Keep it simple, intuitive, and focused

Sometimes the solution to the most complex problem can be very simple. In fact it's so simple that it seems like common sense when you finally find it. The big challenge here is in finding that 'obvious' answer, because after all, 'common sense is the least common of all senses'. So if you notice, most technologies that have attained widespread popularity and success today, are the ones that have been adopted by the masses readily, because they make immediate sense to them. Let's look at some of them.

Today, the highest accessed website is not the one with a fancy design, lots of graphics, and oodles of content that you have to scroll through to find what you're looking for. It's Google. All the complexity of Google is hidden in the background for the engineers to worry about, not the users. And to think that before Google, there were so many complicated search engines, which were fit only for the tech-savvy to use. The lesson to learn here is to keep your technology deployments simple for your users. Your users will appreciate and automatically start using it, without requiring umpteen training workshops to teach them how to use it. Change management will be smoother if things are kept simple.

Likewise, the most popular smart phone is not the one with lots of fancy buttons, scroll wheels, stylus, etc. It's the iPhone, with its simple, multi-touch user interface and a big screen from where you can operate all the functions. Users don't have to read umpteen manuals and undergo a six month training to learn all of its functions. All the controls are intuitive and easy to learn. So the learning here is to keep your solution intuitive, so that users automatically learn to use it and you don't get hundreds of support calls to your helpdesk.

The same goes with the BlackBerry, which became popular for doing just one thing well-email. Everybody has an email id, and is addicted to it. So instead of the user going to the email, why not just let the email come to the user the moment it's sent? The lesson here is to stay focused on the problem, while using technology to resolve it. If you taking care of all the other smaller problems surrounding it, you'll lose the big picture.

Our cover story this time is on the latest hardware that's coming in the market. We've covered everything from simple tech to share one PC amongst multiple users to complex server innovations. Before choosing to buy or deploy any of these technologies, first define your problem very clearly, and then identify the most simple and intuitive technology to deploy. The rest of the detailing can happen after that. 

Date: 5th April, 2010

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