Delight

There probably isn't a more overused word in the world of tech startups than the word 'delight' and all of its derivatives. And for good reason; if users aren't delighted using your product you will absolutely fail.

But what is delight?

There are a few products that I remember experiencing delight when I first used them: Nintendo NES, Gameboy, Tomegotchi, iPod Touch Mini, Facebook, Kakao Talk, avc.com, Twitter, Instagram, and most recently Cent.

The delight I experienced when I used those products could be boiled down to three elements: a laugh, a smile and a good feeling.

Each person will express these three elements in their own unique way - and completely different elements may constitute their own experiences of delight - but one thing is for sure, it can't be faked.

Fake delight will sustain you a couple days, weeks or maybe a month max. Genuine delight on the other hand, that shit is like rocket fuel. Months, years even in some spectacular instances, will seem to fly by while you continue to be delighted.

If you are working in a company that makes something that delights its users, hang on tight. And if you're worried that maybe you're the only one who is experiencing delight, make sure you distill the elements of your delight from the product down and then optimize and market for that/those elements relentlessly.