Creating Business Value Through Modes
Chapter 6: People Spend Most of Their Time in Modes
Dear Friends,
This is the third post in the Experience Strategy Book project on modes. I’ve written quite a bit about modes in many places and some of you know me principally for my work on modes. In fact, some of you wondered why I started the book with four chapters that didn’t emphasize modes. I did so because I think modes become far more understandable as a value proposition when companies understand the principles of situational markets, point of view, time well spent, and getting the whole job done.
Creating Business Value Through Modes
For companies today there are three important reasons strategists should focus on modes. First and foremost: Customers want and need modes. They get into modes because modes feel like time well spent. Companies inundate customers with tech-driven “services and experiences,” but most of these services and experiences are not properly tailored to them. Or they are designed to prompt the customer to have a meaningful moment, when people really just want to get into a mode. They want to do something. Customers need companies to be far more aware of their individual circumstances.
The second reason is related. As advanced technologies like AI become more important to business models, modes provide an interface of sorts between the individual and the technology. The proper support of customer modes will keep people in control of their lives and ensure that technology serves a positive purpose.
And the third reason: value creation.
Over the last two decades modern economies have become, as was predicted by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore in their revolutionary book, experience economies. The greatest economic value is derived from customizing experiences for individuals. Most companies today either already try to customize their experiences for people or plan to do so. Supporting a customer’s modes makes it possible to customize experiences to the particular needs that someone has in the moment. It’s the smart way to truly understand the situation the customer finds themselves in.
Some strategists within companies may believe that they already create an intimate relationship with their customers because they ‘personalize’ the experience for them. They are proud to provide unique messages or features for people based on their past activities and preferences. When you get a message in your inbox that addresses you by name and references a past purchase you made, the company who sent it personalized it. But I doubt you or anyone else is overly impressed. That level of personalization feels the same for everyone. It is no longer unique. Modes support, on the other hand, is about individualization or customizing the experience to allow the customer to control the experience based on their current state of being. Modes are the way people want you to customize their experience.
A quick clarification: Modes on devices are not the same as modes that people get into. The first is a software feature; the second is a human mindset and set of behaviors. A person might turn their phone to airplane mode because they want to relax and not be bothered by texts and phone calls. They are in relaxation mode while their device is set to airplane mode. The device modes support the individual’s modes. That’s key. That’s customization. And they value that kind of customization. Great companies who design for modes are creating tremendous value — and are incredibly successful market leaders in their industries because of it. Here are just a few companies that cater to modes and whose customers love them for it:
Apple’s Focus modes for iPhones, iPads, and computers are fantastic for users. They allow people to control the annoying messages and interruptions that inundate their lives. The default settings: Do Not Disturb, Work, Personal, and Sleep modes do a good job of turning off the apps that are disturbing people’s abilities to focus and prioritizing the apps most likely to be used while in those modes. They are a welcome relief for those who feel overwhelmed by the buzzing of their tools. Apple Focus Modes can be created, adapted, and customized. The user gets to decide what’s in and what’s out.
Their popularity and widespread usage send a signal to all other companies: Devices will increasingly use modes to screen out other services and tools that don’t feel appropriate in the moment. The result? If your solution doesn’t support modes that your customers want, you are going to be eliminated from the phone or computer’s app queue, albeit temporarily.
Tesla’s entire business model is moving toward modes. The automotive company excited fans by launching a Ludicrous mode for their cars in 2015. The ability to get to 60 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds gave drivers such a rush that the car actually felt like it had superpowers. Since 2015 Tesla has added a variety of modes, each for an additional fee. Plaid mode can go to 203 miles per hour in a Model S. Like other auto companies, Tesla provides standard and sport modes for their vehicles. But they also provide Chill mode, Super Speed mode, Insane mode, Insane +, and Launch mode. And these are just for acceleration. Dog mode is available if you need to leave your dog in the car while you shop. Camp mode, Sentry mode, and Keep Climate On mode allow the user to control electrical outlets and climate while they are camping, waiting, or doing stuff in the car besides driving. Drivers have options. Tesla’s modes create opportunities for people to get into their own modes and to feel like they have superpowers. (I’ll discuss superpowers in detail in a later chapter. The two concepts are connected.)
And Tesla charges for modes. Elon Musk recently stated that the company plans to make the hardware of the car as affordable as possible and generate more and more income from software features, most of which will be modes. Of course, the mode that Tesla is seeking to perfect is Self-Driving mode. In 2022, Self-Driving mode likely accounted for 1.4 billion dollars in revenue[1]. And that revenue is recurring revenue! Pretty good for a car company.
Support for customer modes are the future of subscription models. They are the future of ongoing value creation for any company that deploys technology because they support temporary engagement. Which is what people want.
As an alternative, let’s consider Amazon. The company does not do a good job of designing for modes. You cannot adjust your shopping experience. You don’t have a lot of control over Prime Video. Audible doesn’t understand listening modes. Amazon Music only really captures your preferences and past selections. And while Alexa can respond to commands and has skills, there’s nothing analogous to what Tesla is doing.
