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Life With the Dash Button: Good Design For Amazon, Bad For Everyone Else

Posted by timothy on from the commerce-in-commerce dept.

vivaoporto writes: A scathing review published on Fast Company describes Amazon's Dash Button, the "Buy Now" button brought into the physical world as "the latest symptom of Amazon's slowly spreading disease", "an unabashed attempt to disconnect customers from the amount of money we're spending." The author's criticism centers on Amazon's lack of focus on customer experience, a core UI that doesn't make sense, limited and expensive product selection and a store UX "no longer designed for your convenient shopping", but rather "designed for their profitable selling."

42 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Minimum viable product, maximum revenue extraction.

    Or did you think the evolution of subscriptions and microtransactions was to benefit you, the customer?

    1. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Minimum viable product, maximum revenue extraction.

      If you don't like the product, don't buy it or use it.

      Or did you think the evolution of subscriptions and microtransactions was to benefit you, the customer?

      Oddly enough, yes. Successful businesses are motivated by maximizing their profit. But they succeed at this only if people actually choose to buy their products because they benefit. The fact that the business is primarily motivated by its own profits is not a problem, because in a free market, the only way to increase those profits is when people choose to buy their products and actually hand them their money.

      It's not zero-sum game, it's a positive sum game: both buyers and sellers benefit, each in their own way.

    2. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You say this like you believe it, so I'll ask you this:

      If you "don't buy it or use it" but the practice influences other companies into using the same practices, does your puny market influence even matter?

    3. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by ExekielS · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We have studies that show there is no market competition with fewer than 5 choices holding more than 70% of market share. Freedom and choices are a lot more limited than you are imagining, both theoretically and practically. Which is why consumer survey's showed that 85% of consumers preferred low gloss/matte screens but over 95% of screens made were high gloss, a problem that has existed for MUCH too long.

      --
      ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
    4. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by trout007 · · Score: 2

      That is a point so many people fail to grasp. In a voluntary exchange overall wealth is increased. People exchange something they want less for something they want more. A purchase is not an even exchange of wealth.

      --
      I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
    5. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Which is why consumer survey's showed that 85% of consumers preferred low gloss/matte screens but over 95% of screens made were high gloss, a problem that has existed for MUCH too long.

      That's one of those problems that is difficult to fix. When you are in the store and compare the gloss screen to the matte screen, the glossy one has much more vibrant colors, so consumers naturally pick that one. It's only when they get to using it in real life that the glare starts to get to them. But at that point it's too late. They've already bought it, thus rewarding the company for producing the glossy screen. They have no way to provide feedback to the company to incentivise them to manufacture matte screens. The best the consumer can do is, IF they happen to figure out that the gloss is the source of their frustration and they would have been better with a matte screen, and IF they can manage to remember that fact several years later when they buy their next TV, then I suppose they can make the point then. But the truth is most people WON'T figure it out, and most of those who actually do WON'T remember it several years later when they next buy a new TV. So they'll walk back into the store, say "wow that one looks a lot better" and walk out with another glossy, and the glossy manufacturer has been rewarded again.

    6. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There's an example of a post that didn't need to be. This is another example.

    7. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by sglewis100 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes. If people reject it, those other companies will also withdraw.

    8. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Can you give an example of that happening?

      Music DRM, for an obvious example.

    9. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by 0123456 · · Score: 2

      Yes! Yes! EVIL CORPORATIONS use the MAGIC 'FLUENCE to force people to BUY THEIR STUFF!

      My cat told me, and he would know.

    10. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't think many people actually fail to grasp the basic tenets of 18th-century economics, it's just that it's so obviously a massive oversimplification that maybe people don't quite believe that it's generally true in practice. You do say "voluntary" exchange, but it's not clear how "voluntary" many real-world purchases are. An example is vendor lock-in, where an exchange that was optional in the beginning is structured through technological and legal barriers such that re-purchases are not viably optional. Such a vendor is then free to raise prices as he sees fit, and he is no longer selling "the product" he is selling an antidote to the pain of discontinuing use of the product, the price of which might be way more than "the product" is actually worth per se. Overall wealth is not thereby increased, instead the vendor is siphoning money from the host (sorry, customer) without providing greater value in return. (A capitalist would argue that "value" inheres in saving money on not restructuring around a different product, but that's just bullshit.)

