Simplicity Rules

Adam DuVander on keeping it simple

MacWorld gives simplicity a boost

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With every new Apple product announcement come the stories of how the Cupertino folks like to keep it simple. The iPhone’s details were a secret, but everyone knew it was coming. The big news was how Apple had changed the game, making a phone that’s intuitive.

iPhone maps

I had a Sidekick back in 2003. That’s when I learned there’s nothing quite like access to a full QWERTY keyboard. The iPhone has it, but I clicked all over Apple’s website yesterday trying to find it.

John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity, had the patience to watch the entire demo (or the keynote). The keyboard is part of the touch screen and reacts to hovering fingers. He calls it On-demand largeness. Pretty cool.

Greg Bell not only lauds the iPhone, but says that most phone manufacturers suffer from UI Laziness. That’s a good way to put it. Don’t blame constraints, but embrace them and find a creative solution. That’s how to separate simplicity from laziness.

But say, what do you think? It may be worth a copy of Maeda’s book. Details here.

Think bigger or think smaller

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Big and Small People

If a project isn’t working, if it’s stagnant, or if nobody seems interested, it needs a change. In making a switch, there are two choices: think bigger or think smaller.

It’s about niche and focus. Thinking smaller means narrowing in on what’s most important. If you get too small, think bigger, because you’ll reach more people that way.

Judy’s Book set out to be the people’s local opinion repository for everywhere. They ended up keeping the everywhere, but focusing on shopping. They thought smaller.

As you might have gathered from my previous posts, I’m rather proud of my free Portland Wi-Fi site. But I had visions of publishing a monthly print version and connecting the many members of the laptoperati in Portland. In this sense, I probably thought too big.

Big and Small Bread

Yet, I also thought too small. Why just Portland? Well, it went along with my grand vision. But if I had made a site that could easily work across the entire U.S., it probably would have seen a lot more success. In this case, I thought too small.

The fellas behind Unthirsty found a middle ground. They focused on Portland Happy Hours, but made a site that works nationwide.

Getting smaller means thoughtful reduction. Getting bigger means that you’ve left out something that is meaningful. It’s the same dance I discussed in my Laws of Simplicity series.

What does “simplicity” mean to you? Share your thoughts and you could get a signed copy of Laws of Simplicity. Share your opinion here.

Community Next Conference in February

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The Present and Future of Online Communities.

There’s a great line-up of speakers for the Community Next conference. It’s a single Saturday in February at Stanford. If you’re into making the Web a better place and can get to the Bay Area, check this out.

As far as conferences go, this is cheap ($195). And it can be even cheaper if you get a discount code from Noah.

MetroFi won’t replace my ISP

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First, let me say again how cool it is that Portland has city-supported, free WiFi. The Internet isn’t just a toy, it’s a tool. Making it available to everyone is super.

For “power users” like me, MetroFi’s service won’t be replacing my current providers, nor stop me from going to coffee shops with their own connection. It’s a pretty lousy browsing experience for anyone who is used to zipping along, especially using multiple tabs. This is probably perfect for those who check their email once per day, or just get on to check the weather.

MetroFi banner in frameset

MetroFi slaps an advertisement at the top of every page using a frameset to plant the real page directly below the banner. That this service is ad-supported is what makes it possible, but this specific implementation slows down browsing. Worse yet, when I Ctrl-click / Apple-click to open a link in a new tab, some MetroFi Javascript takes over and redirects my current window to the new page. I end up with two copies of the same page, unless I quickly hit escape.

I cannot access sites that try to break out of framesets. MetroFi notices and redirects to their page with a frameset. Then the site tries to break out again. It’s an infinite loop, as the power struggle continues.

It’s not all bad. MetroFi’s service will work for most users, though they may be disappointed by the speed. Despite my problems with the frameset, I’m pleased to see that MetroFi has gone to lengths to preserve URLs.

The best part to me is feeling more connected. Here I sit in my favorite non-WiFi coffee shop and I’m able to hop on to answer a question, send an email, or write a review of a so-so service*.

For months, I’ve gone to Marsee for a bagel and coffee. I’ve read the newspaper or put pen to notebook. It was a pretty neat realization a couple weeks ago that I could also open my laptop.

*I feel like I should mention that MetroFi offers a premium, non-ad version of the service. For $19.95 per month, it’s less than most other broadband options. My guess is that it would also solve the problems I’ve outlined above.