简单至上（KISS） 原则



简单至上（KISS） 原则

(指的是关于产品线的原则)…

       最近读到一篇非常精彩的文章——虽然有些过时了，但故事的精髓历久弥新…:Apple的秘密武器：简洁的产品线。

       我为什么这会儿想起这个故事呢？因为最近发生在我自己身上的两件小事证实了Apple选择方向的正确性，恐怕许多其他公司可以从中学习到一点经验和教训。

1．       女儿的电话被盗。对于20岁的姑娘来说，这件事本身就已经够灾难性了，但当我和电话公司联系，试图选择一个新的电话计划时，真忍不住火冒三丈。

2．       母亲的电力公司。母亲叫我研究一下她的电力公司，确保她拿到的价钱最好（她想换到另外一家公司，因为我儿子在那家公司工作，她想要表示支持——虽然这个理由并不伟大，但我也无从置辩。）所以，我就毅然决然地找到了相关的电力公司，开始研究最合适她的选择是什么。

       可想而知，到这个时候，谁再来要我做任何选择，都是自己往枪口上撞了。幸好，我是家里的主厨，不然，要是这会儿家人来问我晚餐想吃什么的话，我真的要撞墙了。

       篇首提到的Techcrunch的文章基于一个很简单明了的假设——虽然不无争议。人们喜欢选择吗？胡扯！对此，我举双手表示赞成！——人们需要的是能够优异地完成他们需要的大多数功能的产品，可靠而简洁，然后，要么对他们想要而产品未能实现的功能予以忍受，发些小牢骚，要么干脆完全置之脑后。每次我进到快餐店里（随便哪一家），看着收款台上方的显示，就会开始变得神思恍惚、目光呆滞。通常情况下，等到我好容易看完了第一组选项，电子屏就已经滚动到了完全不相干的新选项去了——结果，我总是干脆什么也不想，还是买了常规的老三样——省得再费心。

       我能理解电话公司和电力公司的出发点……他们想要利用FUD（Fear,Uncertainty, Doubt恐惧、不确定性、怀疑）的原则，让客户掏出比其实际需要或应该花费的更多的钱——这些公司简直是强取豪夺的专家（虽然他们美其名曰是客户服务，但实质上无异于敲诈勒索）。那么，其他公司又如何呢？Adaptec by PMC又怎样？我们公司确实有不少产品——目的当然是为了给每一个我们能够进入的可见的小众市场提供一样合用的产品。但是，客户真的想要这么大的选择范围吗？依我的经验来看，答案是否定的。不过，大家都知道，我并不是公司里产品营销方面的最后决策人。

       我在日常购物时，可以选择去那些提供47种果酱的超市，也可以去德国人的那家全球知名的超市——其中只有一种草莓果酱的。是真的，那里每样东西都只有一种。不用说，我的选择是简单的超市，因为它实在让我的生活简单快乐了许多。在生活中，我崇奉的宗旨是KISS（Keep It Simple Stupid 简单至上）——鲜有例外。

       很欢迎大家就这个问题分享自己的感受和看法…..你真的需要任何相关公司提供如此之多的产品选择么？还是，你比较认同我的做法？——回回有人问我要茶还是咖啡时，我的答案总是：请便吧。

  

The KISS principle …

(regarding product lines that is) …

     Was just reading an excellent article– a bit dated time-wise but the story never gets old …

http://techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/apples-success-solution-a-simple-product-line/

      Why does this come to mind right now? Two recent personal issues have shown Apple’s direction to be the right one in my mind, and a lot of other organisations might take note.

      1. The daughter’s phone was stolen.That in itself is traumatic enough for a 20-year-old, but dealing with the phone company on deciding a new plan made my blood boil.

      2. My mother’s electricity provider.Mum asked me to look at her provider and make sure she was getting the best deal (she wants to change to another provider because my son works for that provider and she’d like to support him) – not the greatest of reasons but who am I to argue. So off to the electricity provider in question to look at what“deal” best suits.

     So by now I’m ready to kill the first person who gives me a choice. Luckily I cook dinner in our house, because if my wife asked me whether I wanted x or y, I think I’d end up in goal.

      The premise of the Techcrunch articleis simple, even if a bit controversial. People want choice? Rubbish, and I 100%agree with that – people want a product that does most of the things they wantvery well, reliably and simply, and they will either put up with, gripe andwhine, or just ignore the things that product does not do (ie they will makedo). When I walk into a fast food vendor (any one, take your choice), I look atthe board above the counter and just glaze over. Normally by the time I’ve absorbed the first set of choices, some clever electronic screen has rolled over to a completely new set of choices – so I end up ignoring the whole thing and buying what I normally buy because I just can’t be bothered trying to workit all out.

      I get where the phone and electricity companies are coming from … they want to use the FUD principle (Fear,Uncertainty, Doubt) to make you spend more than you actually need to or should– they are experts at extortion (they like to call it customer service but inreality it’s extortion). But what about everyone else? What about Adaptec? Wehave an awful lot of products– with the aim of course to make a product for every conceivable niche market we can sell in to.But do people really want such a range? In my experience, no, but as you can tell I don’t make the product marketing decisions around here.

       When I go food shopping (which I doregularly), I can go to the supermarket that has 47-different kinds of preserves, or I can go to the German-owned worldwide organisation that has 1type of strawberry jam – yes folks, there is only one of everything. You guessed it, I spend my life in the simple supermarket because it makes my life a whole lot easier. I prefer the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) nearly every time.

      So let me know your thoughts … do your eally need such a large product range from any organisation that you deal with? Or are you like me when I’m asked whether I want a cup of coffee or tea?… “Yes please” does it every time :-).