Do you feel a sense of shame when you realize you bought a product only because the checkout page made you feel important? It is a common feeling. The market wants you to feel this way. The market puts all of the effort into the moment of the sale. The market ignores the moment of the use.
A person sits in a chair. The person holds a phone. The thumb moves on the screen. The thumb taps a button. The button is a bright color. The button says “Purchase.” The screen changes. The screen says “Success.”
The person feels a chemical reward in the brain. The person has not held the product yet. The product is in a warehouse. The warehouse is far away. The person is happy because the website worked. The person thinks the product will work because the website worked. This is a mistake.
The Inspector’s Confession
I am a bridge inspector. My name is Ben C.M. I look at bridges for a living. I look at the steel. I look at the bolts. Last month I organized my files by color. I spent on the task. I put the bridge reports in blue folders. I put the road reports in green folders. I felt proud of the folders. I felt like a good inspector because the folders looked clean on the shelf. I was wrong.
Organized Folders
Corroded Steel
The color of the folder does not stop the rust on the bridge. The color of the folder does not make the steel stronger. I focused on the organization. I ignored the inspection. I valued the appearance of the work over the reality of the bridge.
The Industry Funnel
The industry does the same thing. The industry builds a funnel. The funnel is a path for the customer. The funnel starts with an ad. The funnel ends with a click. The industry optimizes the funnel. The industry makes the click fast. The industry makes the shipping notification arrive in seconds. The industry wants the customer to judge the product by the speed of the website. The industry knows that the decision to buy happens in the funnel. The industry does not care what happens after the funnel.
A device is a literal object. A device has a battery. A device has a coil. A device has a tank for juice. These parts are the reality of the device. The battery must hold a charge. The coil must heat the juice. The tank must not leak. These things happen in the home of the customer. These things do not happen on the website. The market ignores these things because the money has already moved. The money moves at the click.
Marketplaces vs. Specialist Stores
Many stores sell everything. These stores are marketplaces. A marketplace sells many brands. A marketplace sells vapes and headphones and chargers. A marketplace wants the volume of the sale. A marketplace does not know the device. A marketplace does not test the device. The marketplace only tests the website. If the website works, the marketplace is happy.
The customer receives a device that may be a counterfeit. The customer receives a device that may fail in two days. The marketplace does not care. The marketplace has the money.
A specialist store is different. A specialist store focuses on one thing. The specialist store knows the device. The specialist store knows the brand. People look for
because the focus is on the brand. The focus is on the authentic product. The store does not sell a thousand different labels. The store sells the Lost Mary brand. The store understands the MT15000 Turbo. The store understands the MO20000 PRO. The store understands the Nera 70K. This focus changes the experience for the user.
Tools of the Using Experience
The MT15000 Turbo is a device. The device has a dual mesh coil. The device has a turbo mode. The turbo mode uses more power. The power comes from the battery. The battery is 600mAh. The battery is rechargeable. The device has a screen. The screen shows the level of the juice. The screen shows the level of the battery. These are literal facts.
The MO20000 PRO is another device. The device has a large screen. The screen shows animations. The animations are a design choice. The device has adjustable airflow. The airflow changes the way the vapor moves. The user turns a dial. The dial is a physical part. The dial must not break. The user turns the dial every day. The dial is part of the using experience. The market often forgets the dial. The market only cares about the picture of the dial.
The Painted Surface
I have seen bridges that look new. The paint is thick. The paint is a silver color. The silver color shines in the sun. Then I climb the ladder. I look under the beam. I see the rust. The rust is eating the metal. The paint was a distraction. The person who painted the bridge wanted it to look good for the photos. The person did not want to fix the metal. The metal is heavy. Fixing the metal is hard work. Painting the bridge is easy work.
Optimizing a checkout page is like painting the bridge. It is easy work. It makes the customer feel safe. But the checkout page does not vape. The checkout page does not provide the flavor. The flavor is a literal sensation. The flavor is Strawberry Ice. The flavor is Blue Razz Ice.
