August 20th, 2008
A Big Brand Mistake
I have a bad feeling about today. It feels moronically complicated already. Things that should be easy are slowing me down, getting under my skin, keeping me from the work I need to be doing.
My gripe is about password-protection. If it doesn’t involve my money, my so-called intellectual capital, or my livelihood, what’s the point? Could someone please tell me? Back when I could use the same username and password for almost everything, this was not a problem. But ever since my PayPal account got hacked into and cleaned me out earlier this summer, I have changed everything to a hieroglyphic combination of numbers, letters, small, large and everything in between. No two are alike.
I recently fell in love with a site called visualthesaurus.com. It’s a nifty site for anyone who loves words and who writes for a living or for pleasure. I paid the $2.95 a month to join, but can I remember my log-in credentials? No–and was it easy to retrieve them? Of course not. Does this leave a bad taste in my mouth about an otherwise delightful and useful site? You bet!
What does this have to do with brands? Everything. Think Mac. Think ease-of-use. The more complicated we make using our products or services the more barriers we throw-up for our customers. Instead of becoming to go-to site or the go-to firm or the go-to expert, folks begin to turn to us as a last resort because it is too hard, too time consuming or just plain too confusing.
Simplify, simplify. Let this be your brand mantra for the day.
August 21st, 2008 at 7:12 am
Great blog. I’ve always felt that much of what we do on-line is moronically complicated. Imagine if when you walk into your home, you have to input a log-in ID and password in order to turn the lights on, a different combination to turn the stove on, the TV, the stereo…etc. That’s what the on-line experience has always felt like for me. Non-intuitive– you have to learn a pigeon dance to get the slightest things accomplished. Face it: we are still in the dinosaur days of hardware and software, and I personally can’t wait for the day things become as easy as flipping a switch.