Thursday, December 15, 2005
Seven Seconds to Engage
Anyone designing a product had better remember this!
Leapfrog's Great Leap Forward
Fast Company, June, 2003 by Bill Breen
For Jim Marggraff and his colleagues at toy maker LeapFrog, seven quick ticks on a stopwatch is all the time they have to win over the world's most discerning consumers: toddlers, grade-schoolers, and tweeners. It took years of watching kids interact with prototypical toys to yield Marggraff's Seven-Second Rule, which is scrawled across a whiteboard in his office: "If the product's art and audio fail to engage the user within 7 seconds, the user will never engage."
That homely, hard-won observation was foremost in Marggraff's mind in the autumn of 1999 as he and the LeapFrog team prepared to roll out a toy that took two years of late nights to produce. Based in Emeryville, California, LeapFrog was a niche entrant in the serious business of producing playthings that make kids go bonkers."
"Seven seconds. For Jim Marggraff and his colleagues at toy maker LeapFrog, seven quick ticks on a stopwatch is all the time they have to win over the world's most discerning consumers: toddlers, grade-schoolers, and tweeners. It took years of watching kids interact with prototypical toys to yield Marggraff's Seven-Second Rule, which is scrawled across a whiteboard in his office: 'If the product's art and audio fail to engage the user within 7 seconds, the user will never engage.'
That homely, hard-won observation was foremost in Marggraff's mind in the autumn of 1999 as he and the LeapFrog team prepared to roll out a toy that took two years of late nights to produce. Based in Emeryville, California, LeapFrog was a niche entrant in the serious business of producing playthings that make kids go bonkers."
Leapfrog's Great Leap Forward
Fast Company, June, 2003 by Bill Breen
For Jim Marggraff and his colleagues at toy maker LeapFrog, seven quick ticks on a stopwatch is all the time they have to win over the world's most discerning consumers: toddlers, grade-schoolers, and tweeners. It took years of watching kids interact with prototypical toys to yield Marggraff's Seven-Second Rule, which is scrawled across a whiteboard in his office: "If the product's art and audio fail to engage the user within 7 seconds, the user will never engage."
That homely, hard-won observation was foremost in Marggraff's mind in the autumn of 1999 as he and the LeapFrog team prepared to roll out a toy that took two years of late nights to produce. Based in Emeryville, California, LeapFrog was a niche entrant in the serious business of producing playthings that make kids go bonkers."
"Seven seconds. For Jim Marggraff and his colleagues at toy maker LeapFrog, seven quick ticks on a stopwatch is all the time they have to win over the world's most discerning consumers: toddlers, grade-schoolers, and tweeners. It took years of watching kids interact with prototypical toys to yield Marggraff's Seven-Second Rule, which is scrawled across a whiteboard in his office: 'If the product's art and audio fail to engage the user within 7 seconds, the user will never engage.'
That homely, hard-won observation was foremost in Marggraff's mind in the autumn of 1999 as he and the LeapFrog team prepared to roll out a toy that took two years of late nights to produce. Based in Emeryville, California, LeapFrog was a niche entrant in the serious business of producing playthings that make kids go bonkers."
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Pay per call
Momentum for pay-per-call is building - here's one of a deluge of news stories on the subject.
Meanwhile, the PPCL pioneer Ingenio has been quietly making money on this for years. Prices for call-throughs have been in the $3+ range - clearly, if you're calling a local merchant, you're a qualified lead.
Ingenio stumbled onto this business model after their first try (Keen.com - answers by telephone) blew up. I wonder if we're going to see lawsuits like Overture/Google here.
Meanwhile, the PPCL pioneer Ingenio has been quietly making money on this for years. Prices for call-throughs have been in the $3+ range - clearly, if you're calling a local merchant, you're a qualified lead.
Ingenio stumbled onto this business model after their first try (Keen.com - answers by telephone) blew up. I wonder if we're going to see lawsuits like Overture/Google here.
