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A lot of the examples in this article are kind of gimmicky. MailChimp, for example. You would be better off ignoring the chimp, who usually links to YouTube tim
by alanh 15y ago
A lot of the examples in this article are kind of gimmicky. MailChimp, for example. You would be better off ignoring the chimp, who usually links to YouTube time-wasters as if they were important messages (the chimp is usually the "visually loudest" item on the page). Personality? Yes. But maybe not a good inspiration for your own product's personality. Maybe too much trading-off of utility.
To me, the web product that had the best personality of any is Feedburner. Kind of funny, creative, and slightly self-deprecating in consistent ways (e.g.: "troubleshootize" offsets the selling-out nature of "monetize"). The same clever, helpful, friendly voice is present on every page without getting in your way. The jokes are still actually, clearly communicating content. A tremendous achievement, IMO, and I believe it has kept me loyal despite their Google acquisition.
Groupon's email "personality" has attracted a lot of praise, but it’s polarizing, and I cannot stand it.
Another positive example is Pandora. The interactive, conversational tone encountered when setting up a station -- this was back in, what, 2005 -- has been a personal inspiration to me.
A counter-example is Stack Overflow, IMO. All the "site" messaging feels off to me. I’m always unceremoniously and orange-ly invited to "Read the FAQ." Told I can do something, and then prevented from doing so for having violated a secret policy, with a note that puts the blame on me ("Oops, edits need to be 6 characters or greater!"). Told I have "been logged in" and that I should click to refresh the page. It’s a personality, but it’s not a friendly one. It’s a red-tape-with-a-technical-explanation-from-a-lazy-programmer-with-no-UX-concept personality. An anti-pattern in site personality.
Be like Feedburner!
- jasonshen 15y agoGimmicks are in the eye of the beholder. A lot of very standard business practices started as "gimmicks" including free phone support and being open on Sundays. I think real gimmicks are things that trick you into doing something you didn't really want to do. I don't think any of the examples I listed were of that nature. Check out Seth Godin's post on gimmicks: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/gimmicks.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/gimmicks.htm...
- alanh 15y agoMy broader point is that some of these examples aren’t of a personality being present throughout a product, so much as one isolated instance: A 404 page, an omnipresent chimp. Less that gimmicks, as I used the term, are bad so much as they are insufficient. Admittedly, showing pervasive personality is harder to do in a format such as your blog post. (And it’s quibble-y and dead-horse-beating of me, but the MailChimp mascot has tricked me into clicking links I did not really want or need to click.)
- cliftonmckinney 15y agoI have to respectfully disagree with your point re: Mailchimp. They are a company that makes it easier to make email newsletters. Nothing knock your socks off amazing there. But that chimp and the subsequent marketing around it has played a major role in customer loyalty. They recently hit 1M customers and, to celebrate, they gave away plushies, hats, and t-shirts all with the mailchimp theme. And they gave them away quickly. Really says something about customer love and loyalty imo. http://blog.mailchimp.com/one-meeeellion-users/ http://blog.mailchimp.com/one-meeeellion-users/ Also, they do give you the "non-cheeky" option, so there's that. Completely agree re: Feedburner. :)