Defeating fatigue case study

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Manufacturers tend to increase the capabilities of their products to make them competitive neglecting the fact that this might impact negatively the company’s long term profitability. To overcome this dilemma, managers should follow the happy medium strategy to achieve a lasting prosperity which is composed of five main steps. To best illustrate how the happy medium strategy can be implemented, I chosed the e-shopping Jumia website, and here are the features that Jumia website may consider:

- The Bow and Drape feature that allows customers to customize a specific look by choosing from different type of apparels as well as choosing the colour, size length etc… and create their final look

- The virtual try on feature since the number one limitation of online shopping is the inability to try on clothes or accessories, customers can upload their pictures and virtually wear the clothes and accessories.

- The three dimensions images feature of a product to allow visitors stimulating how they would use a product like mobile phones and digital cameras.

- Product for rent feature for people who want to look fashion forward in a specific occasion without spending too much money.

Considering these 4 features, Jumia website can proceed the implementation based on the happy medium strategy. The first step is considering the long-term customer equity and not just customers’ initial choices by using the analytical model discussed above to determine the exact number of feature that should be added. Second, building simpler products, which refers to providing products that are easy to use and require as little as possible from the user; for Jumia to include those features, they should make them easy to use without any registration requirements or any kind of information unless if they have to. Third, giving consumers decision aids to help customers understand what they want in terms of features needed in a specific product; in this case, Jumia can offer the recommendation agents option to ask people about their preferences and what features they actually need to be added. Forth, designing products that do one thing very well, while developing new features, Jumia should not lose sight of their core function which is shopping; these features should be developed in a way that they support the main function of the website rather than being a source of distraction. Finally, Use prototypes and product-in-use research; Jumia should give it customers the opportunity to test the four features; by exposing them to the direct experience with these features, they will have a more concrete mental representations, thing that will minimize the gap between the customer’s perception with regard to capability and utility before and after the usage of the features.

Appendix

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References

Ming, L.; Liya W. (2011). Feature fatigue analysis in product development using Bayesian networks. Expert Systems with Applications. 10631–10637

Debora, V.; Thompson, R.; Hamilton, R. (2009). When product capabilities become too much of a good thing. Journal of Marketing Research. 10-36

Mingxing, W.; Liya, W.; Huijun, L.; Ming, L. (2015). Feature fatigue analysis in product development. 218-232

http://www.marketingnerd.co.uk/how-to/avoiding-and-combatting-feature-fatigue-on-your-website/