cool Vs better

Some people want to make cool things.

But, what if it's only cool for the sake of being cool?

It may be cool, because it's its new but not measurably better (and improvement) in any way.

But what if the cool new thing is different and new and so not easily comparable with what already exists.

What if cool new thing promotes responses like "it looks good, but I'm. It sure what we'd like ever [pay to] use it for".

What if you make a cool new thing but can't justify why someone should use it, beyond it being "cool".

But,

Sometimes the benefits of a cool new thing aren't obvious. Sometimes the benefits aren't seen for a long time, or until someone with very different ideas and experiences finds a new use, or combines it with something else.

So,

How do you balance spending time on cool new things that may not have any short term benefit, and incremental, measurable improvements to what already exists?