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Two nights ago, our daughter asked if we could get up early to see the sunrise over the ocean.
After the "sure?", my brain kicked into overdrive: "And what do you mean by sunrise?" (I'm thankful my kids know me.)
A Google search or two later:
"I'm just wondering if you want to be there when it first starts going from totally dark to any light at all, or when you can no longer see the stars, or when the orb of the sun first starts to show over the horizon?"
In an instant, I had recreated the thing I hate š about fast casual food chains: options and complexity.
For A Good Cause, Though?
Hovering over the pirate's booty of dawn definitions, it's true that I was behaving like the short-order assembler with the shredded lettuce and guac at Chipotle. For I was attempting to create happiness through choice. My daughter couldn't possibly just want "a sunrise", the same way the average (nay, normal) visitor to Chipotle doesn't want "a burrito" ... right?
"okay, dad, i just want to see when part of the sun first starts showing"
Was she humoring me? Or was it vindication? I didn't stop to wonder.
"Awesome, we should aim to be at the beach by 5:47am then. Who else is coming?"
Expertise & Choice
My newfound "expertise" gave me the opportunity to create choice, and I took it, because (1) the sun doesn't wait for anyone, (2) her hopes and expectations were tied to a moment she had pictured in her mind's eye: "I want to be there when ..." and yet (3) there's more than one valid answer to the question.
Whether we choose to bundle (remove choice) or unbundle (create choice) for our early adopters isn't a one-time strategic product decision. It's a pattern that repeats itself up and down our product and services stacks: what's included, what's not, what does this feature do, what will it never do, do they even know what this means, do they value this arrangement?
When you see a lack of enthusiasm, ask yourself if you should be creating more choice for your customers. As you approach market fit, their vision of what this could be will begin to rival your own. Don't miss your opportunities to let them build too.