When the first car came out, consumers didn’t care about its color, or silhouette, because the competition was a horse.1 But now that cars have been commoditized, quality and details have become more important than ever.
The same applies to software. Simply shipping a product that works is no longer enough, everyone can do that, especially now with AI. It’s not the differentiator anymore as people expect things to work. What makes a product stand out is the brand, design, how intuitive it is, the overall experience. Taste is what matters.
In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste.
But what is good taste? It’s commonly mistaken as personal preference, but it’s more than that — it’s a trained instinct. The ability to see beyond the obvious and recognize what elevates. It’s why some designs feel effortless. So the real question is, how do you train that instinct?
