Don't make me think!

In this post I would like to raise the topic again, which in some variants has already slipped wherever possible. Subject - simplify, only simple things are clear to the user, only simple interfaces can give you a good conversion and only simple services have the right to life.

And, of course, all this simplicity should be in business models, in relationships in a team, in motivation systems, etc. Everything that is around us can be simplified, you just need to want.

But all this would be empty sound, without concrete examples, without practice where we stuffed some good cones.
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For a year now we have been actively developing our web service. And, now, looking at evolution, we understand how much all the superfluous, incomprehensible, unnecessary we have done :) And how much simpler everything is in fact. Therefore, I would like to consider several aspects due to which the problem arises not simplicity.

Invalid focus

Our service allows clients to discuss graphic materials (site sketches, logos, booklets, etc.) online, in a simple flash editor. All sketches are combined into projects and participants are invited to them. And here we lost the focus. We put projects and their participants in the first place (because we have been doing projects all our life) and started to dance precisely from projects.

Thus, in order to start using the service you need to understand the scheme in which it is arranged. It is necessary to register, add the first project, invite people to it, and only after that the user gets the opportunity to use the main function - discussion of excise.

We moved away from the main function and started to do “near-functions”, in which, as it turned out, there is no great need. Now we are completely changing our approach and focusing on only one of our main functions.

Do not do “near-function”, make the basis of your service / product / site. Everything around it will appear by itself, your users will prompt you, you will see where there are bottlenecks. But from the very beginning, focus on only one, the most-most-important thing. An example from our life below.

On the left - projects with updates, from the menu, with activity. On the right - a new concept - directory, file system. One click and can already be discussed.

Is burning? Add coal!

The second aspect that complicates life is solving problems by adding functionality. This is equivalent to the fact that when you have a fire, you still throw coal into the furnace. Nothing comes of this, we tried :)

In our case, we identified a problem - after registration more than 30% of users did not create the first project. Imagine - a third did not reach the main functionality of the system. Those. they didn’t even try if this service could help them, they gave up!

Pokumekav problem, we concluded: Since users do not do the first project, let's show them how to do it. And we made a wizard. Each new user received a unique tour in which we conducted it from project creation to discussing sketches. Looking back, we understand that this was from the epic fail series. The number of users who did not create their project was reduced by a couple of percent (which simply can be attributed to the error).

Do not try to solve the problem by adding functionality. Solve it by removing the functionality. Remove all unnecessary, no matter how painful it is.

We have simplified the beginning of using our service like this:

On the left is the current version. On the right - a new version, where the user can immediately try what kind of service.

The simplicity is omnipresent.

And the last aspect that makes the world around us difficult is the lack of simplicity in everything. When you do something very simple, but the wrapper is complicated - then + 1-1 will be the same zero. You made a very simple service / site / product, but you sell it as something very complicated and this is again a mistake.

In our case, although we didn’t do something simple, the wrapper (website) was made even more colorful and complex for this. And again, turning back, we understand that most of what is now on the site is not necessary.

Don't make fancy wrappers for simple things. Everything from the service itself to its wrapper should be simple and transparent.

Redo it! Do not be afraid!

Even if you spent a year on your product or service, invested many thousands of dollars in it, and then found that what you did is too difficult, cumbersome and incomprehensible do not be afraid to start from scratch! Take down everything that has been done and redo it, rebuild it, taking into account all the lessons.

Thank God we are not builders who can not tear down and build anew. For us it does not matter. So look around, evaluate, and if you see what you need - rebuild!

Update: the current version of the service: www.thecommentor.com A new, simplified version will be available from September 1st.