I apologize for the rather late reply to your comment. I just now noticed your comment.

If something is fielded (ie, put out into the real world), that product and/or feature has one chance to make an impression. If that product and/or feature works as intended, then it will be used. However, if the product and/or feature requires hoops and extra steps that the user is not willing to make, then that product and/or feature is pretty much unusable.

So I agree with your statement that without unique features, there will be no growth. However, the unique feature better work and require little thought to use the first time.

Thank you for your comment.

Ronald

I think usability comes form intuitive design and functionality. Make the tool do what the users hope and think it does.

To say that people won’t take the time to use a unique feature you’d put an end to development on the web. Unique features show up all the time. Only a handful are useful and usable without any instructions and a few evolve into something we take for granted.

Take contact forms. I bet these were unique features in their time.

I strongly believe that a feature that is intuitive, useful and easy to use will make a difference in the overall functionality of a web site.

Otherwise, this was a great article to read. I like the fact that you use real-world examples to emphasize what you mean.