Bump Technologies - Keeping It Simple

Technology companies have typically competed by "one-upping" competitive products by integrating new or upgraded features. However it seems lately that more and more tech companies have found success by simplifying and focusing their efforts on doing just one or two things really well. Mint is one example discussed earlier, and I think Bump Technologies is another example of a company that has really focused on keeping the user experience extremely simple and straightforward.

Bump develops applications to quickly and easily share phone numbers, photos, and other information between two phones by simply bumping the phones together. The app has had more than 6mm downloads in just seven months and Bump was one of only three apps to be featured in Apple’s “Share” iPhone commercial (http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ads/#share-large). In the fickle mobile applications market, an app’s staying power is directly related to how easily it becomes a part of a user’s everyday life, and how willing a user is to become an advocate for the app – two things which directly stem from how happy a user is with the functionality and usage of an app.

Easy to Understand, Simple to Use, Cool to Share
In developing the product, Bump focused on the one tangible feature that people immediately wanted and needed – an easy way to exchange contact information. (Watch the demo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUZ949WX6PY). Using Bump is extremely simple, yet several other similar companies failed due to complex interfaces, awkward and uncool motions, and inaccurate results. Bump’s focus on staying easy and simple allowed them to succeed where competitors failed. Using Bump is so intuitive and simple and the technology is so accurate and quick that it seems like “magic” to users. The “wow” effect stimulates people to spread the app through word-of-mouth. Users can quickly describe the app to their friends, amplifying the inherent network effects of the technology. Bump has spent very little on marketing, instead relying on their community of passionate users to generate strong PR hits. (TechCrunch, Wired, NY Magazine, etc. Check these fanatics out on Halloween http://twitpic.com/nmirg)