Hacker News Reader

Comment by joegibbs | Hacker News Reader

I think avoid any kinds of buzzwords like AI, high tech, whatever and just focus on what it actually does, which is a lot more impressive.

You can try to wow the customer with a bunch of words but it’s all fluff - and everyone is implementing AI now, and usually these “implementations” are ChatGPT with RAG on the docs or something else that everyone’s done before. What you end up getting is only slightly better than typing in chatgpt.com.

If you’ve managed to get something that solves a problem just explain what it does to solve that.

View on HN

you don't realize it, but you are suggesting bog standard marketing advice: "Customers don't buy features, they buy benefits. You need to point out how your product benefits the customer." Around here that would correspond to "addressing pain points"

"People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they want to buy a quarter-inch hole." - Ted Levitt HBS

I guess even big corps like Microsoft need this reminder. GitHub's front page says "The world’s leading AI-powered developer platform."

They probably ran A/B test and this wording led to increased registrations rate.

Not sure why everyone instantly assumes product teams are not aware of marketings basics. It is consumers driving how the products evolve, not the other way around.

I think that's a very forgiving perspective.

Product teams are often wrong, and A/B tests can lead to inferior long term solutions.

As always, it's best to criticize the idea, not the people.

> "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they want to buy a quarter-inch hole."

Nah, speaking for plenty of guys, I'd say we want the drill. Maybe with an impact hammer too, of we can afford it. :)

> which is a lot more impressive.

Ah, well, there you run into a problem. Generally consumer ‘AI’ is pointless, and is there only because the markets are (or at least were; there are some indications that this may be ending) fixated on AI.

There may well be valid applications of consumer AI, but I don't think we've seen any good ones yet. Most consumer products currently clearly use AI as a marketing buzzword.

Most blatant example I've seen is Logitech's AI mouse.

Yeah, it's the same way that ".com" or "online" used to be buzzwords too, that nowadays just feel kind of cheap. If most things have AI, then simply saying you have AI doesn't really mean much. Sell the solution, not the technology, etc.

Reminds me of ancient motels (with signage that probably hasn't been updated in decades) that proudly announce that their rooms are air conditioned and have color tv. Not that those aren't nice to have, but they are pretty much expected today.

The Kano Model in action: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano_model

Reply on news.ycombinator.com