The ‘pretty good’ problem

By Marty Carroll

I’ve been reading a great book that I highly recommend you get hold of. It’s called ‘Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are” by Rob Walker. It’s a cracking book on a number of counts, but what’s particularly interesting is what Rob Walker describes as the “Pretty Good Problem”. He discusses how, when Consumer Reports tested 53 kitchen ranges a couple of years ago they found that all 51 were rated either ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ while two were rated ‘good’. None of the kitchens tested rated as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’.

When we started out in 2001, most of the work we did was focused on identifying and eliminating functional usability issues on websites. Our clients would usually ask us to conduct research to help them understand why people could not buy, register, subscribe, bet, book or whatever else, on their site. Our recommendations helped these brands make significant improvements to their respective conversion rates but the issues invariably had something to do with layout, terminology, process, content or functionality.

Nowadays, most websites are ‘pretty good’, meaning that most of the low hanging fruit has been picked. So why is it that people still choose one site over another or more importantly one brand over the other? The answer is not usability but rather the overall user experience offered. Relatively speaking, it’s much easier to conduct research to identify usability issues than it is to uncover why people feel compelled to choose one brand over another (and more importantly remain loyal to that brand over an extended period). The particular websites and brands people now use are not just consumer choices but are conscious expressions of who we want to be perceived to be. Of course, nobody in their right mind will disclose in a room full of strangers that they feel a pathological kinship with a particular brand, and as such, focus groups are almost useless as a market research technique in these circumstances.

Psychologists estimate that 85 percent of decision making occurs in the subconscious which means that most market research is tapping into 15 percent of what matters. We’re currently carrying out work using EEG (electroencephalography) which involves monitoring emotional response by measuring the electrical activity in the brain when presented with certain stimuli. Previously the preserve of laboratory experiments, we’re finding that it has direct applications in measuring customer experiences. For example, it’s possible to research three to four different design alternatives and conclusively show which elicits the most positive emotional response.

So here’s the bottom line: when you and all around you are ‘pretty good’ you need to know how to set yourself apart from the crowd!