Blog

A recent article entitled “When less is more” in The Economist does an excellent job of outlining why, in products ranging from notebooks to software, less in terms of features and gadgets is often more when it comes to a satisfying end-user experience.

The introductory paragraph does an excellent job of framing the discussion:

Why is it so many manufacturers cannot leave well alone? They go to great pains to produce exquisite pieces of technology. Then too often, instead of merely honing the rough edges away to perfection, they spoil everything by adding unnecessary bells and whistles and unwarranted girth. In the pursuit of sales, they seem to feel they must continually add further features to keep jaded customers coming back for more. It is as if consumers can’t be trusted to respect the product for what the designers originally intended.

This phenomenon, often called “feature creep” or “featureitis” among software developers, is something pervades the software industry. Many of the desktop applications we use every day have evolved over the course of 10 or 20 years, and the demand to continually add features comes from both customers and competitors. Correspondingly, many purchasing decisions come down to a feature-matrix comparison of Product A VS Product B, with the prize going to the product with the most bells and whistles.

Apple proved how little a feature matrix-based comparison mattered with the release of the iPod in 2001. Other portable music players at the time had built-in FM tuners, supported more music formats, and some even acted as PDAs. The iPod had none of these features, but it beat the other players hands-down with its beautiful and simplistic design. Seven years later the iPod commands over 70% of the portable music player market. We’ve since seen the “simple is better” design ethos embraced by a broad range of companies looking to make their customers happy not through a long list of features, but rather through a smaller set of features that have been designed carefully and implemented well.

What a feature matrix-based comparison of products often fails to factor in is that with every feature comes complexity. Every added feature is something that a new user must learn how to use, and existing users must internalize and keep in their long-term memory every time they use the software. Simpler software means a shallower learning curve. In a world where time is the most precious commodity we have, simplicity and ease of use should perhaps be the most important factor in considering which legal practice management product is the best fit for your firm’s needs. More is not always better.

The article concludes with a quote that shaped our approach when we started building Clio with a vision of realizing “practice management simplified”:

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry,

While perfection will undoubtedly always be out of reach, “When less is more” resonates with our aspirations to evolve Clio with a philosophical devotion to intuitive usability and purposeful design, in the hope that function is never compromised by features.

Today we’re happy to add another User Review spotlight to our growing list of user reviews. Following Jason Molder’s and Brian Powers’ reviews of Clio, we have a review from Brian Pedigo of The Pedigo Law Corporation on his Technology for Lawyers blog.

Brian begins his review with some context as to what led him to Clio: a desire to get organized and stay on top of his practice.

I knew that one of the best ways to get organized was to implement some type of technological solution. I began my search for ways in which lawyers managed their practices. I tried several popular solutions, the type of solutions where you would pay a large upfront fee to acquire the discs for installation, followed by an annual maintenance fee to continue using the software. I didn’t like this as a solution because I didn’t have resources available as a new lawyer to pay for this kind of upfront fee.

One of the primary advantages of SaaS is the low (or non-existant) upfront fee. For a new lawyer, this is key. As Dennis Kennedy points out, a new law practice should focus on keeping capital expenses minimal, and try to push as many expenses as possible to a “utility” or month-to-month cost structure. SaaS offers low, predictable monthly costs, typically without any kind of long-term contract.

Brian also comments on Clio’s shallow learning curve – he was able to get up and running without a lengthy tutorial or training session:

As I began to tinker around in the system, the thing that impressed me the most was how simple and elegant Clio’s design was. Everything made sense. Nothing was confusing. I did not have to go to a help file to figure out how to do what I wanted to do. I didn’t have to call tech support. I was presented with a clean and simple interface that allowed me to do all of the major tasks that lawyers do in a typical practice management solution.

You can read the entire review on the Technology for Lawyers blog. Also, congratulations to Brian on being  selected as one of Orange County’s Top 95 Lawyers!

Law.com recently featured a review of Clio authored by solo attorney and Clio user Kira Fonteneau. The review outlines how Kira is able to better run her practice by leveraging the organizational power of Clio. After setting up her criminal law, civil law, and landlord-tenant law practice in late 2007, Kira began searching for a practice management application that would accommodate her fledgling budget, busy schedule and requisites for go-anywhere mobility. Several software evaluation periods later, Kira had considered a spectrum of promising legal products, none of which completely complemented the requirements of her unique practice. Upon discovering Clio, however, Kira had found her match:

Overall, Clio is a cost-effective, easy-to-use and highly efficient solution for solos and small firm attorneys. I would recommend it to any attorney wishing to be better organized in running a legal practice.

We humbly thank Kira for her positive and informative review of Clio, and hope that her story will inspire solos in similar situations to explore Clio as a practice management solution for their practice. Kira’s full review can be found here.