omers vs. for customers
Every business faces a moment when it must make a decision: Are you there to give your customers what they want, or are trying to do something with customers to squeeze extra revenue?
It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to lower your prices. Your customers may want to pay more but still get more.
It means that you can use your brand, your interface, your software and the network effect you have to create ways to help people who would miss you if you left.
It is not surprising that companies use software, dark patterns and AI for things that increase their profits. It’s not surprising that many companies are putting software, dark patterns and AI to work on things that improve their profit.
Amazon has been testing a new way of showing reviews for the products it sells.
This is what it looks like:
Instead of this:
It is subtle, but can have a big impact on the merchants’ profits and what we purchase.
The new format requires your brain to convert the number 4.6 from a simple image into something that has emotional weight and weight-a collection stars.
The work is already done in the old format. This more concrete visualisation allows our brains to draw emotional conclusions much faster. The second illustration is rated higher than the first one, if you compare the two.
The new format will mean that the higher-rated products won’t be as dominant. This will encourage other vendors to run ads and coupons (which Amazon profits from) rather than either game the reviews or make a better product.
If a company is making it difficult to cancel, pushing unnecessary options (“362 people have signed up for insurance …”)”), or hustling people, then they have forgotten what brought them here.
Organizations that only serve themselves will eventually lose their ability to serve others.
