Seth Godin Gets on the 37signals Train
August 24th, 2006 by MikeI am joking, but I enjoyed reading that Seth Godin had come to the realization this morning that products - of all stripes - are too complicated these days (Seth tried washing his clothes in a washing machine with 125 different settings).
Seth ponders whether “good enough” might be the next big idea.
The team over at 37signals would certainly agree. They have staked their future on the notion. And it seems to be working.
One note though, “good enough” will smack of mediocrity to some. Perhaps “simplicity” gets to the heart of it. Very few would demand a complicated product. But every one thinks they deserve great (which is the perceived as the opposite of “good enough”).
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August 25th, 2006 at 12:28 am
This is definitely a discussion about context. In a world full of gray shades, there is no doubt that one person’s good enough is another person’s mediocre.
After further thought, it was less Seth’s perspective of good enough that got my ire, it is that I all to often run into the “good enough” scenario. I have yet to experience a situation in a design process where good enough isn’t a compromise, or a consolation. I despise the mediocrity that stems from a design-by-committee process.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
[...] Yesterday I commented on a post by Seth Godin here on this blog. I did this because Seth chooses not to enable comments (which is totally cool by me). He has enabled trackbacks however. I drafted my thoughts and published the post. In Wordpress this is all one has to do to join a conversation. But when I returned this morning to see how the conversation had progressed over night, my post was nowhere to be found. [...]