Tell people platform info, immediately and often
At 8:45pm on a Saturday, I decided that I really needed to replace my LaserJet's toner cartridge. So I took a quick drive to the local computer superstore, and I was able to find a replacement cartridge in just a few moments.
The people who designed the store understand merchandising, and they understand how people buy toner cartridges. When I buy a toner cartridge, I have a vague interest in the cost, quality of the toner, and environmental friendliness of the packaging. But my number one question is, "Will this work in my printer?"
There are hundreds of boxes of toner cartridges on the shelves. I have no interest in reading what they say about the quality of their ink, the number of copies they will produce, the number of years each printed page will retain its image, or anything else except the make and model of the printer that the cartridge is designed to fit. I'm looking for "Hewlett-Packard 6P". Period.
That's how most people buy software on the Internet, too. And I'll never understand why so many software developers make people work so hard to find the answer to the question, "Will this software run on my machine?"
I often have to search through web page after web page to find platform information. The developer has carefully crafted a sales pitch on their home page, but I'm not reading it. I'm barely glancing at it. All I want to know is whether the software will run on Windows 98. Period.
Q: How much time do I spend reading the Lexmark and Canon toner cartridge boxes when I'm looking for an H-P 6P cart?
A: As close to zero as possible.
Q: How much time do I spend looking at screenshots and write-ups of software before finding out if it will run on my system?
A: As close to zero as possible.
End-users can't guess platform info from screenshot borders
I've heard the theory that you don't have to list platform information if you include a screenshot. Everybody can see that it's a Windows XP screenshot, so they know immediately that it's a Windows application.
In reality:
- Most Windows 98 users would look at the upper-right corner of an XP application's screen, see three stylish icons, and not recognize them as being "Windows" icons at all.
- Most computer users have no idea if the three icons in the upper-right corner are computer icons found on Windows, Macintosh, Palm, UNIX/Linux, and other computer systems, or if they're Windows-only icons.
- Most users won't download, install, or buy a program if they don't think that it will run on their computer.
Tell people operating system information early and often
When people visit your web site, tell them immediately what platform your software runs under. Tell them often. Tell them in terms that they can understand. Once they know that they can use your software, they'll give your write-ups and screenshots a lot more attention.
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