What Amazon does do is support people across different parts of their lives. You can shop, watch a show, check out a book, listen to music, manage your smart home, manage your car (if it includes Alexa), and more. Though disjointed, Amazon’s vast array of retail, home, travel, and content assets, along with its recent push into healthcare, creates the potential for supporting customer modes across various parts of their lives. People create systems to manage their lives. They have systems for consumption, health & wellbeing, finances, relationships, entertainment, home management, and on and on. At Stone Mantel, we call these life systems. They include inputs, feedback loops, patterns, tools, routines, and, of course, modes, that people intentionally design to keep their lives going.
Although Amazon doesn’t support modes directly, their tools are easily integrated into people’s life systems, which allows people to get into a variety of modes. If they were more effective at helping people customize their life systems (health, shopping, and home management), Amazon would have the first genius platform for living life. It would become a platform of superpowers for many of its customers.
Video games are full of modes, which helps explain the longevity and allegiance of many users to their favorites. I choose The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a game available on Nintendo, as my next example. I could have chosen any video game, but my four-year-old grandson loves to play The Legend of Zelda with his dad. It is so fun to watch the two of them play. Henry climbs up on the couch next to his dad and voices his excitement. Dad, with controller in hand, asks son where he’d like to go next. They explore and solve riddles. They laugh when they find a treasure. For father and son, it’s not just a game. It’s a bonding mode.
Gaming is a mode that people get into. But gamers would argue they get into a variety of modes, supported by the videogame technology which is full of mode features. Almost all video games have story mode. There’s hard mode, easy mode, puzzle mode, and multiplayer mode. Anyone who has played a video game knows that based on the choices you make and your abilities, you get additional powers and privileges. When you advance you generally get more control over your situation. Video games provide the venue for people to experiment, design, and adapt. Not feeling particularly up for socializing with other players today? You can adjust the game to fit what feels good in the moment.
Spotify and Zoom both use mode features to customize experiences. Spotify offers discovery mode, blend mode, cross fade mode, and DJ mode. These features create variety for the listener, which helps the listener stay in focus modes longer, transition to new modes, and differentiate between states of being. Zoom has focus mode for students, large group/webinar mode, and musical/podcast mode. Without these features, Zoom and Spotify would be limiting their solutions to very specific use cases and opening themselves up to new competitors who have a wider appeal.
The interface for adjusting to a user’s situation is modes. Let me re-emphasize: software features (often called modes) are not the same as the temporary states that people get into (also modes). But the features do encourage and support the needs that people have for temporary engagement. People who understand their own modes know that a big part of what makes temporary engagement work is that you can adjust to any situation. A virtual environment shifts based on customer controls. The customer adjusts based on how he or she feels, who is present, and other circumstances. Gamers, listeners, users, and pretty much everyone today want other parts of their lives to be equally as responsive as their best digital tools.
Consider Zwift, the indoor biking and running training software. People’s expectations of indoor cycles have forever been changed by Peloton. They expect indoor cycles to be virtual havens of content and community. For avid road cyclists the preferred indoor trainer is Zwift. They can mount their own bike onto the Zwift hub and then use the Zwift virtual world app to cycle through virtual renditions of famous places and cities. A great workout also becomes fun. Zwift uses content and tools to challenge the rider to move through the game-like experience.
Zwift understands its users incredibly well because biking has always been about modes. Cyclists, like all athletes, get into specific modes to help them endure and conquer. They develop a mindset and a set of behaviors that fits the terrain and the challenge. Throughout the ride, they adjust their gears, their bodies, and sometimes even their seats to eke out improved performance. And then they adjust again, addressing hills, fellow cyclists, temperatures, and fatigue. Zwift helps cyclists recreate those conditions so that they can build muscle memory and tenacity. It works with their modes.
People who perform at high levels know how to create and adapt their own modes. They have trained themselves to work, adjust, or think in certain ways. And they turn off those modes when they are done. Even though they are practiced and honed, these are not habits or routines. They are special states of mind and behavior reserved for specific situations.
My last example of a company that supports modes is LG Electronics. In every new LG television sensors and software adjust the visual and audio experience to the content and environment of the viewer. If the viewer is playing a video game, the TV automatically adjusts the visual experience to improve the interactive nature of gaming. If the viewer is watching a movie, the visual experience shifts to cinema-like quality. Adjustments also take into consideration how light or dark the room is. These viewing modes have been available in TVs for a while, but LG’s offering is unique. They are automating the TV experience to fit the type of content being shared. Instead of automating the picture based on the last viewing experience, LG has gotten wise and assigned specific modes to specific types of content, rendering a much better overall experience for the viewer.
Modes signal context. Context is how intelligent solutions know what to customize. Say, for example, a person decides to watch a movie. They choose it from their queue. That choice signals to the software several potential modes the person is likely to be in. They are also providing clues about their context: watching a movie might mean they are relaxing or have dimmed the lights or would appreciate more robust surround sound. When customers are in modes, they want their tools to pick up those clues and adjust accordingly.
[1] https://www.trefis.com/data/companies/TSLA/no-login-required/lxDfIQvB/How-Big-Is-Tesla-s-Software-Business-
To be continue …
Love “Modes signal context”
Very concise, but is everything