Swirl Connect

I’ve been using Opera Mini ever since it was first released. In a word, it is stunning. This is exactly the kind of user experience we’re trying to create with Swirl. Which ties in perfectly to a hurdle we’re presently trying to clear.

Swirl has been in development for nearly six months now. Much of that work has been focused on the frameworks being used in and by the application, rather than the features that are visible to you when using it.

All of the public-facing functions were designed before framework development began, using use cases and a persona-based design approach. Essentially, we’ve defined (very specifically) who will be using Swirl, and we design for that person. Instead of wondering what the “users might want” here or there, we ask what “Michelle wants” here. As we begin to identify with the personas we’ve defined, design decisions become easier and easier.

So one would expect that now is the time that we should be able to get rolling. But we find ourselves standing still, with competing forces tugging our decisions. We want to keep Swirl focused on what Swirl does best. But a truly engaging user experience requires, or at least suggests, that we should be tacking on features or integration with popular services. Personally, I think we can create an engaging experience by focusing tightly, and delivering beyond all expectations in our core areas. But a service like Swirl gets its value from the concentration of users in an area, and for that, a broader feature set might be in order.

So do we try to be exceptional, like Opera Mini, or throw in the leaky kitchen sink like TagWorld? 

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Design by Shaun