Ending Type: Exhaustion / Credit out

Services or products that are based on a finite or numeric value. Once that value is exhausted the service or product end.

Examples included: batteries being discharged, food being consumed, and tyres being run bald. In digital we can see examples of storage being filled up. A currency is common - Dollars, Pounds, Euros, for example. But it may also be represented by a pseudo currency, such as points or credits which have been created by the provider. Some national authorities use a points system such as points on your driving licence (UK) or 3 strikes law in the (US).

Currencies

The exhaustion of currency has characterised peoples’ perception of each other for thousands of years. Yet running out of money is common across cultures, race, class and genders. It is probably the most common ending consumers have ever experienced. It is a frequent source of conversations, purpose and exploitation.

In recent centuries pseudo currencies have been seen in loyalty programs. Copper coins were given out to loyal customers by stores to redeem later. Green Shield stamps were very well known in the 20th century. Box-top coupons were often integrated into the product and collected by customers. These locked the consumer into a system where they had to use the chosen pseudo currency of the brand. Once they’d run out, they were like any other consumers again. So, they were downgraded to normal and their loyalty was exhausted.

Physical exhaustion

Ice blocks were an early, tangible and visible system which ended clearly with wet exhaustion. In 1805, Frederic Tudor and his brother came up with a business proposal to ship ice to the West Indies so that people could enjoy a cold drink in the sun. Unsurprisingly, that idea failed. But with a pivot any start-up would be proud of, Frederic decided to sell ice to restaurants and bars instead. With a great deal of effort, he finally established, not only a business but a whole industry of shipping ice. By 1847, 52,000 tons of ice was being moved around the United States.

Industrialisation established brand specificity in consumer products. Where in previous centuries items were unbranded and defined by weight or size, new marketing and packaging changed this. The branded box increased the tangibility of the ending. From ‘We are running low on cereal.’ to ‘The box of Cornflakes is empty.’

Some products end when they are full. A full vacuum cleaner bag means that the consumer’s vacuum cleaner has a lack of suck when it has reached capacity. Bin bags have similar usage. And as consumerism fills our homes and exhausts our storage, we resort to off-site storage and start again.

Services

Service costs can be expensive and quickly exhaust a person’s custom with a company. A clear example can be seen in the US health care system. This becomes difficult for people to afford unless they have insurance cover. According to a recent study, 66.5 percent of all US personal bankruptcies were caused by medical costs. The report estimated that 530,000 families file for bankruptcy every year because of this. Savings are also quickly exhausted without proper cover. A further study by Bankrate, found only 40% of people could even afford a medical expense of $1000 from their savings.

Digitisation

In June of 2000, BT Cellnet launched the world’s first General Packet Radio Service, (GPRS). This moved billing from per-minute or second, to billing based on volume of data. This changed the consumers’ perception of the pseudo currency. Now they became aware of the exhaustion of data when it ran low. Translating how much data was needed to download a song became a common consumer perception related to the service ending.

Mana

In gaming, Mana has been used as a form of currency for decades. The term goes way back to indigenous people in the South Pacific who used the word to describe a magical force. In gameplay, gaining and losing Mana becomes a source of progression and purpose for the player. So, it is being used for casting magic spells and other game-world activities.

Planning

If there is an inaccurate representation of credit, people get caught out. Fuel gauges are a good example, especially those that estimate the remaining distance. If the consumer drives fast and inefficiently, the remaining distance specified becomes different. This undermines trust in the representation of the currency (fuel). Consumers with electric cars need to plan far more than regular fuel drivers. This is due to the lack of charging stations, the length of charging and the limited range of the charge. Risks like this provide an enormous incentive to plan the exhaustion of your battery.

Phase 4. Observed.

Phase 4 of the consumer off-boarding experience is Observed.
Visible or tangible evidence that the end is progressing.

At some point in the off-boarding experience the consumer might be shown a representation of the end happening. This could be the crushing of a plastic bottle, or a graphic depicting the deletion of files, or a piece of paper with evidence that actions are in progress. This is a useful method of informing the consumer of progress and encouraging the idea of closure at the end of the consumer lifecycle.

Sometimes this might be a difficult experience for the consumer to witness. In other situations, it might come as a relief. As an experience it helps to re-enforce a negative situation or a legal status. In other cases, it helps build trust that a conclusion is imminent.

A crescendo of fireworks

Fireworks have often been a feature of endings. They bring an awe–inspiring visual thrill that helps punctuate an event, bonding large groups of people together in reflective wonder. National holidays and New Year celebrations are common reasons for fireworks. As a world leader in creating experiences, Disney does a great job in bringing an end to a visitor’s day.

There are seven daily alternative shows. Some are located around the Disney Castle, which provides an impressive foreground feature. Others are located around different parts of the parks. They seem to be universally loved by guests, helping to embed memories for years to come. Here is a reaction from a visitor to the Florida park.

However, when researching this aspect of phases of the end in 2020, we were all locked down, as were the park attractions. Putting the crescendo out of reach at the time. As the Disney website puts it - Happily Ever After, Temporarily Unavailable.

Microsoft UX guidelines

The Microsoft UX guidelines describe how animations can help the consumer observe the deletion of a file. An added level of graphics helps the consumer see the difference between recoverable deleted files and permanently deleted files.

“The progress bar for the Outlook Delete command displays the Recycle Bin for the destination if the files can be recovered, but no Recycle Bin if the files can’t be recovered. In this example, the lack of a Recycle Bin reinforces that the files are being permanently deleted.”

The lack of a destination brings up a recurring problem with deletion of data, which is that there is no evidence to prove the end has happened.