      Even in the sphere of everyday life, it's not at all clear how far purchases for food, lodging, medicine and so on are truly "voluntary" exchanges.

      So the theory as you stated may be quite correct, and yet not apply at all to real-world economics outside of very carefully demarcated areas such as the purchase of luxury products.

    11. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by GLMDesigns · · Score: 3, Informative

      Either your "opponent" doesn't understand free markets or you just created a "straw man" to prove your point. There is no magic in the free market just as there is no magic in evolution.Food labeling comes as people want it. It may take time. People may create food coops (populated by avowed socialists) but the food coops are part of the free market (not from a top-down government bureaucracy).

      The time and energy put in to make food labeling laws could be done to push the concept of food labeling to consumers. Then these consumers will reward companies who label their foods.

      By the way free-market capitalism /= caveat emptor. If you say that your product is made of x (and only x) you are liable for that. In a free-market society if you were found to have adulterated x (or substituted y) you would be successfully sued.

      I'm certain you can find all sorts of opponents of capitalism who would say "that's not so." How about showing some intellectual curiosity and reading what proponents of the free-market actually say:

      Here's a list to start your reading: Bastiat, Menger, von Mises, Hayek, Milton Friedman.

      --
      If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
      Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
    12. Re:That's all that consumer-oriented businesses do by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 2

      1. I asked him if he liked food labeling, and he said yes, but that if people like labels then they could just demand them in the free market.
      2. I said yes, but labeling isn't in the interests of any producer, so if none of them labeled, then would customers just choose to starve to death?

      Done. I won. He even admitted it and I think he slightly softened his rhetoric after that.

      Points to consider:
      - Many businesses who produce gluten-free, vegetarian, non-gmo, Halal or Kosher foods, etc. voluntarily label their products as such because it IS in their interest.
      - Other businesses might see labeling their food as a competitive advantage if everyone else stopped labeling theirs.
      - People may buy some non-labeled foods in the short term, but in the long term would seek other alternatives, such as growing their own in a garden or buying from the local farmer's market.

      You won your debate with your friend, but you did not win the debate. He gave up too easily.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  2. Actually great UX for everyone else by trybywrench · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The UX of the Dash Button is great, shopping for laundry detergent is boring, just one press and it's over. Managing your personal finances has zero to do with the dash button user experience.

    --
    I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
    1. Re:Actually great UX for everyone else by brunes69 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I can tell you didn't RTFA.

      The whole point is pushing the button provides no immediate feedback at all. People are used to pushing a button doing something immediately, not pushing a button and *MAYBE* something happens 48 hours from now.

      As such, these buttons are unlikely to gain any kind of popularity.

    2. Re:Actually great UX for everyone else by njnnja · · Score: 2

      Exactly. If you want the cheapest price on something, cut coupons and brave the crowds at the local Walmart. The dash button is about convenience. For people who have all the time in the world, then it makes sense to go out to the store whenever you discover you are out of something. For people who only have time on the weekends, it makes sense to make a shopping list and inventory the consumable products in your home and stock up as needed. But if you have other things that you want to do on the weekend, then anything that reduces the amount of time making a list and walking the aisles at the store is a big plus, and definitely worth the extra $1.50 to use the dash button.

    3. Re:Actually great UX for everyone else by Notorious+G · · Score: 5, Informative

      I not only RTFA, I have several dash buttons now. I get immediate feedback through a notification on my phone which lets me know it was ordered and the estimated arrival (as well as giving me the option to go to the app and cancel if it was a accidental order). I get routine updates as it moves through the delivery process - shipping, updated delivery times if it will be late, delivered. It's handy as hell. Take the last paper towel out of the closet and the button is right there, just a press and new paper towels arrive and I don't have to cart them home.

