The Productologist

[Business 2.0 Homage #2]

In previous posts, I have discussed the usage of Personas as a tool for insuring that your product meets the needs of the prototypical user(s) in the context of other challenges. Look for a posting on that specific topic soon, but for now, I’ve got another example of how important it is to truly understand who the primary and secondary users of the product is.

[Business2.0 homage #1]

Back in July 2007, there was a article in Business 2.0 about making mashups easy for non-technical users. As more and more users embrace web technologies, companies have looked for ways to provide a way for the unfettered masses to take advantage of the latest and greatest that the Internet has to offer. Internet publishing is a prime example of how a previously complex process (coding HTML, creating images, creating dynamic pages, FTP’ing files, etc) turned into blogging, which is now accessible to anyone with an Internet connection who can type and remember their login and password.

Popularity: 41% [?]

At the end of the summer, Time, Inc. announced their decision to cease publishing a magazine called Business 2.0, which for several years, had chronicled the rise and fall of the New Economy (or the Internet Bubble or New Media or whatever your nom de jour for the years at the end of the last century/beginning of this century was).

Popularity: 26% [?]

I’m a big fan of addressing human factors in product design. Since I primarily deal with software products, my focus is on usability and simplicity (two similar, but not identical concepts).

In a recent edition of Business 2.0, I came across an article entitled, “Design that Captures the Buzz,” which highlights how cellphone headset makers are hiring product designers to improve the “fashion factor” of bluetooth headsets. While I don’t think that fashion, per se, is that important to software design, I applaud the use of designers to improve both the appeal and functionality of a product.