many years ago, when I had a gift shop in Austin, Texas, one of the things we did quite frequently was change the store design completely around. We did this maybe twice or three times a year. The logic was that people would get tired of looking at the store laid out the same way.

In truth, it was faulty logic. After all, most people who go to a shop only visit there once in awhile and since they generally have a purpose to find something, they're not too concerned with what the store design looks like.

After a while, the store staff and I decided that it was a more likely excuse that we were changing the design of the store around because we were getting bored with it!

Of course, part of the risk in making changes is that you annoy people more than you actually make them happy.

Have you ever run into this scenario: You go to your local supermarket to do your shopping and since your last visit they've changed around where everything is located in the store. When that happens in my local supermarket I don't find it "exciting" at all... I find it annoying because suddenly it takes twice as long for me to do the shopping because I can't find anything anymore!

Change only really works if it is done for a specific and tangible purpose. Otherwise, you're pretty much just wasting your time and you're even running a risk that you're making your customers annoyed!

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about you? Do you think "new and improved" things really ARE improved? Do you welcome changes to the familiar, or do they annoy you? Do leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)
Created at 2023.06.05 11:59 PST
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