First doesn’t = best

Sure, there are plenty of occassions when first = best…races and the like. First-past-the-post and all that.

But there are many times when first really doesn’t equal best. For me, this was most recently brought to focus when Samsung launched their Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Amid all the hype of smart watches and wearable tech, it was Samsung who brought a product to market first.

They wowed us with its interface and design, its camera and its day-long battery life…hang on a sec…did they say ‘one day long battery life’? Who wants a watch they’ve got to charge every night? And we all know that tech products batteries don’t really last as long as they say they do…so I run the risk of my watch (which only syncs with one Samsung product at present) to run out of battery within the day?! Madness. Like me, many people gafawed and Samsung started whinging about ‘getting there first’ (I may be paraphrasing). Who cares if it’s not good enough?

Cars existed before the Model T; MP3 players existed before the iPod and uber-sexy smart watches and wearables will probably exist after the Galaxy Gear. Will it be Google Glass? Will it be the iWatch? Who knows…but far better to take the idea and get it right than go with something to get it out first.

This goes back to my last blog about great design being ‘intuitive’ in Jony Ive’s words. Just getting a product or service to market as soon as it’s ready, or taking an existing product or service and plonking on a few extra features and getting it out again can’t be best. Time should always be taken to refine, simplify and hone the idea so there are less moving parts. That may mean that you don’t get your product to market first, but when you do, it’ll be best. It’s just a shame there are so few opportunities in normal working life to take the time to get things right rather than done.

Have you ever taken the time to do it best rather than get it done first?