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.
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.