User Interface & Design - east vs west
A few weeks ago, Claire Miller from the NYT stopped by our office. We talked about about a bunch of stuff.
One thing that often comes up when I speak with reporters is the east vs west topic. How are VCs different, how are entrepreneurs different?
I was pleased when she brought up a different topic.
Claire noticed a difference between NYC and SF startups in the area of design and user interface. I completely agree and have noticed the same thing for some time now.
Here’s one way to look at it: when it comes to user interface & design - NYC is more like Apple and SF is more like Google. Both offer a wonderful end user experience. But the difference is striking.
Apple is about a beautiful design and Google is about the utility. Two examples that point out the obvious: Apple’s iPhone and Google’s search. Both are brilliant but opposite ends of the spectrum.
Here’s a few more examples from those two industry titans: iPhoto and Gmail. I can’t imagine Google creating an app like iphoto. And I can’t imagine Apple ever agreeing to ship a product that looks like gmail (again, both products are highly successful — that isn’t the point of this post).
So in the case of NYC startup’s design & user interface, consider Tumblr, Etsy, OMGPOP, Vimeo and the Hype Machine.
Compare those companies to the aesthetic and design of some notable high profile young companies in the bay area like Friendfeed, Mint, imeem, and zazzle (fwiw I think twitter has attributes from both coasts. maybe because Jack and Biz lived in NYC for awhile <g>).
There are plenty of exceptions on both coasts but signficant differences have emerged. Maybe it’s because NYC is home to media & design and the bay is tech/efficiency. Or maybe it’s who the founders look up to. Or maybe it’s something else.
Going forward I wonder if the coasts will borrow the best ideas from each other or if they will just innovate along their own way.
I definitely agree with this. It’s funny because we’ve always described edopter as a hybrid between a media company and a web startup (an in many ways lean more towards the latter). Living and working in NYC gives you the opportunity to feel the pulse of both Madison Avenue (or at least the Madison Avenue of the past) and Wall Street, but also helps to reinforce the idea that design really matters. You can create a functional destination on the web and attract a million users, but if the interface is weak, your product won’t have any soul. There are a lot of great (and great looking) west-coast sites, but I think the thing that makes NYC stand out is there is an core focus on “the brand”, building captivating experiences that not only draw users but also give them a beautiful destination in which to waste their time.
