Keep it Simple and Stupid

If we examine the technologies that actually garner millions of followers and that actually achieve a 'single-minded purpose' and that remain relevant for years to come without users hankering for this tweak and this fix and this feature, it becomes obvious that these are very few and far in between.

I am most impressed by craigslist.org and Google.com. These sites are 'simple and stupid'. A simple stupid technology is clutter-free in other words it does not try to pack all the James Bond movies feature into one product. It recognizes the fact that users are not the same and so it starts at the lowest level-the 'stupid' Vs the higher level- the 'sophisticated/seasoned/savvy' by simply being very very easy to use. No bells, no whistles, just the knocker.

Craig Newmark, Brin and Page have one thing in common- they are single-minded. What do we want to do? 'Offer a simple way to find information, nothing else.' And it works. The pages are very simple, plain white and everything is stupidly simple- you leave the sites with a great feeling that you actually brilliant because you managed to find what you were looking for.

This means you're not going to have to give 'fixes', tweak prototypes, troubleshoot features-which means you can simply concentrate on improving your core competence and doing it well.

Which brings me to Uganda's online voters display-managed by the electoral commission. http://41.210.167.106/nvr/. This is another simple stupid site which is successful because it achieves its aim of displaying registered voters (albeit the inaccuracies present) in a very simple step by step manner.

Cellphones, for example: In East Africa most people use cellphones only to call and send text messages. GPS, Bluetooth, web browsing, picture taking are all a second take for the savvy. Additionally, the most popular phone has been that one with a torch probably because of the chronic power shortages at night and the low electrification rates especially in rural areas.

My take is that if you want mass adoption of an innovation-don't try to straddle one hundred markets-be single minded in what you want it to do and make sure it does that one thing well. (I think partly this is the reason Google.com is so successful-search search search.)