A Critical Look at the Google Glass Rollout

Google has been very open at the fact that the Glass project is still in development, and not a finalized product. From a product development standpoint we can certainly appreciate Google’s efforts to not build such a disruptive product in a vacuum, and actively include  customer feedback within real world use cases. However, the product has not been without controversy. From privacy concerns, to assaults in bars, Glass has certainly hit a few roadblocks on path to, Google hopes, larger adoption.

In this great critique of his personal experience with Glass, Pete Pachal writes about what Google did wrong, and how to course correct. The author views the following as some of the errors made in the launch to date:

1. Design: Google chose to make the device and its proponents stand out, as oppose to blending in.
2. Recruitment: The design attracted self-promoters by dozens, and their #IfIHadGlass appeared to not have produced the creative example uses as expected.
3. Extended Development: Due to its in-public product development strategy the project has required extended time in the public domain, yet not available to the masses in retail form.

And as to how to correct these issues moving forward, Pachal applauds Google’s recent partnership with Luxottica to revamp the fashion aesthetics of the products. He also mentions that the device should be in the hands of more individuals who will actually develop some creative uses of the product. And lastly, make sure Google employees stand behind and wear the product.

Having been part of the Explorer program, we agree that the device is massively cool with some great, though largely yet unseen, real world impact, but also think Pachal’s write up is fairly spot on.

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