Google knows it. 37signals knows it. Heck, I even know it.

Do you know it?

37signals is making a small change to Backpack that enables users to rearrange entire lists, instead of just the list items themselves. Also, you’ll soon be able to drag items from one list to another. Is this going to revolutionize Backpack? No. Was everyone complaining about the inability to do these things. Not at all. Will this get new users to sign up? Nope.

Will it make them more money? Sure it will. Because existing customers will keep using Backpack.

Google did a bunch of research and managed to determine that increasing the number of search results on a page reduced the speed of the page, and this resulted in a 20% reduction of searches and ad revenue. Turns out that leaving their results at 10-per-page is a detail that makes people happy and that changing it is very, very bad for business. Lesson learned. They’ll think about details like that on every project now.

The major features of an application are the ones that make it marketable, but the details are what make it competitive. Details are what make passionate users. Details are what make up that elusive quality we’re all after as software designers and developers. You know.

The X-factor.

The small things are usually the best part of an application. Companies should focus on them. They shouldn’t expect fanfare and ticker-tape parades for doing so, because small features subsequently get little attention, but they’re absolutely vital.

Big features will get people to sign up, but the details are what will keep your users happy for years to come.

Posted by Robert on November 17th, 2006