Creating “zero click” content
Creating “zero click” content As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a growing problem with Google is the number of “zero click” searches on there — searches that don’t lead to another click, because Google answered the question for you. It’s generally a good thing for users, but it’s a bad thing for companies wanting to get more website traffic. In the case of Google, there’s not much you can do. In other cases, though, it might be best to just lean into this trend. Most social media sites quietly ...
Grateful in the macro and the micro
Grateful in the macro and the micro When you ask someone what they’re grateful for, you often get the same kinds of things – health, family, friends, etc. Those are all wonderful things, and we should all be grateful for them, but being grateful for smaller things can sometimes have a bigger impact. In a recent episode of “My First Million”, the hosts (Sam Parr and Shaan Puri) interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk and it was a fascinating conversation. I encourage you to listen/watch the entire thing w...
Shortform for long books
Shortform for long books I’ve been using Blinkist for some book summaries for a few years now, and it’s great! However, I’m noticing a growing problem in the gap between long books and Blinkist, in that the “Blinks” just aren’t long enough to really share the heart of the book. Blinkist and most related platforms are proud of the fact that they give you “15 minute summaries”. Those are a fantastic way to get an overview of a book, but then they leave a bit gap between that 15 minute summary a...
Creating “zero click” content
Creating “zero click” content As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a growing problem with Google is the number of “zero click” searches on there — searches that don’t lead to another click, because Google answered the question for you. It’s generally a good thing for users, but it’s a bad thing for companies wanting to get more website traffic. In the case of Google, there’s not much you can do. In other cases, though, it might be best to just lean into this trend. Most social media sites quietly ...
Grateful in the macro and the micro
Grateful in the macro and the micro When you ask someone what they’re grateful for, you often get the same kinds of things – health, family, friends, etc. Those are all wonderful things, and we should all be grateful for them, but being grateful for smaller things can sometimes have a bigger impact. In a recent episode of “My First Million”, the hosts (Sam Parr and Shaan Puri) interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk and it was a fascinating conversation. I encourage you to listen/watch the entire thing w...
Shortform for long books
Shortform for long books I’ve been using Blinkist for some book summaries for a few years now, and it’s great! However, I’m noticing a growing problem in the gap between long books and Blinkist, in that the “Blinks” just aren’t long enough to really share the heart of the book. Blinkist and most related platforms are proud of the fact that they give you “15 minute summaries”. Those are a fantastic way to get an overview of a book, but then they leave a bit gap between that 15 minute summary a...
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Of all of the things that Apple is known for, a major one is simplicity. It seems weird to say it, particularly when talking about complicated, powerful devices like iPhones and Macbooks, but everyone knows that it’s true. When compared to competing devices, Apple’s are almost always simpler to use.
This wasn’t just due to luck — it was due in large part to Steve Jobs and his “simple stick”.
I first heard about this in a recent episode of the Founders podcast, where they said:
“If an idea was not distilled down to its essence, Steve would reject it.
If an idea took a turn when it should have traveled in a straight line.
If you made different versions of anything, Steve would hit you with the simple stick until you simplified it down to one.”
In the case of Jobs, it wasn’t about the quality of the work but simply that it was too complicated. In a post on The Daily Coach a while back, they shared this anecdote:
“The suspense is killing me,” I said. “How’d it go this morning?”
“Well,” he said, “Steve hit us with the Simple Stick.”
Translation: Steve had rejected their work — not because it was bad but because in some way it failed to distill the idea to its essence. It took a turn when it should have travelled a straight line.
In this case, it hadn’t even been the creative effort that bothered Steve — it was the project itself. The person leading the project had directed the team to create packaging for two versions of the same product. Steve had decided this was brain- dead. “Just combine them,” he said. “One product, one box.” There was no need to explore the idea of a second package.
Simple wasn’t the only thing; it’d be impossible to create a device like the iPhone that was “simple” all the way through. That was the magic of Steve Jobs; they could take a wildly powerful and complex device like the iPhone and make it seem simple.
In the unveiling of the iPhone in 2007, Steve took careful steps to make the phone appear as simple and easy to use as anything you could imagine. For example, if you start around the 15:20 mark of his 2007 keynote, watch how slowly and deliberately he shows actions such as sliding to wake the phone, and using the home button to always get back home.
I suspect the “Simple Stick” has been used quite a lot at Apple over the years, and other companies would do well to introduce it in their workflows as well.
Of all of the things that Apple is known for, a major one is simplicity. It seems weird to say it, particularly when talking about complicated, powerful devices like iPhones and Macbooks, but everyone knows that it’s true. When compared to competing devices, Apple’s are almost always simpler to use.
This wasn’t just due to luck — it was due in large part to Steve Jobs and his “simple stick”.
I first heard about this in a recent episode of the Founders podcast, where they said:
“If an idea was not distilled down to its essence, Steve would reject it.
If an idea took a turn when it should have traveled in a straight line.
If you made different versions of anything, Steve would hit you with the simple stick until you simplified it down to one.”
In the case of Jobs, it wasn’t about the quality of the work but simply that it was too complicated. In a post on The Daily Coach a while back, they shared this anecdote:
“The suspense is killing me,” I said. “How’d it go this morning?”
“Well,” he said, “Steve hit us with the Simple Stick.”
Translation: Steve had rejected their work — not because it was bad but because in some way it failed to distill the idea to its essence. It took a turn when it should have travelled a straight line.
In this case, it hadn’t even been the creative effort that bothered Steve — it was the project itself. The person leading the project had directed the team to create packaging for two versions of the same product. Steve had decided this was brain- dead. “Just combine them,” he said. “One product, one box.” There was no need to explore the idea of a second package.
Simple wasn’t the only thing; it’d be impossible to create a device like the iPhone that was “simple” all the way through. That was the magic of Steve Jobs; they could take a wildly powerful and complex device like the iPhone and make it seem simple.
In the unveiling of the iPhone in 2007, Steve took careful steps to make the phone appear as simple and easy to use as anything you could imagine. For example, if you start around the 15:20 mark of his 2007 keynote, watch how slowly and deliberately he shows actions such as sliding to wake the phone, and using the home button to always get back home.
I suspect the “Simple Stick” has been used quite a lot at Apple over the years, and other companies would do well to introduce it in their workflows as well.
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