![[objectdesire-logo.png]] #### <span style="color: yellow;">DESIRE</span> We have life goals; let's call them Fantasies. Who do we want to become, who we already became, and what is still left to achieve. We do tasks we believe will get us closer to these Fantasies, to our desired future self. And we buy products to help us do those tasks. There are plenty of products that do the same task. Out of all the options, we will choose the one that says the right things; to others and, more importantly, to ourselves. The product we choose is a signal. It tells the world who we are. But it also tells us. You don't just buy a Patagonia vest. You become the kind of person who wears Patagonia vest. So we are not really choosing between products. We are choosing between versions of ourselves. Everything we buy has to answer the question, “Who do I become if I buy this?” <span style="color: yellow;">**MEANING**</span> What answers that question is “product meaning” Product meaning is not what the product does. It's what the product IS. HipChat and Slack could be used to do the same task, but Slack led with a different meaning (the email killer; fast, efficient internal communication) and users, consultants, journalists, VCs,… started repeating that. Slack became “the way to make the team more efficient” even if it was functionally identical to HipChat (which meant “team chat” in a time when chat for work was frowned upon). Eventually, Slack became a Symbol. It told you and others who you are: a sophisticated and efficient startup founder. Symbols don't just say, "I use this tool." They say, "I am this kind of person”. #### <span style="color: yellow;">**SPREAD**</span> Meaning becomes stronger when others say it. When the journalist writes it, when the consultant recommends it, when the community repeats it without being asked. That is when product meaning stops being your marketing and starts being a fact. #### <span style="color: yellow;">**object:desire**</span> Engineering the right meaning first and then getting the right people to say the right things in the right sequence until the meaning reaches the point where the product becomes a symbol is what object:desire is for.