chette.com

You just can’t help but feel sad for OMGPOP and ZYNGA. When App Data released the data showing the sudden slide on Draw Something’s user base, all the bloggers practically jumped on it — calling it a fad, a hype.

But was it? I don’t think so. I believe the main reason why Draw Something lost its users its because they failed to give users what they needed, when they needed it.

OMGPOP did attempt to give users what they said they needed. The updates to the app did contain fixes & features that were frequently mentioned in Draw Something’s over 20,000 reviews in the App Store (undo, send comments, retina display, etc.).

But OMGPOP were not able to give what the users didn’t say they needed. And this is the key difference between being good and being great – the skill that separated Steve Jobs from the rest.

Henry Ford was (mis)quoted that if he asked his customers what they wanted, they would’ve said “A faster horse.”

And that is exactly the same with mobile games. Ask users what they want, and more often than not, they will only tell you features that they have already seen.

OMGPOP then had a bigger challenge to know what was unsaid. And to do this, they needed to understand the nature of the game. Which I believed they never did.

Draw Something, at a glance, was a drawing game. Which means its users usually have a longer attention span — they would take the time to draw, to carefully pick out pens and colors, and meticulously erase little mistakes that the other party would otherwise not notice.

But Draw Something was more than a drawing game — it was also a guessing game. And this is when it becomes tricky, because this time, users would have a shorter attention span than usual.

The game then had two sets of users: One who is taking his time, and one who just can’t take any more waiting time. There was no skip or fast forward button to the other player. He was being expected to patiently wait for his “teammate.”

But there is still one crucial factor in all this: Timing. Giving the users what they need when they needed them.

Versions are already crunched as it is with the mobile apps industry. But Draw Something’s users were more volatile. Because, again, of the nature of the game: The game needed additional equipment to be played “properly” – a stylus and a tablet.

Draw Something’s users found it easier to just stop playing the game altogether – because it also removes them of the discomfort of having those equipment all the time. Or to just jump to the next big app. Which, unfortunately, is just $0.99 away.

If I were the General Manager of St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City:

The admitting forms will contain less customer profiling questions, and more pertinent patient information. None of those salary information, home ownership, etc.

Those who already got their St. Luke’s privilege card will really get privileges, and will really get faster checkin.

Patients will be allowed to checkin even if it is 20 minutes before midnight, without charging them extra for those 20 minutes.

Patient data will be integrated and streamlined. There will be no need for 4 different nurses to ask the patient if she has allergies, her occupation, if she will use an HMO, etc.

If a patient asks for an additional pillow, she will be provided with one, without being told “may additional charge po.”

Trash cans will be simpler. There will be no long paragraphs explaining what waste goes to which trash bin. The trash cans will also have no lids. Just a plain old open trash can that a sick patient can use.

That the food they serve will be in microwaveable bowls.

That they will have the directory of the restaurants on the ground floor.

The nurses will actually fill up the whiteboard on the patient’s room.

The TV in their deluxe rooms can be tilted towards the other corners of the room so that the patient can sit anywhere to watch TV.

That the pitcher will already be filled with drinking water the moment the patient arrives.

There will be shelvings in the private rooms, so that the patients stuff are not strewn haphazardly on the two tables provided.

Internet access will not block SMTP and IMAP ports. No, this is not overkill

ZAGGfolio / ZAGG.com / $99

This is probably the best iPad case + keyboard combo that I’ve ever used, if you are in that kind of thing.

First, the keyboard: The keys are springy, and spaced apart just right. The battery of the keyboard also lasts a long time – sometimes for a couple of weeks, depending on how often I use it.

There is a slit on the keyboard which is convenient for using the iPad on portrait mode.

It also looks quite good. I got the the Starhive Purple case, because the usual color which I usually see in retail stores look quite tacky (Carbon Fiber). ZAGGfolio is also available in leather, but only in black, brown, and alligator.

You can also choose the color of the keyboard (silver, black, or white). I got the silver, because I wanted to mimic the keyboard style of the MacBook Pros.

The keyboard does need to be removed from the case when charging. Which is not much of a hassle since you only need to do it every so often.

You would think, however, that with the size of this thing, ZAGG would have at least added a stylus holder. But there you go.

Yes. The size. If you’re a MacBook Air user, you can’t help but compare their weight. Maybe it’s my imagination, but the iPad with the ZAGGfolio feels quite heavier than the MacBook Air.

I reiterate that it is the best iPad case + keyboard combo on the market. But then again, only if you’re into that kind of thing.

“But it was in my email!” she exclaimed.

