Badass: Making Users Awesome

41

The Challenge

Prologue



The ski guy and possibly others

Being better is Better

Being better means better results.

But being better is about more than just results. Being more

skillful, more knowledgeable, more advanced is itself an

intrinsically rewarding experience. The ability to make ner

distinctions in what you can see, hear, taste, perceive in the

environment can feel like a superpower.

When you’re more skilled at something, it’s as though a part of

your world got an upgrade. It’s as though pre-badass-you had

been experiencing the world in Standard and now a part of the

world has become High Resolution.

42

The Challenge

Prologue



Badass means higher resolution.

Badass means deeper, richer experiences.

classical music expert

“hears” more in the music

than most of us

Badass is about more than just results

The better you get at [x], the more detail you perceive in [x].

Greater detail is one of the most overlooked benets of being

better. To the human (and animal) brain, the ability to “pick-up”

more from the environment is deeply rewarding.

While the ability to gain more resolution in music is an obvious

benet, having a higher-res experience of nearly anything makes

that experience more pleasurable.

43

The Challenge

Prologue



The wine sommelier smells and

tastes more than most of us.

High-res is like a superpower

While most people see

stars as the lights in the

night sky, an astronomer

sees a rich pattern

of named stars and

constellations.

To those who don’t know chess,

it’s just pieces arbitrarily placed

on the board, but to a strong

chess player, a glance at a good

game in progress is lled with

tension and intrigue.

(Side-effect: a good chess player

watching a movie will notice if the

chess game in the scene shows a

“real” game, and they notice when

the pieces aren’t in the same

place between shots.)

44

The Challenge

Prologue



Higher resolution means higher-end products

Appreciation

for higher-end

versions, add-ons,

upgrades, etc.

User Knowledge/Skill

(for the bigger context)

low

high

none

deep

“why would I ever need more?”

“Maybe I could do cool

things if I upgraded”

“I NEED the Pro version”

“I will nd the money!

This is so much more

powerful”

“I’m helping design

& test their advanced

plug-ins”

Don’t just upgrade your product,

upgrade your users.

The better you get at [x], the more distinctions you perceive in

[x]. Enhanced perception means the ability to appreciate the

value of higher-end and/or more advanced versions of products.

An audiophile, for example, might perceive a substantial

difference between two speaker systems, while a non-audiophile

swears the speakers are identical.

45

The Challenge

Prologue



Badass users talk. They’re our best source of authentic, unincentivized

word of mouth. The word of mouth our “formula” depends on.

But there’s something even better than word of mouth...

Another benet of badass:

Badass users won’t shut up

I have to get that.

Did you see my latest video? I love

the new color grading app I used.