Today we’re looking at how on top of an utilitarian item, a layer of nostalgia, feelings and emotions is added on top to bring people together.
The disclaimer beforehand is that I’m no keyboard expert or aficionado which makes me the perfect person to write this. I’ve only experienced a bit of both before deciding without any external influence.
The mechanical keyboard looks like this and it’s become the loving child of a couple of communities. A lot of gamers are into them, some writers feel like they could type “faster and better” (?!?) and some people simply get them because they love the clicky sound. Here’s three excerpts from random people:
“[On mechanical keyboards] Since the key gives you feedback (sound) when pressed enough to register, you don’t need to press as hard or extend your fingers as fully. You can lighten your touch, and just press enough to make the key work.”
“The money comes in when you start to treat it like a hobby – there is then a HUGE customising culture, different switches and feels, different layouts, different keysets etc etc.”
“Because Nostalgia! They sound and feel like a typewriter. My co-workers like them for gaming, and suggested I get one since I love my typewriter so much. They were right! I love it, and feel so productive hearing my cadence of thoughts!”
One might be quick to judge these people. I’m sure some don’t understand my hobbies just as I don’t get these people with their keyboards – but they love them. They’re emerging themselves into the sound and the haptic feedback and, to some extent, even the visual appearance. It’s a hobby for a niche that’s giving pleasure and stimuli.
Can they type on a basic cheap
Do they want to? No.
They like experiencing this package of emotions and stimuli. And for that, they’re developing communities, articles, videos etc.
If we’d have access to the rates of customer churn on keyboards, surely the mechanical ones would have it lower – simply for developing this experience.
What’s your product’s clicky sound feedback?
About Ch Daniel
I run chagency, an experiences design agency that specialises on helping tech CEOs reduce user churn. We believe experiences are not only the reason why users choose not to leave but also what generates word of mouth. We’re building a credo around this belief.
I’ve also created an infinitely-valuable app for sneaker/fashion enthusiasts called Legit Check that impacted hundreds of thousands over millions of times – check it out at chdaniel.com/app
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