    4. Re:Actually great UX for everyone else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not clear you understand the use-case for the button. Mind you, I haven't yet bought into the button myself. But it's clear that this isn't to be used for something you actually need *right now*. It's decidedly NOT for one-off purchases either. Your example of needing medicine is (generally) one of *both* immediacy as well as a relatively one-time purchase; definitely not a good use-case for the button.

      The use-case for the button is *more* like the use-case for Costco. Running low on toilet paper? You go to Costco and you buy a big damn bag of it all at once, right? You don't wait until you've used the very last square of TP and you're sitting on the toilet going "uhhh, now what?" -- and then dash off to Costco. No, if that happens you just run down the street to the local grocery store and pick up a small pack to hold you over until you can get across town to Costco. But what you *normally* do is you go to pull out a new roll and you realize your big ass pack is getting near empty; so you make a mental note to go to Costco this weekend and buy another large pack.

      You see what's happening, right? Costco is the button. You make a mental note (ie: the button) and 3 days later you go to Costco to actually get the product (ie: UPS). There's no "instant gratification" for Costco, either; and yet it's wildly successful. You don't *typically* think of Costco for one-off purchases either; generally you think of Costco for your regular-use stuff, even though you might buy several one-off items once you are there.

      What the button brings to the table over Costco is convenience -- I push the button and I no longer have to remember my mental note and I no longer have to take the time to drive to Costco to get the stuff. Push the button, forget about it, and it just happens.

      What's not understand? It's simple.

    5. Re:Actually great UX for everyone else by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      First of all, I invite you to read this Wikipedia page.

      But going onto your debunking of a joke:

      No, Costco is not the use-case for the button. Costco is where you go once a month to buy things cheaply. You don't go to Costco because you're running low on toilet paper. Going to Costco is a planned, methodical, activity that involves making an inventory, determining what will need replacement soon, building a list, viewing the special offers, and then visiting the store.

      The button doesn't give you anything cheaply. In fact, quite the opposite, you're required to buy only a limited number of expensive brand name items that are almost certainly cheaper at the store. Nor is it designed to be pressed after you've taken careful inventory of your household consumables and determined a list of items that will need replacing soon. Instead, it's a button you press when you notice you need something.

      As such, all joking aside, the latency on it is actually fairly relevant..

      If I were to design something remotely useful for the purpose you imply this is for, it would be a panel that feeds general ideas into a shopping list. The panel would be covered with buttons entitled, generically "Toilet paper", "Cat food", etc. And you'd press the things you're running low on as you go around your home determining what you need. You'd then visit the store, be it online or brick-and-mortar, and the website would list options for each item, and you'd select the things you want.

      But that's not what the Dash Button is. The Dash Button assumes you will only ever want Bounty Brand Toilet Paper, regardless of the price of the alternatives. That you will only want a 48 pack. That you will remember to press the button two days ahead of when the replacement is needed despite there being no organizational motivation for you to do so. And that you're prepared to do that for every single item you'd normally go to Cosco for that Amazon happens to also sell.

      Most people will never find it useful.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    6. Re:Actually great UX for everyone else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The button itself provides feedback. You push it, it blinks for a few seconds, then shows a green light if successful and a red light if not.

  3. Have you ever been to a grocery store? by Drewdad · · Score: 2

    Milk, cheese, and eggs WAAAAAAY at the back. And you have to walk past candy and general merchandise (the high profit stuff).

    1. Re:Have you ever been to a grocery store? by rockmuelle · · Score: 5, Informative

      Milk and meat are around the periphery because their display cases are connected to (or close to) the bulk cold storage in the stores. It's part of preserving the "cold chain" of ensuring that products that need constant refrigeration throughout the supply chain actually get constant refrigeration.

      Most of the marketing text written about grocery store layouts was developed after the layouts were already in use. Most of the layout quirks are the way they are for more practical and mundane reasons. Layout as a conspiracy makes a great story, but in general, it's just that. Yes, impulse aisles are exceptions as are some other elements in the store, but for the most part, the practicalities of storing and presenting large amounts of food determine the layout.

