brunobergher::blog

I signed up for Twitter a few minutes ago (I’m arriving a bit late to this, I know). So far I have no opinion on the service/phenomenon itself, but there’s one thing I can tell. When loading contacts from other services, this screen is presented to you:

And this kind of witty copy writing (the ‘popular’ thing) is inviting in a whole different level than unusual. It can make you like the service before you even start using it. And a user with a positive stance towards the application is as good as it gets for the first step for a successful interaction.

Matt at signal vs. noise noted the sliding images that explain how the Beanstalk, a hosted Subversion system, works.

I find that interesting, but what really caught my attention was the simplicity of the sign-up process: they only offer you the option of signing up for a free account. That way you don’t feel that the service is being sold to you, but rather that they’re offering you an opportunity to enjoy something good.

THAT is user-friendliness and inviting for business, because we have to be realistic: there’s no way someone is going to choose a paid option without checking out the free one first, standing right next to it.