Why did Zoom manage to grow so rapidly when other similar, pre-existing applications such as Skype, WebEx etc. were unable to? Video conferencing existed long before Zoom arrived on the scene, yet these legacy applications were left in the dust.
A subtle, yet fundamental, aspect of success in the digital age is reducing the time and friction required to sign up and use applications. Ease of use is a powerful competitive advantage, allowing for significant user growth in a very short period.
Innovation is often understood to mean fundamentally changing how we do things by introducing new technologies and paradigms. In truth, a key element of innovation is taking existing products and reducing the number of steps required for its operation.
The greater the reduction in friction, the more rapid the growth.
Think of the old signup process for websites. You were typically required to fill in your name, age, address, phone number, and if you were lucky, your best friend’s last name. This process became extremely tedious and burdensome to the point that user growth was being hampered.
More and more companies are realising that less is more. The less information you require, the fewer steps to apply, the less complex you make an application, the greater the chance for rapid growth.
What Zoom figured out was how to allow users to sign up, create, join and share meetings with one click. The frictionless and intuitive process allowed it to leapfrog over its competitors. Zoom’s competitive advantage is not the quality of its video conferencing; it is their understanding of the importance of reducing friction and increasing ease of use.