      -Chris

    2. Re:Have you ever been to a grocery store? by swb · · Score: 2

      I kind of think this is BS. The closest local large grocery store has their cold storage shelves (frozen and refrigerated) along the back and side walls of the entire store. Your argument about practicality would make more sense if all of it was concentrated at the back of the store, but cold storage is like a giant U surrounding the packaged goods in the center of the store. AFAICT there is no rear access to larger bulk cold storage on any of these shelves, and most don't even have easy access to the "back room" area of the store, which I don't think is even all that big or even big enough to hold a lot of stock.

      Plus, any newly built grocery stores could easily place cold storage anywhere. When it's a new store, they could easily run branch lines for power or bulk chiller feeds in the floor to where they wanted the cold items. If they wanted rear stocking or storage, just make a 6 foot wide aisle inside the larger chiller compartment (ala Costco).

      It also doesn't seem like most large groceries even have that much of a "back room warehouse" for cold or packaged goods. The consumer accessible shelves seem like they are the warehouse, for cold or room temperature packaged goods.

    3. Re:Have you ever been to a grocery store? by Osiris+Ani · · Score: 2

      Planet Money covered this one reasonably well.

  4. an overview of the dash button for geeks. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    For the uninitiated, the dash button is an electronic wireless device branded with the logo or namesake of your favourite brand or product. Pushing the button automatically incurs an order for the product and should you be sufficiently removed from the understanding of how this technology works, you'd be inclined to insist its nothing short of magic. It isnt. As a geek, you must understand this technology is a powerful and its opportunities are many. For example:
    1. Reprogramming. What if the tide button closed the garage door? opened the trunk? set off the neighbours sprinklers or fired up the coffee maker? Amazon is offering for a discount the opportunity to break out that sweet oscilloscope and crack away at some assembler. Its a discount wireless device that can actuate a solenoid and pour cottage cheese on the cat at the press of a button
    2. relocation. Place the device in more suitable areas. What if every time your neighbour sat down on the couch they inadvertantly ordered a 12 pack of bleach? how about whenever the dog bolts through the doggie door your inlaws end up ordering a 24 pack of disposable diapers? The potential is endless and the power is great. you control who gets two crates of macaroni and cheese, how often, and even when.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:an overview of the dash button for geeks. by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      2. relocation. Place the device in more suitable areas. What if every time your neighbour sat down on the couch they inadvertantly ordered a 12 pack of bleach? how about whenever the dog bolts through the doggie door your inlaws end up ordering a 24 pack of disposable diapers? The potential is endless and the power is great. you control who gets two crates of macaroni and cheese, how often, and even when.

      My first thought, when I saw the dash button, was "How long until a parent is charged hundreds of dollars and shipped a ton of laundry detergent because his/her toddler got hold of the button and pressed it five dozen times?" As the parent of two boys, I can attest the irresistible draw that buttons have to little kids. Also, no matter how much you think you've put something out of reach, your kids' arms will somehow stretch to reach it.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:an overview of the dash button for geeks. by Notorious+G · · Score: 3, Informative

      You can only order 1 at a time. In the event of multiple presses, you get a notice and have to confirm that you really intended to buy that many.

  5. We like them by turp182 · · Score: 4, Informative

    We have three Dash buttons and last night while my wife was doing laundry my phone informed me that laundry detergent had been ordered via the Dash button.

    We realize they aren't pushing the cheapest priced products, it's the convenience we are looking for (prices are comparable to grocery stores, a bit higher than Wally World, at least for the things we use them for).

    The article goes on and on about instant gratification and the delay between pressing the Dash button and receiving the product. Comes off as whining to me.