We caught each others’ eyes. Everyone seems to be in agreement not to acknowledge that last sentence, and quickly brought up other issues in order to change the topic.

Because we never, ever, read her emails. Or at least those of which she calls her “comprehensive status update.” We have all admitted it in different circumstances.

We knew we should. She was, after all, one of our project managers. And status updates are something that proponents like us depend on.

And we do try. But whenever we do, our eyes start glazing over, and we spend more time trying to understand the email rather than taking the necessary action.

First, the email in question had at least 50 recipients. Even those who are just remotely connected to the project were included. It came as no surprise that almost everyone assumed it was merely an FYI and immediately archived it.

The emails were long, unrelenting, full of jargons, and code words. They also contained a huge chunk of insignificant data – project overviews that are copied from one status update to the other, and items that are not concerned with technical development (she is a technical project manager).

There was one email where I was shocked to discover very critical action points buried in the middle. There were too many unnecessary headings and multi-colored fonts brightening up almost every section.

It gets worse: The email was entirely formatted using tables, with a multitude of merged and split columns. It was like someone tried very hard to Exel-cize the entire email.

The primary problem of her status update email is that it only served the purpose that she was able to send one. This is a common mistake of project managers — forgetting the reason for releasing a document, whether electronic or otherwise.

Documentation does not exist for the sake of existing. It needs to communicate, and must be formatted, or re-formatted, to the desired audience or environment so as to fulfill that purpose.

When I worked in a software development company, I had to do the IEEE standards for business requirements & functional specs, because that is how the engineers are used to reading them.

However, when I joined the advertising industry, any Word document I released goes unread — until I started doing them in Keynote.

Documenting for the sake of documenting is selfish. Our documents are for an audience, and must be delivered in the way that our audience will understand.

Paper by FiftyThree is a new favorite note taking / sketching app for the iPad. For the record, I am also a proud owner of Notability, Penultimate, Bamboo Paper, and Note Taker HD.

The reason why Paper by FiftyThree works is that it was able to identify and focus on the most basic needs of a note taking app.

It is stylus-responsive. Granted it’s not as responsive as Bamboo Paper, but it is quite close. Admittedly, some of the pens are more responsive than others. The default pen (Draw), the only free one, is sadly the least responsive of them all.

Paper by FiftyThree is simply beautiful. It uses the concept of moleskines to segregate notebooks and to flip thru the pages.

It is also simple to use. No more messing around with the confusing menus of Note Taker and Notability. It just works the way you expect it too.

Sometimes, though, it can be a bit too simple. It is easy to forget how to go back to the list of notebooks (pinch with 2 fingers). It could definitely use a help icon in the pen dock.

Sharing capabilities are limited to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and email. This is where the app scrimped too much on. It doesn’t even have the capability to save to the photo library. At least not yet.

The app is seemingly free. Or at least it is if you’re okay with 1 pen and 1 eraser. The other pens cost $1.99 each. If you end up buying the other 4 pens, thats a whopping $8. Maybe a bit too much for a note taking app.

I call it pa-drama presentations – those slides that contain only one image with one caption which is supposed to give story and drama to an otherwise boring deck. You see them everywhere, usually to guide you thru the insights and research that brought about their strategy and execution.

I was a victim of these pa-drama presentations too, until I became at the receiving end, and I now understand the mounting impatience that my audience used to feel for every pa-drama slide that transitioned from the projector screen.

They’re just too everywhere.

And. Too. Much.

We would sit thru an entire hour, where almost 50% of the total slides are all that. Before the presenter has gotten to the meat, half of his audience had gone, and the remaining are prepared to pounce and punish.

There is a technique to pa-drama slides, and one of them is moderation. Extreme moderation. It is supposed to serve as an appetizer, so treat is as such.

To Elvy, thank you for the LinkedIn recommendation. I didn’t publish it in my LinkedIn profile (since I’m not sure it’s something my future employers would be interested to read), so I’m posting it here instead:

“Chette is the one who gave a big & scary sermon a bunch of stray cats who scratched the legs of unsuspecting strangers. And yet got herself hit by a car when trying to save these same cats from being run over.”

My own mother will attest that I don’t cry. Or at least she rarely see me cry. I have never tried to correct that notion. It’s comforting that she thinks of me as big strong woman who can take anything. Someone who doesn’t cry after watching Bambi, or bawl under the pillows after getting a reprimand from my boss.

I’m going on another trip. I’ll be gone for only 12 days, but I already find myself crying while driving away from my parents home.

Crybabies will always be crybabies. And the hell will I let them know about it.