Here is a video for your viewing pleasure for those of you that don’t prefer the hands-on approach.

Architel is the 2010 sponsor of the monthly Startup Happy Hour.  The regular get together of between 20-80 entrepreneurs began in 2008 when Alexander Muse, my business partner sent an email to a few of his friends suggesting they invite a few entrepreneurs to the High Tech Bar in our building for a get together.  Over the past couple of years more than 2,500 entrepreneurs have shared a beer (or two) with us.  As part of their 2010 community engagement effort Architel is becoming the official sponsor of the event.

Are you an entrepreneur? Do you work for a startup or small business?  Looking for a job?  Looking for a partner?  Looking for angel investment?  Come on by for a drink and some fellowship with like-minded folks from North Texas.  The event is in the Building (1950 Stemmons Freeway) at the corner of Oak Lawn and I-35.  We get started around 5PM, hope to see you there.  Just RSVP here.

Who goes to a restaurant and says, “Just give me something to stop my hunger?”  Eating out is more about the experience than it is about the food.  Hell, why else would my sister pay $46 for 12 cupcakes?  And they were the biggest hit at my wife’s baby shower.  “They’re gourmet!” she explains.

With software, User Experience is king, especially in the mobile space.  Look how users use their phones.  They pull it out of their pocket, do something real quick and then quickly put it away.  In a mobile setting, people’s patience is at a record low.  Most of the possible actions they may do are so trivial that it’s not worth their time to endure a slow connection or scroll through a bunch of garbage.  They’re not writing a paper or conducting research.  They’re just looking up sport scores or just checking up on their friends.  It their app doesn’t perform well, not a whole lot is lost by just giving up.

Here are a few philosophies we try to adhere to when building our mobile apps. 

• Trim the Fat
  Show the user just enough information to get the job done and nothing extra.  In a mobile setting, less is more.  If they needed the whole story, they wouldn’t be using a three inch screen.  Everything else is clutter.
• The 80/20 Rule
  Aim to serve 80% of your customers very well and ignore the cries of the other 20%.  “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” – Bill Cosby.  We’ve gotten multiple requests to support scanning lotto tickets.  Suddenly our elevator pitch would become unnecessarily complex.
• Responsiveness
  Every millisecond counts.  It’s amazing what small amounts of lag can do towards killing the User Experience.  Whether it’s lag in a network response or lag in an animation, immediate feedback keeps the user engaged and feeling in control.  After scanning a barcode, ShopSavvy will start showing you prices before it’s finished searching for them.  This approach prevents us from having to disengage the user for 10 seconds with a “Please Wait” screen.  As it turns out, users don’t mind watching the price gradually drop over a few seconds.  It’s even kind of fun.
• Fun is a Requirement
  Users’ attention spans are at an all time low on a mobile device.  But I’ve seen people flick their home screen from left to right for minutes at a time.  This accomplishes nothing!  Why would someone choose to do that instead of interacting with some useful apps?  Same reason eating out isn’t about feeding your body.  It’s about how it’s done and why is it special.  Users have told us that they can’t help but scan every barcode in sight.  Scanning a barcode and hearing that beep is surprisingly gratifying.  The “fun” aspect encourages continued-use.

The next time you select a restaurant, try to decipher why you chose it.  Does it have the cheapest food?  Probably not.  Is the food the best tasting?  Maybe, but I doubt that’s the whole story.  Sprinkles Cupcakes puts a 30 cent cupcake on a fancy doily and calls it gourmet, “that’ll be $3.25.”  You’re not paying for food, you’re paying for the experience.  The best way to add value to your mobile app is by enhancing the User Experience.  Write Gourmet Software (TM).