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This guy already said it best: http://www.quora.com/Dropbox/Why-is-Dropbox-more-popular-than-other-tools-with-similar-functionality http://www.quora.com/Dropbox

This guy already said it best: http://www.quora.com/Dropbox/Why-is-Dropbox-more-popular-than-other-tools-with-similar-functionality http://www.quora.com/Dropbox/Why-is-Dropbox-more-popular-tha...

larrik 16y ago
Thanks for linking to the original. There's some real gems in here from the founder of Syncplicity. For instance, not having a Mac client meant that the tech press wouldn't touch it. Then, they wouldn't write about it. That's pretty enlightening.
- htsh 16y ago
  Also, imho, having a Linux client early helped quite a bit with gaining street credibility amongst hackers/nerds. I know this is the reason I started using it instead of competing services.
- VMG 16y ago
  It is a little contradiction to the statement "My philosophy is that they're right if their feature request is right only if it works for 80% of your customers.". Apparently sometimes a small minority of customers still can make all the difference.
  - msbarnett 16y ago
    I think it's important to distinguish "platform compatibility" from the kinds of feature requests he's talking about, because I don't think the take home lesson is necessarily "cater to some minorities' requests". Adding Mac support didn't make DropBox any more complicated for the end user -- there were no new corner cases or potential conflict scenarios, no new steps in the setup, no additional configuration complexity, basically no cost at all in terms of end-user mental load in order to extend their product beyond the Windows platform and reach some important taste-makers. This is distinct from the end user confusion created by adding, say, multiple folder support or any of the other complex features and configuration options that users will clamour for. When you don't carefully curate those kinds of features, you end up sticking your users in tyranny-of-choice territory in a way that simply broadening your platform support doesn't.
    - pmjordan 16y ago
      Adding Mac support didn't make DropBox any more complicated for the end user. I suspect that's not strictly true. Mac OS X and Windows file systems are subtly different in features (hard/soft links, aliases, .lnk files; files with multiple streams; various Finder annotations to files), and I suspect that once you sync to both Windows and Mac you will run into weird issues. Of course, syncing to multiple platforms is probably only something "power users" would do, and they can tolerate some teething problems.
  - neild 16y ago
    Macs are a small minority of the total computer market. They're a huge percentage of the trailing edge, however--the tech-savvy people who are willing to try a new service like Dropbox or Syncplicity. Leaving out Mac support in this case is like opening a coffee shop that sells $4 lattes, but can only be reached by people driving beat-up old Fords and Chevys.
    - jseliger 16y ago
      Macs are a small minority of the total computer market. They're a huge percentage of the trailing edge, however--the tech-savvy people who are willing to try a new service like Dropbox or Syncplicity. I agree with your first paragraph but would note that I think you're shooting for "Leading edge" rather than "trailing edge."
- l3amm 16y ago
  I think this dovetails nicely with Mark Suster's article from awhile back: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/03/22/6-tips-to-building-relationships-with-journalists/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/03/22/6-tips-to-buil... Basically, active engagement with journalists is key to getting the right press, especially in a competitive market.
- iujyhgftrgh 16y ago
  A similar thing happened with a famous Word Processor not having a word count. The designers found that nobody used word count - except for Journalists. Guess who write reviews of new word processors?
  - scotth 16y ago
    What? How can that be true? Were you ever a student?
dkarl 16y ago
The top comment there doesn't seem insightful at all, especially when compared to the next comment from the Syncplicity founder. For instance: No, shut up. People don't use that crap. They just want a folder. A folder that syncs. Apparently every time somebody at Dropbox suggested more features, he was simply told to "shut up." It sounds like the Dropbox guys got it right simply by being not retarded, like the commenter but unlike any of their competitors. Not really; according to the Syncplicity guy, Dropbox built multi-folding syncing and discarded it after they realized they couldn't make it simple enough for users. The lesson is not to "shut up" and listen to people who know what they're doing; the lesson is to design your UI carefully and pay close attention to how users actually use your product. No, shut up. Most of the world doesn't sit in front of their browser all day. If they do, it is IE 6 at work that they are not allowed to upgrade. As the Syncplicity founder pointed out, it was more important to get coverage from tech journalists using Macs. (After all, if folks are stuck with IE6 and aren't able to install Firefox, how are they going to install Dropbox?)

