You might not ever have noticed, but there are quite a few different ways to implement drop-down menus on websites.
First of all, on a Windows and on a Mac, all menus from all applications behave exactly the same. They can have multi-level sub-menus. When you click on a menu and it expands, it sticks there even if you take your mouse off the menu. If you click on another menu or anywhere else on the screen the menu closes (like contextual menus, a.k.a. right-click menus).
On the web there is no standard. Menus are implemented with Flash or Javascript and each site does a different thing. You have the case where menu expands automatically on mouse-over, or require a click, menus that close on mouse-out or click-out, menus that have arrows indicating submenus or not, etc.
For Sampa, I've made a very early decision that Menus would behave very similar to Windows' menus. Two basic reasons: First, users are used to its behavior, and, second, and more importantly, the Windows menu are very accessible and discoverable.
The problem with menus that disappear automatically on mouse-out (instead of on click-out) is that some users have difficulty keeping the mouse over the menu.
Why do I bring that up? From time to time, somebody, either a tech-savvy user or a newbie, complains about the way we do menus and our way is the least common on the web, but it is the easiest one, IMHO, for users.
Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from Adhost. They are a web hosting company in Seattle which I used to host my server at their facilities a few years ago.
I always had a pretty good experience with them. They are not a big shot hosting company, they were personal, provided a good service at a good price. I had to leave them for another hosting closer to my office in Redmond because going to Seattle every time I need to install a new server or do a hardware upgrade was a hassle.
So, in 2005 I left them.
The letter on the mail was long and explained that their customer database had been compromised by a hacker and they couldn't clearly figure out what was stolen, but to be on the safe side I should keep an eye on transactions on my credit card.
First of all, I commend them for being so upfront about it and quick at communicating it to customers.
But then I ask myself: I have not done any business with them for the past 2 years. Why they keep my information on their customers database and why the heck they keep my credit card number as well?
The answer is simple: most companies have a hard time letting it go of former customers. They want to make it easy for you to come back so they keep your account information active. They want to make it super easy for you to "buy" whatever they are offering, so they keep your credit card on record as well.
I think we would be safer if, voluntarily or by law, every business would erase your credit card / billing information after 18-24 months without any activity.
Now, for taxes purposes, some of that information cannot be permanently erased (only after 7 years), but they could definitely go "off-line" into some encrypted tape-backup at some accountants office, making it that much harder to steal.
Everyday I take my son to the daycare. In the 20-minute drive he always sleeps after about 10 minutes (he is only 14 months old). My wife and I don't like to wake him up when he is sleeping because he is like us, he gets in a very bad mood if somebody wakes him up and that ruins his days.
And what the heck does this story has to do with Crossing the Chasm? Simple: I read a book in the parking lot of the daycare while waiting for him to wake up and today I started reading Crossing the Chasm.
I bought this book a year ago. An investor recommended it to me. I bought it, read about 3 pages, closed it and said "it is not for me". Well, it was not at that time. I think this book is more focused on Startups that already have significant traction in a niche and want to go mainstream.
A year ago Sampa had no traction. We didn't have a public beta. Now things are different, we have significant more traction and are understanding each day a little bit more about our customer and the market. So I decided to give Crossing the Chasm another change.
I'm still not sure how well it translate into our business and at the stage we are in now, but it will be a good reading.
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. They are a web hosting company in Seattle which I used to host my server at their facilities a few years ago.
January, 2008