So you’ve just created a whiz-bang product. And you’ve got whiz-bang tutorials online.

Well guess what? I’m kinda stuck as a user. Because about the worst time for a customer to use your product, is when they’re at their desk, and connected to the Internet. On any given day, a customer will bounce between pages, and websites, and phone calls, and whatever comes their way. But notice the person at the cafe.

They’re not bouncing.
They’ve got one magazine.
Or one newspaper.
Even the computer-folk seem to be working on one thing instead of twenty.

This is the factor of downtime.
When you’re not connected to anything that can distract you. When your mind is ready for learning.
This is not just downtime, it’s ‘working-downtime.’ And creating your products to work in this environment is critical.

So what can you do?
1) If you’re in the software world, how about making your tutorials downloadable? (And yes, not for PC only–because I  may use the program on a PC, but learn on the Mac–due to longer battery power of most Macs). Possibly even iPod-friendly.
2) If you’re in the information business, how about sending a print-version of your information–instead of yet another PDF.
3) If you’re in the training business, how about creating an interactive Powerpoint/Keynote presentation?

What other applications can you think of?