The design intention
I often come across discussions on tech topics spanning finance, strategy, and more lately, Design . Yes, that D-word. My first understanding of design, surprisingly, came from a Microsoft example. Before you wince, consider how Outlook started off as being so different from the rest of Microsoft products. All the data simply resided in the program, having created its own ecosystem of files/folders without the user having to save to the underlying operating system. I was reminded of this intentional design choice today while thinking about the philosophy of the WhatsApp founders. Jan Kaum blogged about his intention to not sell ads on the platform, asking a simple question: "Have you considered the alternative?" A staggering 70% of WhatsApps 450M users (100M in the last 4 months) use the application daily. Imagine the impact of a single design decision that sets your firm apart from a plethora of others offering similar services, in a sea of apps that drown any new come...