High Protein Menu

I want to make web applications that people use. Doesn't everyone? Creating a new product that only a tiny portion of the population will even hear of is draining, but this is the fate of so many geek inspired web apps appearing almost daily now.

Lately, when I have been working on a new interface or application I ask myself - "would I use this if I was say, a cab driver?". Honestly, most of the time, the answer is no. It takes an extremely compelling (and well marketed) product to appeal to a large range of demographics, even with the rising web application adoption rates spurned on by success stories like Myspace and let's say, Flickr.

Companies like 37signals have no interest (it would seem) in creating web applications that appeal to a broad range of people. They've picked their niche (geek early adopters) and are running with it - with some measure of success no less.

I don't subscribe to this mentality. I can't remember a time in my life where I have wanted to (for lack of a better word) settle for a niche market in anything I do. I want it all, and to get it all, I have to understand what everyone wants. This is not easy.

I was hesitant to call Flickr a success story because it is a perfect example of an application that only appeals to a small niche of people. Although photo sharing is indeed one of the web's 'killer apps', Flickr isn't the largest app of it's kind -- indeed, it's userbase is far behind that of it's parent companies Yahoo! Photos service. The reason being is that it's capturing the same market as every other marginally popular app, the geek early adopter market.

The hardest hurdle for me to cross is that I am part of this market. I, like many others find it extremely difficult to detach myself from the knowledge I have accumulated through hours of browsing the web. This over abundance of information hinders development - how do I put myself in the cab drivers shoes if I don't remember what it was like?

I want to make web applications that people use. Doesn't everyone? Creating a new product that only a tiny portion of the population will even hear of is draining, but this is the fate of so many geek inspired web apps appearing almost daily now.

Lately, when I have been working on a new interface or application I ask myself - "would I use this if I was say, a cab driver?". Honestly, most of the time, the answer is no. It takes an extremely compelling (and well marketed) product to appeal to a large range of demographics, even with the rising web application adoption rates spurned on by success stories like Myspace and let's say, Flickr.

Companies like 37signals have no interest (it would seem) in creating web applications that appeal to a broad range of people. They've picked their niche (geek early adopters) and are running with it - with some measure of success no less.

I don't subscribe to this mentality. I can't remember a time in my life where I have wanted to (for lack of a better word) settle for a niche market in anything I do. I want it all, and to get it all, I have to understand what everyone wants. This is not easy.

I was hesitant to call Flickr a success story because it is a perfect example of an application that only appeals to a small niche of people. Although photo sharing is indeed one of the web's 'killer apps', Flickr isn't the largest app of it's kind -- indeed, it's userbase is far behind that of it's parent companies Yahoo! Photos service. The reason being is that it's capturing the same market as every other marginally popular app, the geek early adopter market.

The hardest hurdle for me to cross is that I am part of this market. I, like many others find it extremely difficult to detach myself from the knowledge I have accumulated through hours of browsing the web. This over abundance of information hinders development - how do I put myself in the cab drivers shoes if I don't remember what it was like?