Fewest Number of Clicks

In Great Demo! Workshops, I urge participants to reduce each pathway they demo to the fewest number of clicks.  One of the (many) reasons for this is that people have surprisingly few “active” memory slots that they can use.  Here’s an example – I believe this has happened to most of us (only once, hopefully):

You are given a list of 5 items to buy at the grocery market by your spouse, partner or better-half.  Being an intelligent human, you think, “5 items, no problem – I can remember these…” and you don’t write them down.

You get into your car to drive to the market – and the list is still present and correct in your mind.  You arrive at the market and the list is still there.  You get out of your car and walk towards the market – and the list is still fully intact.  You go through the doors into the market – and 2 of the 5 items disappear, flushed from your brain!

You wander through the market and cannot recall the missing items, but pick up a few other items that weren’t on the original list.

You arrive back home with only 3 of the original 5, plus some bottles of beer (more likely if you are male).  Your spouse/partner says, “Why’d you get beer?  Beer wasn’t on the list…”  You respond, “Beer is always on the list…”

Everyone:  have you ever had this happen to you (or similar)?

In a demo, every click and step you show is filling up your customers’ brains and the limited number of “active”, available memory slots.  The longer the pathway, the more clicks or steps, the more likely you’ll have the following results:

-  It is harder for your customers to remember what you did.

-  It makes it look too complicated.

- It seems like only an expert could use your software.

Solution?  Fewest number of clicks.