feature distinction
Ben Brooks and Sean Sperte had a little discussion today: AppSuration and Unique Traits begat Sean’s Response begat UI, UX — Style.
They both make some good points.
Ben seems frustrated at the multiplicity of apps that don’t bring anything truly new to the table. That’s a sentiment I’ve found myself complaining about lately as well. It seems like a significant amount of mindshare keeps solving the same problems over and over again.
Sean defends user experience as a distinctive feature. This idea helped convince us to make Canned. We didn’t bring any features that didn’t exist in the dozen or so apps that beat us to market. In fact, we had less features, but focused on a simple and compelling user experience. That is the edge that makes Canned worthwhile. It’s a tradeoff that diminishes complexity.
You’ll always find the most clutter in the marketplace among apps that people use the most. Note-taking apps, RSS readers, photography apps, and yes, Twitter clients. It stems from the fact that designers love to develop apps that fulfill the user experience they’re looking for, and that’s different for every person.
Tweetbot has optimized the way I use Twitter on my phone. It has brought many features that seemed clumsy or inaccessible to the forefront in a way that makes me do more while spending less time in the app. I couldn’t be happier with it, and I’m excited to see where the roadmap is headed.