What is the key to creating products and services that customers love?

My answer: Specificity.

What do I mean?

Focus on helping 1 customer with a specific problem that occurs at a specific time and place.

Think about it. What are the solutions you love? Are they specific to you, a specific struggle of yours, and a particular time and place in your life?

Here are 3 examples of what is vague and unspecific. Any solution is likely to be bland and boring.

• Patients trying to manage their disease

• Parents trying to educate their children

• Businesses trying to make money

Here are 3 examples that are great. They are specific and richly describe the moment that matters.

• White-collar professionals working in downtown Seattle, needing to get lunch and get back to their desks in less than 20 minutes

• Key-Account managers on the phone with their customer and needing to know if their company has ever done something like what the customer is asking for

• Individuals just diagnoses with critically high-cholesterol levels, very busy lives, needing diet adjustments, but not wanting their meals to be bland, boring, and without the joy.

Defining the moment that matters most is what matters most to getting the solution right.

You need to nail it for the customer to love it.

What have I missed? Do you believe specificity is important to creating lovable products?