Business must be simple enough for a cell phone

Is your business simple enough to serve customers on a cell phone? If not, you may want to think about changing your business.

In the "good old days", companies had large mainframe computers and those computers allowed for complex businesses. Computers allowed banks to pay interest based on the day of deposit and the day of withdrawal. they allowed telephone companies to set rates beyond the simple commercial and residential categories. The best example is airlines, with their complex systems for reservations and fares.

Personal computers, despite their name, were never simple. The applications ranged from simple to complex, and even the set-up of the equipment required some expertise. The typical PC application is a complex beast. Even the simple Windows applications of Notepad and Calculator have nooks and crannies, little features that are unobvious.

The World Wide Web changed the idea of complexity. Web pages can be simple or complicated, but a business on web pages can afford only so much complexity. When customers use "self-service" web sites, complexity is your enemy. A customer will accept only so much complexity; after that they call your help desk.

Cell phones and tablet computers have set a new bar for simplicity in applications. An app on a cell phone must be simple; the size of the display constrains the complexity. Tablet computers are following the cell phone model, not the desktop PC model.

I''m convinced that Microsoft recognizes this; their new Windows 8 and its "Metro" interface is geared for simpler applications.

Consumers have come to expect a simple experience. Most Microsoft applications are complicated, from their file formats to the installation routines to their "average" use. This complexity is a failure of the operating system that was going to make computers "easy to use" and "intuitive". If you are following the Microsoft model of applications (multiple windows, lots of dialogs), you will have a difficult time living in the brave new world of cell phone and tablet apps.

But it's not just your software. If your software is complicated, it probably means that your business is complicated. (For example, airline reservations.) Complex businesses require complex software, and complex software does not fit in the cell phone interface.

Smart phones have been out for several years. If you cannot offer your business to customers on a cell phone (because it's too complicated), you may want to think about your business. The cell phone and the tablet are the new location for business. If you cannot fit there, you will be unable to survive.