Lessons on Great Products form the Rubik’s Cube
After almost 50 years after its invention the Rubik’s cube is still a hugely popular toy. The Rubik’s cube, a seemingly simple plastic puzzle made popular in the 80s has lasted competing with video games, iPads, and every toy imaginable. I hope to explore what makes this simple toy so extraordinary and the principles that can be applied to other similar products.
1. Simple
The Rubik’s cube is a seemingly simple challenge, just match the colored square so that you have a solid side. After a short explanation of the puzzle you forever know what the goal is whenever you see a cube lying around and can pick it up and start to work on it. Many products die simply because they are too complicated and need to be explained each time someone tries to use them.
2. Challenging
While the cube is simple to explain and it appears simple to solve it is surprisingly difficult leading to hours of focus trying different things to try to solve the puzzle. While finding the method can be found on the internet there is pride in solving it without the use of Google. Think of the great products and popular mobile games that you have to play one more game because you have to try to get a little farther or a higher score.
3. Competitive
People love to compete with each other and prove that they are the best. After the satisfaction of being able to solve the cube, you know what to do to be able to solve the cube faster than your friends. This has lead to competitions as small as two kids in the high school lunch room to international competitions. Competition creates motivation to be the best and continued popularity growth for many products. It is said the first car race happened about 5 mins after the 2nd car rolled off the production line at the Ford Motor Company
4. Allows for creativity
Recently the cube has gained popularity using each square on the cube as a pixel to create amazing pictures! So many great products are great because they become tools for creativity.
Next time you consider an idea or a product take some time to think about these factors when creating your product and I think you will be on the right path.
