I want a Wii, but tracking one down seems to be a difficult task. I’m not sure if Nintendo is purposely trickling out supplies to retailers to maintain the mystique, or if they just seriously underestimated the demand. Either way, they have blown out their competition by creating a gaming system that meets a single purpose: it is fun to play!

The Wii doesn’t have the latest 3D graphics chip, or have 5.1 surrounds sound. It doesn’t have a 1080i high definition picture or play Blue-Ray DVDs. There seems to be no shortage of gaming systems with these features at your local department store. Yet the Wii, with its unimpressive graphics, has been almost impossible to find since its release in November, 2006. Why is this?

I think that that Nintendo has found a niche that overlaps both the hard-core and casual gamer. Its unique game controller is truly revolutionary, and it is a great platform for playing games that are just plain fun. The Wii sports game that comes with the system features bowling, tennis, golf, baseball and boxing (if you haven’t had the pleasure of hitting your Wii friend in the face using the game controller/nun chuck combination, then you haven’t lived). Instead of sitting on your butt pushing tiny buttons to incur actions in the game play, the player actually engages in movements similar to the playing the real life version of the game. Some people have claimed to actually lose weight by playing the Wii on a daily basis.

I believe that this is a classic case of technology driven vs. people driven product design. Donald Norman talks about the transition from technology driven products to people driven products in his book The Invisible Computer. He talks about how when technology makes something possible that was not possible before, it drives the design of products. Early adopters accept these products because it allows them to do something they were unable to do in the past. As the technology advances, the demand for more features begins to drive the process. At some point products become so feature laden that transitioning it beyond the early adopter audience becomes more difficult. Designing products from the viewpoint of the people that actually use the products helps to transition the product from the realm of the early adopter to the hands of the general consumer.

A great example of this phenomena is the cell phone. Up until recently cheaper, faster, and smaller components have driven our cellphones into a feature laden mess. Sure, there is a web browser on my phone, which is really cool because I can access the internet anywhere I can get a cell signal. Yet, i have to push 13 buttons on my Verzon VX9800 to access the browser and type in a URL on my phone. Many tasks on this phone take weird combinations of button pushes to accomplish things. Yet the iPhone only takes two ‘clicks’ before you can type a URL into Safari. iPhone = people-driven design. Verizon VX-9800 = technology/feature driven design.

Paradigm changing products such as the Wii and the iPhone are great examples of people-driven technology, and will help the user experience community solidify themselves into the product design process. The Wii has found an audience with the regular non-hard-core-gamer crowd. This is why the PS3 is looking at price reductions, while stores cannot keep Wiis on the shelf. Will my local department store PLEASE get some in stock soon……