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• Edward Tufte's Ubiquitous Influence

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Users enjoy having options, but there's also such a thing as too many choices. Sometimes maintaining a higher standard design is made significantly easier simply by reducing the options to only the appropriate choices, eliminating the opportunities for bad decisions.

In the early days of the American pizza industry, the pizza market was dominated by Italian immigrants from the mainland city of Naples. They believed in only two types of pizza: the margherita and the marinara. There was no question of adding, substituting, or removing toppings. The pizza came as the pizza was.

It's easy to see that the American pizza market has changed significantly since those days. Pizza chains now dominate the scene and, to their success, they've given customers a plethora of options for cheeses, crusts, and toppings.

However, Americans are now starting to realize that choosing the pizza chains means accepting a lower quality pizza. While there are a variety of reasons that the large pizza chains are unable to maintain a level of quality on par with the authentic Neapolitan pizza, the plethora of choices they give their customers is a contributing factor.

In the mid 90s, a new generation of Neapolitan pizzaiolis started bringing American pizza back to its roots. They use the same methods and toppings that they've been using for more than a century in Naples, and they don't give the customers any flexibility when it comes to the crust, cheese, or toppings. For these pizza aficionados, there is only one right way to make a pizza, and they're not going to let the customer screw it up. While this can sometimes baffle the American pizza lover who is used to the have-it-your-way style, they usually agree that the authentic Neapolitan pizzas are the best.

Giving your customers options is only a good idea as long as the options don't hamper the quality of the finished product. Empowering your customers can be a useful tactic for pleasing your customers, but the enjoyment will only be temporary if you allow them to frustrate themselves with poor decisions.

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• Phillip Niemeyer Pictures The Past Ten Years

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• The Beautiful Art of Japanese Web Design

Interactive Marketing

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"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

- Henry Ford

Focus groups are frequently used to predict consumer reactions to things like movies, tv shows, and new products, but focus groups have a track record full of failures. So why do we keep using them?

According to Daniel Gross, focus groups have become ingrained into our approval process more for the sake of decision makers than for the sake of consumers. Focus groups have fixed costs, are timely, and most often used to affirm preconceived notions: "See, they agree!"

What focus groups don't do is accurately predict how consumers will react. According to Gerald Zaltman, author of How Customers Think, 80% of new products fail within the first six months, many of which go through focus groups.

So, why do focus groups fail? Focus groups fail because:

1. People can't predict what they want and don't understand their own motives for making decisions.
2. Consumers have other motivations for answering and participating in the group than contributing to the end product.
3. Focus groups address symptomatic, surface level issues rather than the root problem.
4. The social dynamics of a focus group have an effect on people's answers. Whether it's because they desire to maintain their image, give the appropriate answer, or just fit in, people often lie when they are put in situations with strangers and asked questions.
5. Focus groups assume consumer input is valid, regardless of the individual's relevant knowledge or experience.