We have flotation devices to save us from drowning. I think we need a Bloatation detection device to tell us when enough features are enough in the Software as a Service (SaaS) utilites we build like Saasu. I think a bloatation detection device would sound a big warning alarm when customers:

• have to follow more than 3 links to get to a feature (we think 90% of Saasu.com features are one click away)
• can’t find a key feature when they search for the key feature term - the feature is buried in lower search results
• don’t use the feature you have just implemented (say 90% of them)
• customers suggest a feature and you blindly put them into the build process
• think your help system resembles an accounting software manual
• need to pay a someone thousands of dollars to teach them how to use your system
• need more than one disk to install your application (software bloat only, not relevant for SaaS)
• leave you to go to another SaaS application
• call or email the service desk a lot when they first start out (also attributable to lack of ‘getting started’ help).
• reading between the lines in service queries and feedback suggest bloat or feature confusion

Adjust for your target market.

Is Bloat Really Bad?

I remember a customer comment that really stuck with me. He thought our application wasn’t quite as pretty as some (he was referring to some nice drag AJAX in a competitor application) but that ours “did the stuff” he needed doing and it was fast. He didn’t realize that we were actually pioneers in this technology. We have used AJAX in many areas not just ‘nice to have’ features.

One Catch: Function Regularly Beats Form

He is a customer of ours now, not the competition so function beat form in this competition.

Lately we have been putting much more time into user interface (UI) design despite this apparent function over form win suggesting otherwise. Grant Young points out the importance of “lean and fresh” in a comment on my Evolution Doesn’t Do Design post on my personal blog. Lean and fresh is very important. Our UI changes in recent weeks have been all about raising features to the surface, removing menu items and freshening up.

Pete our CEO thinks it is crucial to progressively reveal features, so have the depth and sophistication, just don’t scare people off by showing them all the features on the first sign in. This progressive reveal including considering the likely experience level and seniority of the user as well as their 80% case - what do they really want to do in most cases in this exact situation? Now make it easy as possible. At the same time (and more commercially) he believes there is a need to balance visibility of powerful features so prospects don’t underestimate just how much power your application has.

Killerapp Punch

The killer punch is when you have feature rich, lean and fresh all happening. You get the balance right. Design that raises the needed features to the surface when and if the user needs them (This was Grant’s mantra long before Web2.0 and Ajax existed). In our business we refer to bloat as the symptom of too many features not being easily used or found in our application.

Plenty of the best selling systems globally are very feature rich and suffer bloat. However, the bloat hasn’t stopped them. These systems do what needs doing. They get business done. Buyers put up with the feature barrage to get specific needs met. Microsoft being an X-tra L-arge spreadsheet tool, has massive penetration, despite the massive headache to learn and use. Once you know how to use Excel the pay-off can be large.

Minimalism sucks, if you are kid and like lots of toys

Let’s face it, as a kid minimalism ain’t much fun. As adults it can be just as bad if you are a kid at heart. However, it can also be very calming, make life simpler and give you that clean fresh feeling many of us love. Minimalist houses are a good examples outside of the tech arena. A person will sacrifice a lot of functionality for form in the aim to achieve minimalism. I’ll argue that for my stage in life I’m not a minimalist, I’m not a buyer of minimalism. I prefer a comfy couch with lots of cushions, easy access to magazines for me and my coffee and kids toys to keep the offspring happy. Later in life I’ll be a customer of minimalism, but not yet.

Clean Bloat is Best

We could keep Saasu lean and clean and sacrifice features, that’s simply a market demographic decision we have to make. Clean bloat is what I prefer. How do you pack a lot in and achieve a clean looking app? Campaign Monitor, another Aussie (email engine with analytics) are one of the best at doing this globally. 37 signals are also very good at it. So the market exists for different people at different times. Your business model can choose to sell into it or not, it should never be a design decision. So there is an answer to the bloat question. However the answer is a decision. Which market are you selling into?

Tell us some more? I’d love to build this list up.