    --
    BlameBillCosby.com
  6. Lets not forget by koan · · Score: 2

    The other disturbing things about Amazon.
    How when my dad buys something shipping is wayyyyyyyy overpriced but go to my account (one where I have cancelled orders because of overpriced shipping) and it's less than half the cost *same town*, or their bait and switch, or their sending an item entirely different from what was pictured.
    Yeah I know there are resellers, but Amazon fronts them so they get the blame too.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  7. Amazon Employees at work by trenien · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The first few comments from IDs numbers between 50387607 and 50387627, all shooting down the review (most with : "let's avoid shopping chores" and one with "it's great for imaginative geeks").

    Yeah, I don't really believe there's anything genuine there...

  8. Easy to make the Dash button kick butt... by mlts · · Score: 2

    The one thing Amazon could have done which would remedy the current issues with the Dash button is have a color e-Ink display on it, and have it show a picture/logo of what product it is associated with. This way, there is more selection available and opportunities for niche products.

    For example, I have a few Dash buttons myself, all of which will make their home in my RV. That way, instead of writing something to buy on a list, I just hit the buttons, and since they are connected to a Wi-Fi router, they will go out regardless.

    However, the Smart Water is limited to one offering, and other choices are still limited. If Amazon made Dash buttons that had a display on them, they would be a lot more relevent. Otherwise, as Dash buttons stand now, they are pretty much a novelty at best.

  9. i love them! by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Where else can you get a complete Wifi and processor board for hacking ready to go for $5.00?
    I just hope they dont realize that the 4 I bought will never be pushed to buy their products. I already have one triggering events on my Linux server, and soon to have the rest acting as remotes for home automation.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:i love them! by pruss · · Score: 2

      An ESP8266 WiFi board, with easily reprogrammable firmware (you can even download firmware that runs lua scripts, e.g., a web server in a few lines of code), is $2.69 shipped on ebay. But the Dash also gets you a button and a battery, and that might be worth it depending on your application.

  10. Re:the real problem... by turp182 · · Score: 2

    Pressing the button does nothing if there is a pending order or an order in transit. I've tested this (I didn't care if a bunch of toilet paper showed up).

    --
    BlameBillCosby.com
  11. Forget what? by sjbe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How when my dad buys something shipping is wayyyyyyyy overpriced but go to my account (one where I have cancelled orders because of overpriced shipping) and it's less than half the cost *same town*

    Perhaps because you buy more from Amazon so they are willing to cut you a better deal. Very little on Amazon has wildly overpriced shipping and the minority of stuff that does have overpriced shipping is obvious and invariably from third party vendors. Most of what I buy is through Prime and has "free" shipping. If you see overpriced shipping don't buy it.

    Of course I've made my living doing ecommerce in the past so I can assure you that most people have NO idea what shipping actually costs. We used to charge exactly the rate UPS charged us and people would complain that we were inflating shipping prices even though we were shipping at cheaper rates than they could get themselves.

    or their bait and switch, or their sending an item entirely different from what was pictured.

    Aside from one or two mistakes where the wrong item got picked I've never seen this happen and I've ordered a LOT of stuff from Amazon. The few mistakes they've made they corrected and sent the correct item or refunded me no questions asked. I've never seen Amazon "bait and switch" anything, ever. If it was a third party vendor not sending what was shown I would just immediately send it back and complain to Amazon. They'll pay the return freight and refund your money.

    Yeah I know there are resellers, but Amazon fronts them so they get the blame too.

    If you buy the thing with the overpriced shipping, the only party to blame is yourself. Buy somewhere else if you don't think you are getting a good deal.

  12. The solution to every problem isn't an app by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why not just have a cell phone app.

    Because the best solution to every problem isn't an app. Believe it or not there sometimes are better and more efficient ways to solve a problem.

    Open the app, see a list of easy to order items, click on the items you want to order and hit send. That's it. Very simple to use, and the user knows that their order went through.

    All of which is harder than just pushing a button. You just described a 4 step process than in reality has even more steps. (turn on phone, log in, find app, open app, scroll through list, select item(s), select send). Compare that with pushing a single button on a wall and it is absurdly complicated.

