The power of crossing the chasm

Innovations change what is possible. They are first consumed by Innovators: those constantly on the search for what’s new, the latest and greatest. Early traction allows fine adjustments to product-market-fit, and for ‘social proof’ to become an attribute of the innovation. Early Adopters are next to consume, interested in being ahead of the curve but reliant on the opinions of others to prove the validity of the innovation. At this stage of the diffusion of the innovation the product or service can be a beachhead: it can stand alone as a single solution to a single problem. And it is where many innovations fail.

The majority of customers are sheep: they follow the leaders and dislike change. For the Early Majority to consume the innovation must not only provide utility, it must possess significant evidence of validity and not require them to change their behaviour. The one exception to this last caveat is when the innovation completely changes the architecture of the consumer behaviour to conform to the new regime (think of Apple’s refusal to integrate with the Windows platform in the 90s and Naughties, followed by the iRevolution). The Late Majority will only start consuming when it is painful to not consume. The tail end of consumers, known as the Laggards, will only consume when there is no other option.

I am describing, of course, the innovation diffusion process popularised by Geoffrey Moore’s technology adoption curve contained within his book Crossing the Chasm.

I am prompted to share these thoughts by a recent beta release: Matterport for iPhone. The epic Robin Daniels is Matterport’s newly appointed CMO and the video below showed up in all my social feeds early this month…. Super Epic!

For some time I have wanted to produce a Google Street View Inside Tour for our veterinary practice, Pet Wellness Centre. In order to do so I needed to purchase a specialist 3D camera and learn a new skill set, or alternatively engage the services of a professional. My eyes were open, I had seen examples of street view inside buildings (check out the garage where Larry and Sergei started Google!), and I was looking to consume, but the innovation required me to change my behaviour. A quick search in my local area shows zero sites with inside tours: the innovation is not anywhere near close to crossing the chasm.

Enter Matterport. All of a sudden I can use my everyday device to capture the footage and Matterport does the rest. I download the Matterport Capture app and create a free account, then it is up to me! The results are astonishing, and totally change the game for uploading inside tours to Google Maps. Check out this example of CMO Robin Daniels’ home office.

The game has changed. The chasm can now be crossed. The majority of the market is not only ready to consume but now also has the means and the capability. I am constantly reminded of quotes by Clayton Christensen in my work, and today is no exception. His words “disrupt competitors, not customers” are so powerful and, when combined with what we know about the diffusion of innovations in markets, provide invaluable insight into the chances of success for new products and services.