As easy as 1, 2, 3, by Jeffrey Veen

As easy as 1, 2, 3

Back about two years ago, I got the opportunity to work with Blogger on a redesign. Our goal was to dramatically simplify the "first post scenario" -- that is, how quickly can someone who has never even heard of blogging through a sign up process and writing something?

At one of our first meetings with the Blogger team, we agreed on a goal: 3 steps. We didn't know what those steps would be, but we knew we wanted to boil the whole process down to something that sounded really easy. After about two months of intensive design and usability, we ended up with something that both accomplished our goal and resonated with a whole new audience of bloggers.

I bring this up again because of recent New York Times article, "Elderbloggers Stake Their Claim," which looks at people taking up blogging later in life. This quote really made me smile:

While the 65-plus age range is notoriously tech-shy, many say that the blog-hosting companies make it simple to start and maintain one. Mr. Reichek said that when he went to Blogger.com — which is owned by Google — the site showed him how to set up a blog in easy steps.
"I'm a technophobe," he said. "But 1, 2, 3 and suddenly, I've got a blog."

Now that's satisfying user feedback...

This entry was written by Jeffrey Veen and posted 11 April 2006 at 4:57 PM. It was filed under Web Design. | View blog reactions

Comments

1. On 11 April 2006 at 5:50 PM Jamison wrote:

Um, slight typo. I'm sure you meant first post scenario and not fist post. I'd be kind of scared if that were Blogger's primary use case.

2. On 11 April 2006 at 5:54 PM veen wrote:

Heh, thanks for catching that, Jamison. Fixed it.

3. On 11 April 2006 at 6:05 PM Gino Zahnd wrote:

Man, that rocks. Hard. For me, good feedback from the old folks might be the best feedback.

4. On 12 April 2006 at 4:51 PM Stephanie wrote:

Always loved my Blogger and it is cool to be able to read from the creators of it, had a quick question do you know of any blogs the Google creator are keeping would also like to keep up with there ideas.

5. On 13 April 2006 at 1:35 PM Karl's Aunt Ginny wrote:

Hey, Jeff, thanks for making blogger so easy- I'm one of the gray panthers out there getting thier own blog. Very cool!

6. On 14 April 2006 at 7:32 PM Li Zhao wrote:

Thank you, Jeff. There are too many reasons for me to love blogger to list them here. :-)

I am so eager to try your measuremap now, but right now, there is almost no chance to get a beta account from measuremap.com. What a pity.

Could you offer an account to me?
Appreciate again.

7. On 9 May 2006 at 9:58 AM sizeight wrote:

Good to hear the elderly are also catching on to blogging. They should have the most interesting thoughts to share if there is truth in the saying "wisdom of the years".