This guy already said it best: http://www.quora.com/Dropbox/Why-is-Dropbox-more-popular-than-other-tools-with-similar-functionality http://www.quora.com/Dropbox/Why-is-Dropbox-more-popular-tha...

larrik 16y ago

Thanks for linking to the original. There's some real gems in here from the founder of Syncplicity. For instance, not having a Mac client meant that the tech press wouldn't touch it. Then, they wouldn't write about it. That's pretty enlightening.

htsh 16y ago
Also, imho, having a Linux client early helped quite a bit with gaining street credibility amongst hackers/nerds. I know this is the reason I started using it instead of competing services.
VMG 16y ago
It is a little contradiction to the statement "My philosophy is that they're right if their feature request is right only if it works for 80% of your customers.". Apparently sometimes a small minority of customers still can make all the difference.
- msbarnett 16y ago
  I think it's important to distinguish "platform compatibility" from the kinds of feature requests he's talking about, because I don't think the take home lesson is necessarily "cater to some minorities' requests". Adding Mac support didn't make DropBox any more complicated for the end user -- there were no new corner cases or potential conflict scenarios, no new steps in the setup, no additional configuration complexity, basically no cost at all in terms of end-user mental load in order to extend their product beyond the Windows platform and reach some important taste-makers. This is distinct from the end user confusion created by adding, say, multiple folder support or any of the other complex features and configuration options that users will clamour for. When you don't carefully curate those kinds of features, you end up sticking your users in tyranny-of-choice territory in a way that simply broadening your platform support doesn't.
  - pmjordan 16y ago
    Adding Mac support didn't make DropBox any more complicated for the end user. I suspect that's not strictly true. Mac OS X and Windows file systems are subtly different in features (hard/soft links, aliases, .lnk files; files with multiple streams; various Finder annotations to files), and I suspect that once you sync to both Windows and Mac you will run into weird issues. Of course, syncing to multiple platforms is probably only something "power users" would do, and they can tolerate some teething problems.
- neild 16y ago
  Macs are a small minority of the total computer market. They're a huge percentage of the trailing edge, however--the tech-savvy people who are willing to try a new service like Dropbox or Syncplicity. Leaving out Mac support in this case is like opening a coffee shop that sells $4 lattes, but can only be reached by people driving beat-up old Fords and Chevys.
  - jseliger 16y ago
    Macs are a small minority of the total computer market. They're a huge percentage of the trailing edge, however--the tech-savvy people who are willing to try a new service like Dropbox or Syncplicity. I agree with your first paragraph but would note that I think you're shooting for "Leading edge" rather than "trailing edge."
l3amm 16y ago
I think this dovetails nicely with Mark Suster's article from awhile back: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/03/22/6-tips-to-building-relationships-with-journalists/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/03/22/6-tips-to-buil... Basically, active engagement with journalists is key to getting the right press, especially in a competitive market.
iujyhgftrgh 16y ago
A similar thing happened with a famous Word Processor not having a word count. The designers found that nobody used word count - except for Journalists. Guess who write reviews of new word processors?
- scotth 16y ago
  What? How can that be true? Were you ever a student?

dkarl 16y ago

The top comment there doesn't seem insightful at all, especially when compared to the next comment from the Syncplicity founder. For instance: No, shut up. People don't use that crap. They just want a folder. A folder that syncs. Apparently every time somebody at Dropbox suggested more features, he was simply told to "shut up." It sounds like the Dropbox guys got it right simply by being not retarded, like the commenter but unlike any of their competitors. Not really; according to the Syncplicity guy, Dropbox built multi-folding syncing and discarded it after they realized they couldn't make it simple enough for users. The lesson is not to "shut up" and listen to people who know what they're doing; the lesson is to design your UI carefully and pay close attention to how users actually use your product. No, shut up. Most of the world doesn't sit in front of their browser all day. If they do, it is IE 6 at work that they are not allowed to upgrade. As the Syncplicity founder pointed out, it was more important to get coverage from tech journalists using Macs. (After all, if folks are stuck with IE6 and aren't able to install Firefox, how are they going to install Dropbox?)