SensoryMetrics

You’ve probably heard of Lulu – a huge success in self-published books. Any author can submit a book for free. The books are printed on demand. I often browse their top 100 list – the titles are not something you’ll find at Amazon or Chapters. One book of particular interest has been a best-seller for a while: 37signals’ Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application.

Getting Real details the business, design, programming, and marketing principles of 37signals. The book is packed with keep-it-simple insights, contrarian points of view, and unconventional approaches to software design. This is not a technical book or a design tutorial, it’s a book of ideas.

Lulu, like other online stores has a recommendation engine. It’s a bit wacky though. Last week in the top 20 was a book titled Luciferian Witchcraft – those who bought it also purchased Everything You Need to Know to Start a Santa Letter Writing Business. I knew there was something odd about that big guy in the red suit!!

[tags]Lulu, 37signals, satan, santa[/tags]

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Business, Long Tail 37signals, Lulu, santa, satan

The squint test is a method of usability evaluation. It’s pretty basic – look at a layout, squint your eyes and assess whether the product has good aesthetic integrity: predictable, organized, definable, clear, and flow-friendly. I’ve often used the squint test to also evaluate whether the GUI differentiates itself, or can be associated to a particular brand.

Brand is important to marketing – but it can also be useful to designers. It sets the tone and the expectations of the interaction between user and product. Google products – for the most part are successful at setting brand expectations: simple entry point, go deeper for advanced functionality. Adobe products also have a long history of GUI/brand consistency – power tools for professionals. In the web 2.0 world 37signals is a great example of GUI/brand identity. I’ve often heard “it’s like a 37signals product” when referring to usability. Business Week is quoted: “Basecamp is so simple you can’t do anything wrong. It’s addictively easy-to-use.”

There’s that addiction thing again!

[tags]brand, 37signals, addiction[/tags]

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Usability, User Experience 37signals, addiction, brand