I read an interview with Marissa Mayer, Product Manager for Google yesterday that proved my theory that most startup companies don’t know just how big they could be, and that it takes a lot of luck to make it to the top. I can’t tell you how many companies I’ve met through work where I wish there was a different management team who could help the company reach its full potential.
Some of the facts that came out in the article about Google are quite shocking. Reading between the lines though you can tell that Google’s founders learnt to adapt quickly and are still adapting. Some highlights:
- The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact, it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.
- Due to the sparseness of the homepage, in early user tests they noted people just sitting looking at the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the tester intervened and asked ‘Whats up?’ to which they replied “We are waiting for the rest of it”. To solve that particular problem the Google Copyright message was inserted to act as a crude end of page marker.
- The infamous “I feel lucky” is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button.
- The name ‘Google’ was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for ‘Googol’
- Gmail was used internally for nearly 2years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.
- They listen to feedback actively. Emailing Google isn’t emailing a blackhole.
To read the full interview click here
