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I personally like to play with tools. After observing many tool products, I tried to analyze them from the perspective of the relationship between tools and needs to further explore the meaning and development trends of tools.
The meaning of tools #
A tool is created because we want to solve a need. This is the most direct motivation and the greatest significance of the tool. Although there are many kinds of tools nowadays, as long as we peel off the layers of a tool, we will find that the simplest tool points to the most primitive needs.
Demand cannot stay in the most primitive and simple state, just like the supply and demand transaction of commodities will not stay in simple barter exchange. With the development of society, the problems people face are becoming more and more complex, and the requirements for tools are also getting higher and higher. People’s expectations for tools are no longer just to solve needs, but also to solve needs more efficiently.
Therefore, the purpose of tools is to solve various needs with “more speed, less cost”.
Derivatives of requirements #
The derivation of needs leads to the derivation of tools. The derivation here is not just the derivation of requirements under different circumstances, but also includes the possibility that requirements can be linked. The so-called former, taking the chair as an example, was originally born to provide a comfortable way to rest. Due to the superposition of other attributes, such as crowd attributes and application environment, the chair began to take on a variety of forms: children’s safety seats, ordinary chairs, ergonomic chairs for offices, massage chairs for relaxation, recliners for the elderly… And the so-called possibility of linking needs, take creator tools as an example, tools link creators to meet creative needs, link peers to meet collaboration needs, and the content produced links ordinary users to meet consumption needs.
The more derivative a demand is, the greater the demand for the tool, the more useful it is to the producer of the tool, and the more immeasurable the market value. To take a step back, if the demand is not derivative enough, but the demand is huge, although the value is not that high, it should not be underestimated.
For example, when smartphones first appeared, the most common software was not the various content consumption applications now, but the most basic tools, such as weather, cleaning tools, desktop, etc. These tools were very simple and the needs to be solved were also It is clear that although there are many people who make them, only a small number of good enough tools eventually survive and even become the backbone of the company. Until now, when I open those old software again, the interface and functions have basically not changed much – because this type of demand is very certain, it does not have many derivatives, and the tools have not changed much.
However, even so, many companies have survived quite well with the help of this single tool, which is due to the huge user base (such tools are basically a must-have on early smartphones). The reason why I know about this aspect is because when I met with several overseas companies last year, I found that their products were actually applications that I used to play with Android in the early years. After a detailed discussion, I realized that although such products are simple, they are basically available. Hundreds of millions of users.
However, no matter how large the user base is, there will be times when it reaches its limit. Moreover, such certain tools do not have high barriers, user replacement costs are low, and application monetization pressure is high. Therefore, the once brilliant overseas companies have to seek other businesses. chemical approach.
Therefore, from the perspective of market value, needs with wide derivatives and a large user base are the most suitable to invest in, followed by needs with insufficient derivatives but a large user base, and thirdly, needs with single needs and a small user base. The latter is typical An example is the “three-piece set” that independent developers love most: personal notes, accounting, and to-do tools.
Tool development #
Based on the previous analysis, I think tools can be simply divided into three stages: simple tools, collaboration, and platform ecology.
Phase 1: Tools that meet a single need. For example, the weather, cleaning tools, or the Wi-Fi master key that has been popular among countless “net masters” mobile phones. Such tools are generally used and gone, and meeting needs is the greatest value. Once satisfied, there is no need for the user to continue using it. As a provider, it is difficult for latecomers to have a chance. After all, no matter how powerful a person is, they cannot make the most of weather tools. There are many such tools, but most of them stop at this stage.
The second stage: the demand for collaboration. The emergence of complex problems requires, in addition to high-quality tools, in order to improve efficiency, a single individual can no longer meet the needs. At this time, new requirements are put forward for tools: collaboration. A typical example of this stage is documentation, from local writing to online collaboration.
The third stage: the emergence of platform ecology. The so-called platform ecology refers to multiple groups that are connected to each other and effectively complement each other, so that they can meet the needs of all parties and enter a more sustainable cycle. The more direct or indirect links a tool can have, the easier it is to form an ecosystem and enter a more stable state. Typical examples include tools such as video clips, which link creators and consumers. The two are in a supply relationship and have network effects. When scale increases, both creators and consumers can easily get what they need, and It’s even harder to leave.
It can be found that the development of tools is constantly responding to increasingly complex scenarios, which reflects another meaning of tools: efficiency. Good tools allow users to invest less and less and become more efficient. Therefore, no matter what time, people always look forward to good tools to improve efficiency and reduce costs. This is also the internal driving force for the continuous birth of excellent tools.
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