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getting the fundamentals
Yes, this is a mobile design and strategy blog. On the other hand, we are the only mobile company in Lawrence, Kansas. So we get the mobilists’ claim on last night’s victory, earning them the national championship.
So, go KU!
Both teams played strong, and the game was very close. A 3-point basket with two seconds left to go in regulation play let Kansas tie the game. (yes, that young man is a hero in this town right now)
Why did they win? The fundamentals. Discipline. Or rather, the breakdown of the same in the competition. And this is the same sort of fundamentals that products regularly miss. Memphis suffered from its inability to make free throws consistently, from a coaching error of not fouling Kansas with seconds left (would have limited Kansas to 2 points, not 3 to tie), and from relaxing a little too early.
Similarly, products too often miss the fundamentals of user experience, instead focusing on getting an impressive feature set and “flaming spinning logos” (that old IBM commercial, circa 1995, still sticks with me). We need to first make it meet user needs, make it work right and reliably, get the business model right. Then we can add flash. Or fancy dribbling.
For all that the iPhone has lots of flash (if no Flash), it’s got the fundamentals right. Or mostly so. This is still a human endeavor, after all.
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