Ending Type: Time Out

Time Out

A Time Out type ending is a product that is delivered over a fixed period.

Such endings could include: a 3-year education course, or a 2-week holiday. Once that period has expired, then so does the service.

For physical products, this could be a sell-by-date or a warranty period. Past which the manufacture or supplier believes the product will be subject to ware & tare or decay that risks the ideal product experience.

For digital products this might be a 1-year subscription to a computer application, or a 24-hour rented film.

Historical changes in timekeeping

The industrial revolution introduced the modern concept of time, thanks to mechanisation. People moved to the cities in search of work in the new factories. Here time was different: it was divided into three equal 8-hour sections, punctuated by factory clock and bells. These were – work time, your time, sleep time. This increased awareness across societies of defining time, where as previously, in rural communities time had been based on observation of natural cycles of the season, sun and the moon.

Preserving time

Packaging advances meant that food could be preserved for much longer. The tin can was patented by Peter Durand in 1810, who later started the world’s first canning factory in England with John Hall in 1846. This extended the life of beef, mutton, carrots, parsnips and soup. It changed the consumer relationship with one of the most common consumer endings - the decay of food. Time is often defined clearly now on many food products though sell-by or consume by dates.

Countdown

Decisions over time are one of the most common gaming models. When
I was at the digital studio ustwo, some of the games we created had models that enhanced the decision-making process over a limited period. We also used these same models when designing trading platforms for banking clients. Auctioning is a similar variant of this, when the seller has created a time-based event to intensify the selling experience.

Carbon Offsets

When a company buys a carbon offset it will be attached to a year of maturity - called a vintage. Although the experience of buying an offset is very transactional and immediate, its delivery is far from that. Taking years, if not decades to deliver its benefits.

When tackling future consumer engagements, one of the challenges will be to communicate the end date of off-setting or neutralising of product decay.