Plot Twists

Posted March 18th, 2008 by Chris Gurney

Just the other day I remembered that my iPod (Shuffle) had a Hold feature. Since there’s no button on the device that initiates this mode (you have to hold down the Play button for 3 seconds), I had completely forgotten that it even existed.

The point is, even though it was a simple thing — and sure, not that exciting — I found it cool that I had (re)discovered a feature of a product I already owned.

Think about movies: Part of the fun of watching a good flick is not knowing what’s going to happen next. And hopefully the plot of a movie is one of its best features!

So, this makes me wonder, can “feature discovery” be designed into a product, such that it provides a rewarding experience for the user without intentionally hiding useful functionality?

How could you add plot twists to your product?

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