When Product Complexity Creates Demand

Nike’s recent struggle with direct-to-consumer retail is a useful reminder that product complexity is not always a problem to be removed.

A company with a market value that once approached $150 billion can lose a great deal of ground when it narrows its range, simplifies its story, and treats every extra choice as friction. The usual advice is sensible: make the journey easier, remove clutter, focus on the customer. But a product can also create demand by giving people something to explore.

I was reminded of this when I worked for a leading gaming company in Hong Kong. One of the marketing angles was the sophistication of the product. New customers were attracted not only by the outcome, but by the feeling that there was a difficult system to understand. Learning the rules and finding a good solution was part of the pleasure. The complexity made the customer feel capable.

That is a delicate balance. Unexplained complexity is just bad design. A product that is difficult because nobody has done the work is not sophisticated. But a product with layers, patterns, and room for mastery can give people reasons to stay, talk about it, and bring in their friends.

This matters especially for millennials and younger customers, who often want products to carry some social value beyond convenience. They may want to show taste, competence, curiosity, or commitment. A product with nothing to learn may be easy to buy, but it can also be easy to forget.

The point is to distinguish harmful friction from meaningful depth. The first should be removed. The second can be a source of demand.

Reuters’ report on Nike’s direct-to-consumer strategy describes the pressure on the business.