Ending Types

8 Ending Types experienced by consumers.

Ends happen. They will happen to your product, service or digital product. Knowing the characteristics of these endings is helpful for understanding your business, your consumers, their needs and delivering a better quality product.

In this exercise I want to consider the broad common endings in the consumer and product lifecycle. Looking at the characteristics of each type of ending. What are the benefits and weaknesses. What examples can we see that characterise that particular type of ending. And what are the origins of this behaviour. 

Broadly, there are 8 types of endings that consumers experience. Sometimes a consumer could experience two or even three endings simultaneously, but usually a single one will dominate and define the consumer experience of the end. 

8 types of consumer ending 

• Time Out 
Ex: 2 week holiday, sell by date, 1 yr software subscription

• Exhaustion / Credit Out
Ex: Pay as you go, battery flat, no gems in Clash of Clans

• Task / Event Completion
Ex: Parcel delivered, used disposable cup, game complete

• Broken / Withdrawal
Ex: Break contract, product broken, provider shut down

• Lingering
Ex: Unused gym contract, old phones in draws, un-used email accounts

• Proximity
Ex: Move outside covered area, items in loft, move from Apple to Android

• Style / Cultural
Ex: Writing letters, Kindle, Uncanny Valley

• Competition
Ex: Someone else is Bigger, Better, Faster

Exercise: Product End Dates

Method

Pick a product, service or digital product. It could be the one you work on. Consider the types of Ending experienced by the consumer.
Estimate a date for each ending type.
Then consider a date that could be the optimum or most common experienced by the consumer.

Duration: 20 mins

People: Group