When it comes to programs and apps, updates are constantly delivering “what users want.” And generally, “what users want” is interpreted as more features, updated features, more connectivity, etc, etc.
These sound like good things, and occasionally, they are. But when you break down every successful program and app ever made, they were created to address a fundamental user need or want. Unfortunately, among all the innovation and additions, that fundamental purpose can be lost.
There are two huge examples: Facebook and Gmail. Facebook was created to stimulate online connectivity among peers at Universities, providing a forum for communication. It then expanded to other market segments, growing at an exponential rate. Now, my even my Grandma is on Facebook. I’m not kidding.
However, It is not the size that is the problem. It is the attempt by Facebook to accomodate every want of every user in these market segments. There are apps, games, photos, videos, tagging, and even a marketplace. Of course, with all that data comes a lot of responsibility, and we all know what happened recently in terms of privacy.
Facebook is trying to be everything, when really, it is designed to connect networks of people and provide a forum for communication. If that was still at the core of Facebook’s purpose, I personally would find it a lot more useful. Instead, it is saturated with all of these other side projects that do not connect to the fundamental need it originally addressed.
Gmail, on the other hand, has taken a very different approach. Google, just like Facebook, was addressing a fundamental user need: a simple, effective online email application. When it was released, it was as barebones as possible. It was lacking in many areas, but it caught on almost immediately. I think I even paid a friend $5 to receive a Gmail invite!
Gmail was simple and it worked. Now, Google has added hundreds of features to Gmail. Everything from Multiple Inboxes to Undo Send to Themes, yet it is still addresses it’s original purpose brilliantly and generating just as much buzz (pun intended) as ever!
Why have Google’s additions to Gmail been effective whereas Facebook’s have caused chaos? It’s simple: they’re optional. Sure, technically you don’t have to subscribe to all of Facebook’s features either, but you experience all of the side effects anyways. As for Gmail, they have allowed users to use absolutely every feature possible, yet still send a perfectly legible and effectively simple email to another user that employes no features whatsoever.
Of course, Google is no stranger to providing for a fundamental need. Hopefully Facebook can learn something from Google’s experience on the web and make their way back to their roots.
