The Challenge
Prologue Think Badass The User Journey
63
The Challenge
Prologue Think Badass The User Journey
The Badass User Curve
Remember: it’s about the bigger context.
Photography
Camera
Compelling Context
tool
Badass at THIS
Not just THIS
If your tool is complex, with its own challenging expertise curve,
you might have one learning curve with key milestones for using
your tool, and a different curve and milestones for the compelling
context.
If you haven’t yet dened your compelling context, make one up
as a placeholder to use for the rest of the book.
64
The Challenge
Prologue Think Badass The User Journey
The User Curve
The goal: up and to the right
She who gets her users further and faster up the curve has a
better chance for success.
Our company might have two curves to care about–one for
our product ( tool”) and one for the bigger context in which
it’s used. If our product is quick and easy to master, we can
focus exclusively on helping users with the compelling context
curve. But if our tool is complex or difcult with a potentially
long learning and mastery curve, we’ll need to think about
where our users are on both curves.
Ability
Time
First exposure
Years
Beginner
Master
We want THIS
Not these
65
The Challenge
Prologue Think Badass The User Journey
What is your user curve like today?
Imagine a camera maker that markets inexpensive point-and-
shoot cameras. The company nailed the usability, and developed
an excellent user guide and online video tutorials.
Their motto is: “user must be taking pictures within 12 minutes”
and everything the company does is focused on that goal. New
users go from unboxing to taking pictures immediately. Their
users move up the camera (tool) curve more quickly than their
competitors’ users.
But the company does nothing to help users advance their
photography skills. Their users have no new abilities and results
to show off or talk about.
Example: ctional entry-level camera maker:
Ability
Time
First exposure
Years
Newbie
Master
Camera skills
(super easy to use)
Photography skills
(no support for
helping users improve
their photography)
Compelling Context
tool
66
The Challenge
Prologue Think Badass The User Journey
Draw your current user curves
For your product/service
Ability
Time
First exposure
Years
Newbie
Master
Compelling Context
tool
For the compelling context
Ability
Time
First exposure
Years
Newbie
Master

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