    Look I don't have any use for these Dash buttons myself but I understand what they are trying to do. The less steps someone has to go through the more likely they are to buy. The founder of Coke basically built his business around making sure his product was "within arm's reach of desire" which is why you can easily find a coke product almost anywhere on the globe even in some of the most remote corners. They made buying their product VERY easy. Amazon is trying to do similar things. Maybe the Dash buttons won't work out but the principle of what they are doing makes sense. Sometimes a more general solution isn't the better one.

  13. Life after Amazon by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2
    I've all but stopped buying at Amazon. Yeah, the free shipping for orders over $35 is nice, but at what cost?

    .
    Amazon sits on those orders for nearly a week before they are shipped.

    The "shipping cost" is built in to the price of each item. So if you buy more than one item, you are over-paying for shipping.

    I recently purchase a WiFi Access Point from provantage.com. At that site shipping is extra. However, the cost of the item plus the cost of shipping was still less expensive than Amazon's price with "free shipping". Plus ProVantage shipped the item the same day as I ordered it. Since I am in UPS's next day delivery zone for ground shipments, I got the access point the next day, instead of waiting the 10 days as Amazon drags its feet.

    For me, it's life after Amazon, and it's a happy life.

  14. True target market by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 2

    Maybe it's the indie small business dev in me but I saw this and had one question:

    How much do you have to pay Amazon to be the one product in a given market segment that they do a Dash Button for?

    That's where the real money is, and precisely what Wal-Mart has been up to for all these years.

    If Huggies wants to kick Pampers off the Dash button so that everybody out there will randomly change products without thinking too much about it, they simply have to outbid Pampers. And whether the product has glass shards (actually crystallized sodium methylparaben, a preservative) has nothing to do with it.

    That's what the Dash Button is. Other companies bid to be the one represented on it, very likely losing money in order to have a little 'brand awareness' token stuck in people's actual houses, and Amazon gets paid from both ends.

    Not MY Dash Button ;) http://ep.yimg.com/ay/stylinon...

  15. You aren't the customer for Dash by sirwired · · Score: 2

    For the end-user, these things are of marginal utility. (In fact, I'm surprised they want to charge for them at all; you'd think they'd just toss them in for free if you've bought one of the items they cover a couple times.)

    The true customer for these is the brands they are surely charging to be featured on one of these buttons.

    Really, what Amazon should be doing is selling these "blank" at-cost to be used for the purchase of whatever item(s) you like.

  16. Can't you people plan ahead? by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

    If you need something like those Dash buttons, you really need to learn to manage your inventories. Let's take paper towels for example. Always have two packs in your house. When the first pack is finished and you open up the second one, buy another pack the next time you shop for groceries or whatnot.

    And since I'm talking to programmers here, the newly opened second pack becomes the first pack and the newly bought pack becomes the second one. /sigh

    1. Re:Can't you people plan ahead? by bws111 · · Score: 2

      I see no reason why inventory management and these are mutually exclusive. In fact, it seems like an ideal thing for inventory management.

      If I am opening the last roll of papers towels, there is a very good chance I am already involved in some task. Do I stop that task and go do whatever is required so I remember to get towels next time I am at the store? More likely I keep going with the task and forget about the towels until we run out. The button would make it easy to order the towels without interrupting the task at hand. Seems like a good idea to me.

      I guess what I would really like is buttons like these that just make an entry on a shopping list, without actually ordering the item. Maybe I'll get one and see if it can be hacked to do that.

  17. Re:give it a display, make it programmable by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

    That seems like typical geek thinking (no offense intended)... add more features, more buttons, more complexity, and more expense. And honestly, I think it's precisely the oppose of what most people would actually want. It's the reason many geeks didn't get (and still don't get) why Apple products like iPods and iPhones are so insanely popular. They'll look at the specs and see that they're really no different or even technically inferior to the product they purchased for half the price, without ever understanding that the critical factor is the streamlined user experience.

    Want more laundry detergent? Press the detergent button. Done. No fumbling through a crappy menu and display that's overly complicated to program and use. For people who want maximum control, there's a website and mobile app you can use. This is entirely aimed at people who prefer simplicity and convenience.

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.