How Bringing Smarter Products to the Market Drives Success

Today’s average consumer is better informed than ever, with the ability to conduct in-depth research before making a purchase. But many markets are already oversaturated with nearly identical products, meaning that finding new ways to appeal to your customers and attract new ones is more essential than ever. Building your SEO may be one way to widen your base and attract more attention, but to really stand out, you need to find a way to differentiate your products from the rest.

This is why research is so important when bringing new products to the market. Simply identifying a need and making a product to satisfy that need is not always enough. Especially when said need is something that is already served, even if not well. As such, it’s worth taking the time to not only figure out what your customers need but also to find ways to fully differentiate yourself from the competition in such a way that you truly bring value to the industry.

What makes the big industry leaders so successful? 

Products like the Nintendo Switch or the iPhone 13 are perfect examples of this mentality. While the markets for both of these items are crowded with high-quality competitors producing equally valuable products (looking at Sony and Samsung, respectively), both companies have been able to achieve massive sales and a market share that many competitors could only dream of. But how have they been able to accomplish this when many of their rival products are so similar?

The easiest way to explain this is that they took the time to really understand their audience, and they made a product that is not only different from their competition but also better suited for their customers. With Nintendo, they found that their audience is not only interested in playing games at home, but they also want to have the option to take their system with them on the go. So they designed their console with a hybrid approach. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a major innovation. Playing games on the go has been a mainstay since the Game Boy days. However, the addition of a console that allows customers to play in handheld mode or through their TV screen (with a modern and more powerful gaming system) was exactly what their customers needed.

Apple, on the other hand, rather than designing a product that is substantially different from what the competition is providing, simply took the time to understand their customers and designed an ecosystem that breathes simplicity and compatibility across multiple devices. One of the smartest things they ever did was to change their text color to blue. Having a blue color for their text messages, compared to Android’s green text, provides users with a sense of identity. Therefore, it gives the impression that if you’re part of the Apple community, you belong. This simple change (which is literally just a couple of lines of code) has allowed Apple to capture and retain a massive market share for over a decade, and with no signs of slowing down. 

Approaching product design not just with innovation, but also with intelligent design choices is a cornerstone of the NexiGo philosophy, and it’s why we have been able to find success in such a short period of time. With that said, we wanted to share how we approached this same idea of innovation and design with our newest 4K webcam, the NexiGo Iris.

The NexiGo Iris combines advanced features with an easy-to-use interface

So if you’re trying to design a new webcam, how can you differentiate yourself from the crowd in a way that will speak to your customers? Adding a tacky feature like a bottle opener or laser pointer to the webcam would make it unique from the competition, but that doesn’t mean it will provide any reason for existing in the first place.

Since most webcams require a lot of additional software to change all their settings, this can become a hassle for customers to deal with. That is why we designed a remote that controls an internal menu within the webcam itself. That way, you can control all your settings like brightness, exposure, and color saturation with a simple touch of a button. While this is not a major innovation, it provides the convenience of having everything you need in one device.

Beyond just the remote, we looked at the market and saw that people are developing careers in online streaming, so we designed the Iris with an HDMI port that provides uncompressed 4K video. Currently, it’s the only webcam on the market with this feature, but it’s something that most DSLR or mirrorless cameras offer, so having the option to record in the best quality possible is a necessary feature for many streamers out there. The great thing about having uncompressed video in a webcam means that content creators can produce higher-quality content without having to pay the price of a DSLR camera. So deciding to price the Iris more like a webcam than a DSLR makes it easier for customers to produce great content with the simplicity and affordability of a webcam.

We also built the Iris with the 1/1.8-inch sensor of any webcam on the market. This type of sensor provides customers with better low-light performance and a wider field of view, making it the perfect choice for professional conference calls and presentations. Again, this is something you would normally find in a DSLR, not a webcam. Therefore, customers who want better picture quality without having to learn all the intricacies of a DSLR can save lots of time and energy. 

The value of intelligence in production

We’re all trying to find ways to be unique from our competitors. And oftentimes, the answer is straightforward: making your customers’ needs the top priority. While there are easy ways of doing this that will allow you to capture part of your audience, finding ways to capture a broader base requires intelligent and creative decision-making. If you put in the time and effort to recognize what features customers are really looking for, you'll be able to secure a much wider audience. And when customers are faced with choosing a product, you’ll know that you’ve made their life just a little easier.