At the 2011 Content Strategy Forum in London, Ove Dalen (@ovedalen) presented the first real case study I’d seen showing the amazing potential of decreasing the amount of content on a web site.
The slideshare isn’t rendered terribly well, but James Perrin (@Koozai_James) posted a nice recap shortly after the event. (2nd story on the page) In short, they removed 80% of the site’s content and saw a 100% conversion increase. Wow.
Who needs all of the complexities of a smartphone?
Well, a lot of us, admittedly. But does your kid? Does your grandmother? No. And there isn’t a lot out there for them.
OwnPhone saw the need for a simple phone, with a lot LESS stuff, and created a business plan.
Just a simple phone that places and receives calls. No browser. No games. No maps. No voicemail. Clearly-labeled with a maximum of 12 pre-stored numbers to call.
I think this is brilliant. I see this being useful for parents wanting to be able to communicate with their kids without giving them all of the features of a smartphone. (Photo buttons coming soon, which makes it great even for preschoolers.) Or for the elderly who just need a phone for emergencies. Or for anyone who just wants to unplug for a while but still be able to be reachable for critical situations or just to check on the kids without the temptation of email and Bejeweled at their fingertips.
Pricing is a little high, imo, but they are just getting started. I look forward to seeing this in the US soon.
In his Inc. article titled "The Best Way to Make a Decision," Jeff Haden shares Derek Sivers’s “HELL, YEAH! or no” method for making decisions in business and life.
It’s also a good way to determine whether the content or feature you’re considering is worth including. A “Well, someone might use that sometime…” is just not good enough.
If you can’t say “HELL, YEAH!” this will help our customers achieve their goals, then skip it.
Great anti-example from Gerry McGovern at Lean UX Denver 2012. Thanks to Timothy Whalin for taking and sharing the photo!
(Sometimes I worry this might just turn into a Gerry McGovern fansite, but then again, that might not be so terrible.)