| David Brewster: An Important Trend |
| Published on 11/27/04 at 13:37:03 GMT by Norbert |
| |
 An Important Trend: Be Aware of it
By David Brewster, Business Simplification, Carlton North, Australia
I admit it. I'm a sucker for techno-toys. Just give me a kilobyte of an excuse and I'll buy a gigabyte of gizmo before you can say MP3. But now there is hope for those less digitally enthusiastic. After a decade of feature frenzy, the wired-worm is turning. Simple is in. And the shift has significance for every business - digital or otherwise.
Just look at what's happening:
Last year, Canon launched a new marketing message: 'Advanced Simplicity'. "At Canon, we believe there's no point to new technology if it doesn't make life simpler". And if the usability of our new Canon flat bed scanner (the family needed it) is anything to go by, they are living up to the phrase.
Mobile phone maker Kyocera has launched an internal 'Simple Rules' campaign with a focus on making their mobile phones easy to use. "People are complicated; their phones don't need to be".
Hewlett-Packard recently claimed to be "focused on making technology and its benefits accessible … through simple appliances". Certainly my laser printer (which the business needed) is wonderfully simple to use.
Then just last month, electronics giant Philips announced its new direction: 'Sense and Simplicity'. "The promise of the digital revolution to make our lives easier, simpler, better is not being delivered. … At Philips, we believe that technology should be as simple as the box it comes in."
Meanwhile, others are letting their products speak for themselves.
The new Nikon digital camera in our house (my wife's film camera was broken) is very easy to use. The software that came with it is less so, but Google's Picasa picture manager (free - no excuse needed) could hardly be simpler.
Apple's iPod, which brings simplicity of both style and function to new levels, has destroyed Sony's dominance of the portable music market. I haven't tried one of these yet (though my eldest is angling for one - yay) but I can vouch for Apple's cost (and excuse) free music software, iTunes. It is by far the easiest to use in its class.
And my USB flash drive and Bluetooth handsfree headset (both essential productivity tools) are perfect examples of no-frills, built for purpose technology.
So what of the implications? Well, if the simplicity centime has dropped for all these big players, with their terabyte-sized market research budgets, then isn't it time it did for you too?
It's not just about technology. To paraphrase the Philips CEO: "The world is already complicated enough; everyone wants simplicity". It's about making your organisation's products and services - or your part of them - easier to use. It's about finding novel ways of doing so.
Rest assured: a newer, simpler band-wagon is gathering momentum. There's an awful long way to go. But the time has come to get on board - or get left behind.
About the Autor
David Brewster is a Simplicity expert. He helps managers and
business owners succeed by finding ways to simplify the way they
work, the products they create and the way they communicate. His
client's work more effectively and have more, happier customers.
David regularly writes and speaks on simplifying work. More
articles, downloads and resources are available at his website:
http://www.businesssimplification.com.au/
enquire at businesssimplification dot com dot au
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