"It's really dangerous to design for a technical elite. We have to design for a broad majority of users."
Wall Street Journal carries an interview with Jakob Nielsen where he explains his love for traditional newsletters over blog rss feeds.
Q. You say you like traditional newsletters emailed to customers instead of news feeds.
A. The best ones don't. With the best ones, it's like a service you are waiting for and expecting.
But they have to be very good, very targeted to a specific user's actual needs. And it's got to be very timely as well. For example, one newsletter is called 'Your Baby This Week,' and is targeted at new parents and, in particular, new mothers. It talks on a weekly basis of what you can expect for your new baby. That is something that is extremely relevant, so people really look forward to getting that particular newsletter. Unless a newsletter is very good, people will just say, 'Oh no, more information.'
Q. Can't blogs do the same thing?
A. Certainly you can have blogs that function as newsletters, updated on a regular basis. But they don't tend to do that. They don't tend to have that same sort of publishing discipline: having a publication schedule and surveying this week's or this day's events. They could, of course, but they don't tend to.
Wall Street Journal carries an interview with Jakob Nielsen where he explains his love for traditional newsletters over blog rss feeds.
Q. You say you like traditional newsletters emailed to customers instead of news feeds.
A. The best ones don't. With the best ones, it's like a service you are waiting for and expecting.
But they have to be very good, very targeted to a specific user's actual needs. And it's got to be very timely as well. For example, one newsletter is called 'Your Baby This Week,' and is targeted at new parents and, in particular, new mothers. It talks on a weekly basis of what you can expect for your new baby. That is something that is extremely relevant, so people really look forward to getting that particular newsletter. Unless a newsletter is very good, people will just say, 'Oh no, more information.'
Q. Can't blogs do the same thing?
A. Certainly you can have blogs that function as newsletters, updated on a regular basis. But they don't tend to do that. They don't tend to have that same sort of publishing discipline: having a publication schedule and surveying this week's or this day's events. They could, of course, but they don't tend to.