Users Demand Touchable Gadgets

Source Article: (The New York Times, 1 September 2010)

Scientists and academics explain that touching screens has seeped into people’s day-to-day existence more quickly and completely than other technological behaviors because it is so natural, intimate and intuitive. Consumers have agreed, evidenced by the popularity of the iPhone and iPad, and companies have responded, as we saw yesterday with the launch of Sony’s touch-based e-reader and Apple’s button-less iPod nano.
Our View for R&D Clients: Though the iPhone was a revolutionary, breakthrough innovation, many of the new products sporting touch screens are more incremental innovations that aim to capitalize on new consumer wants. To improve incremental innovation’s contribution to longer-term branding opportunities, construct a causal model of customer preferences to identify product attributes that not only drive initial purchase decisions, but also deepen brand loyalty over time (like a major appliance manufacturer does).