The flavor must be consistent. The juice must be authentic. If the juice is a counterfeit, the flavor is bad. The user feels cheated. The user realizes the checkout page was a lie.
The Peak vs. The Span
The industry likes the 30-second moment. The 30-second moment is the time it takes to buy. The industry pours millions of dollars into these 30 seconds. The industry hires designers. The designers study the way eyes move on a screen. The designers place the buttons where the eyes land. The designers use colors that make people trust the site. This is a science. It is the science of the sale.
The Sale (Optimized)
30 Seconds
The Use (Ignored)
1,209,600 Seconds (14 Days)
There is no science of the use in the marketplace. The use happens over . The use happens in a car. The use happens at a desk. The device sits in a pocket. The pocket has lint. The lint can enter the mouthpiece. A good device has a design that accounts for the lint. A good device has a battery that does not die in the middle of the afternoon. These are the details of the duration.
Engineering Authenticity
The Off Stamp is a device with a different design. The device is modular. The device has a pod. The device has a battery dock. The pod has 16,000 puffs. The pod attaches to the dock with magnets. The magnets are a literal part of the device. The magnets must be strong. If the magnets are weak, the pod falls off. This would be a failure of the using experience. A store that focuses on the brand knows if the magnets are strong. A store that sells everything does not know about the magnets.
The VIZ 55K is a large device. The device has 55,000 puffs. This is a large number. The device must last for a long time. The device has a screen. The screen is on the side. The screen is clear. The user looks at the screen to see the status. The user depends on the screen. If the screen fails, the device is hard to use. The user wants the device to work until the last puff. The user does not care about the website once the device is in the house.
The 70,000 Puff Commitment
The Nera 70K has 70,000 puffs. This is the longest duration. The device is a commitment. The user buys the device and expects it to work for a month. This is a long time. Many things can go wrong in a month. The coil can burn. The battery can lose capacity. The juice can turn dark.
A genuine device is built to avoid these problems. A counterfeit device is built to look like a genuine device on a website. The counterfeit device only needs to work for one hour. The counterfeit device is built for the sale. The genuine device is built for the 70,000 puffs.
Literal Requirements
The United States has laws for these products. The laws require age verification. A person must be 21 years old. The store must check the ID. This is a step in the process. A good store makes this step clear. A good store does not try to hide the law. The law is a literal requirement. Shipping is also a literal requirement. The box must move from the warehouse to the house. The box must not be crushed. The device inside the box must be safe.
I think about my color-coded files. I look at the blue folders. I realize that I liked the folders because they were under my control. I can control the color of a folder. I cannot control the weather that causes rust on a bridge. I cannot control the weight of the trucks that drive over the bridge. I chose the easy task because it felt like progress.
Choosing the Steel Over the Paint
The industry chooses the easy task. The industry chooses the website. The industry chooses the marketing. The industry chooses the “Buy” button. These things are under the control of the industry. The industry cannot control the way a user treats a device. The industry cannot control how the device feels after 10,000 puffs. So the industry ignores those things. The industry pretends the 30-second purchase is the only thing that matters.
The buyer must be smarter. The buyer must look past the green button. The buyer must look for the specialist. The buyer must look for the authenticity guarantee. A store that specializes in one brand is making a choice. The store is choosing the device over the marketplace. The store is choosing the using experience over the volume of the sale. This is a better way to do business. It is a more honest way to do business.
The device is the reality. The website is the image of the reality. Do not buy the image. Buy the device. When you hold the device in your hand, the website does not matter. The only thing that matters is the coil and the battery and the juice. The only thing that matters is the 70,000 puffs or the 15,000 puffs. The duration is the truth. The click is a moment. The use is a life.
I will continue to inspect bridges. I will look at the rust. I will look at the bolts. I will keep my files in folders. The color of the folder does not matter. The information inside the folder matters. The structural integrity of the bridge matters. I was wrong to value the appearance. I will not make that mistake again. I will value the steel. I will value the work that happens after the paint is dry.
– Ben C.M., Bridge Inspector