Love Your Users

While visiting Washington recently, we had the opportunity to tour the LaMay auto museum in Tacoma. It was a wonderful museum and an interesting experience.  While taking the tour, I discovered an assortment of innovative car features that were examples of great design.  These ideas were not adopted in the mainstream car world. The manufacturers went out of business long ago.  Today, the cars only live in history books or collector’s garages.

There was the 1948 Tucker.  This car had a 3rd “cyclops” headlight  that moved when the steering wheel turned to give the driver a better view of the road on a dark night. It also had an assortment of other safety features designed to keep the driver and passengers safe.  I am told that some of these features have since been adopted by luxury car makers in today’s world.

I also saw a 1924 Rickenbacker.  It was created with the design for one approach.  The intended buyer was the “Gentleman Doctor”. It contained a passenger seat that folded back to lie down.  It also had a special spot created specifically for the doctor’s bag (think cup holder). The features in the automobile were similar to the features introduced 40+ years later in the mini van.

These innovative ideas reminded me of the assorted innovative ideas that surfaced a decade ago when the internet was new and exciting. Like the car manufacturers, there were many players competing for market share.  Over just a few short years, the players were reduced to only a few as the bad were weeded out and the good were bought up by the large.

Just like the innovative car ideas, the innovative internet ideas were soon dissolved as the market settled into status quo.  If the car ideas from long ago are good ideas in today’s world, are the forgotten internet ideas also relevant in todays world?  Think back to when you first realized the endless possibilities of an intranet.  Think about the ideas that you have since dismissed due to lack or time, funds, technology or skill set.  Is it time to revisit those ideas?  Just like the car world can benefit from the past visionaries, we too can we benefit from ideas forgotten.

The Tucker’s innovative 3rd headlight 

An inside view of the Rickenbacker.  Note the passenger seat which was designed to lay back when transporting the Doctor’s patient.  Note also the window blind.