Wise Startup Blog

The new rule these days is keeping your startup as dead-simple as possible. Feature creep has so often been the problem for web 1.0 players and the web 2.5 crowd has definitely learned its lesson. I think the reason we’re seeing such a shift to simplicity in this new crowd of web 2.0 apps is simply the fact that everyone is so sick and tired of having to read [ the vcr ] manual just to figure out how to listen to music.

Just as Apple has simplified the personal computing experience for users, web 2.5 has brought us that same simplification in our favorite web apps.

Drop Dead Simple Startups

Our favorite friend Twitter loves to keep everything stupidly simple, limiting conversations to 160 characters and often time telling us not to be so dependent by bringing their servers crashing to the ground.

There are so many startups now simply pushing the features out the door, and retaining 1 core element: share text, highlight information, share music, blog, & write. The ideas for these startups are not new, and none of them offer an entire suite of services better than their competitors. What they do have, however, is a singular focus and a goal of fulfilling one need, and doing it really well.

How to Keep it Simple, Stupid!

Often times people have a huge vision for their project and want to make sure they include every feature imaginable so that their end user will be fulfilled and put up pictures of your site on their bedroom walls.

Unfortunately, thinking in terms of an engineering standpoint, doesn’t help when building a successful community. You have to put yourself in the mindset of how your users will be using the product and what best need can you fulfill. Here are a couple quick steps you can take during your next brainstorming session to help get you in the simple mindset.

• Pretend you had to interact with your app via SMS, would it be painful? Could users still obtain value? Are there ways to add in extra value in this context?
• What would your grandmother say? Using the older generation as a guide, you can glean a lot of insight on usability and keeping everything drop-dead-simple.
• Would someone who doesn’t speak english (or your language) understand your app? What steps can be taken to minimize confusion (besides translation).
• Describe your site in one sentence. If you can’t, revise your sales skills or find a need that needs completing for people.
• How many other sites do something similar to your site? The more the better; find one aspect they all share and create that singular experience.