The Design of Feature-Limited Demonstration Software: Choosing the Right Features to Include

Today, software supports many important tasks in a variety of industries. In the specialized nature of these environments, a common problem faced by software vendors is to correctly signal the true value of a software product to the end users. For example, telecommunications equipment manufacturers design complex software for important functions like provisioning new users in the network. These software products automate various functions that would otherwise need to be done manually. In order to enable potential customers–telecommunications providers–to evaluate and recognize the full value of the product, equipment vendors often provide a free, feature‐limited version of the product to the customer. As the specific features included in the feature‐limited version influence whether the full product is purchased or not, it is essential that the features included in the feature‐limited version be selected judiciously. While the importance of identifying the best set of features has been well recognized, there has been little research to date that systematically addresses this fundamental business decision. This study fills this gap in the literature by providing an objective approach to the design of demonstration software. We illustrate the benefits of our approach through a case study involving the design of a feature‐limited demo for a wireless telecommunications equipment manufacturer.