Adoption isn’t about your product — it’s about their move

When you’re building something new, it’s natural to focus on your product. The features, the experience, the design, the pitch.

But from the user’s perspective, the decision isn’t really about your product. It’s about whether moving from what they currently do to using your product is worth it.

That difference matters. Users aren’t evaluating your product in a vacuum. They’re evaluating a change. A change that has costs — sometimes obvious, often invisible — even before they start to enjoy the benefits.

Switching costs are the reason great products often fail to spread, and mediocre products often hang on for years. Understanding them is one of the most useful frames you can carry into product work.

What switching costs actually are

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Switching costs and why change is hard