Gamification Gosu Yu-kai Chou breaks downs his frustrations of Google+ in hopes of getting the attention of the Google Team to make improvements.

1. Why Google Plus Sucks and
What to do about it
(Old & New)

2. Google+ is getting users fast

3. However, usage rate is still low (~6 min/mo)
0
1.75
3.5
5.25
7
01/ 2008 01/2013 05/2013
Minutes spent on Google+ per user per MONTH
(Data according to ComScore & Nielsen)
Facebook has over 400 minutes per user per month
That’s more than 50x higher

4. Of course, Google claims
these numbers are very off,
reiterating their massive user
growth

5. But...

6. Just look at +1s for any article, and
you’ll see it in the numbers

7. Biased? How about HuffPost for an unrelated topic?

8. Still not convinced? How about this one?

9. In fact, that’s not just my feel
Some have similar views on Quora
as well as on Google Search

10. Of course, these don’t matter,
because the fact is that Google+
has massive user growth

11. But in reality, it has massive signups
because Google uses all its
resources to push users to sign-up.
(Not the merit of the product itself)
I call this Brute Force
Distribution

12. Who else does Brute Force
Distribution?

13. Down $10B+ and still pushing

14. Which is a better
distribution product?
1) 1 Million Sign-ups with
0.9M of them active?
or....
1I) 100 Million Sign-ups with
2M of them active?

15. Many people also “use”
Google+ for SEO help

16. This is also NOT the merit of
the product itself. People are
willing to eat insects if it
improves their search rankings.

17. Wouldn’t it be better if the product
itself was actually awesome?

18. In fact, a great amount of “social products” from Google
aren’t well-designed (many were cut). Some other projects
are excellent, like Search, GMail (I have converted so many
people from Hotmail/YMail to Gmail),Analytics, Maps,
Earth, Gchat and much much more.
So why is Social so hard?

19. And don’t get me wrong. I have A LOT of
respect for the Google+ Team.
All of them are intimidatingly smart.

20. But that might be the cause of the
problem...

21. By tradition, Product Managers mostly are engineering
backgrounds, and they have all been through a rigorous
interviewing process of brain teasers, logic, and
probability

22. This is great, as it is very important to make sure
Googlers are fiercely intelligent to grind out world-
changing stuff, but it could create a disconnect to the
average user in the outside world.

23. Hmm, this wouldn’t be too
complex for the user would it?
It’s pretty easy...
Hey guys, do you think this would
be too complex for the user?
Yea, this is just as easy as
that brainteaser I solved
last week!
Hmm, I don’t think so. It’s
fairly straightforward
Note: this is an exaggerated parody to
communicate a point

24. But for the rest of the world (like
my mom)
???????????
She has no idea what’s going on

25. And there are A LOT of people
like my mom
???????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

26. But my GRANDmother is on
Facebook every single day, happily
stalking her grandchildren
What’s the difference?

27. A great product makes
mainstream users (like my mom)
feel smart.

28. That means less clutter, less
complexity, and perhaps less
features

29. Lets look at why someone might
feel stupid using Google+

30. Users usually have to type “plus.google.com”
which is a tangible hassle.That in itself bars
many people from going onto it all the time
Facebook spent a lot to get rid of
TheFaceBook.com

31. You can’t even type in shortcuts
It gives you a list of options

32. Even the first suggested link is the wrong one.

33. Now users already feel dumb.

34. Here are two other ways to access Google+
content. It’s alright, but not obvious for most
people (+name still isn’t intuitive at this point)
A close family member of mine said that the
number in gmail is “confusing and annoying”

35. This is the (old) Google+ Page

36. No “grounding” colors to help visual segmentation
This whole screen places equal value on
every activity

37. Sharing - the top default action is not obvious
It’s easy for a user to click on the search bar in hopes to share.
The share box is a bit too slick and transparent
???
???

38. Users might feel dumb again.

39. Lets start reading some of the content!
But as I’m happily looking at the cute dog picture...

40. Where did the dog go???
Oh...new updates pushed the post down...
I need to scroll down to find the dog
picture again

41. Users don’t feel respected nor
smart when they are reading and
things get pushed down.

42. Lets see how others’ do it
Respecting the User

43. Respecting the User
Lets see how others’ do it

45. What about Clutterness?

46. This reminds me of....
Where should I look to find what I want?

48. Huh? And on top of that there’s 3 more
dropdown lists!

49. If a user spends over 4 seconds
trying to find something to click
on, they feel annoyed/dumb.

50. And content looks like Ads
Semi-spammy suggestions look like content

51. Of course, on May 15th 2013, Google
+ updated their front page to solve
many of these issues

52. The New Google+ solved the “post
bumping” issues, multiple navigations, and
domain name issues...kinda

53. Now you can access Google+ by
typing google.com/+
Probably still not something my mom
would do, but better than
plus.google.com maybe?

54. Lets look at the improvements
for the new Google+ Homepage.

55. The New Google+ Looks Much Better...oh wait. Mistake.

56. The New Google+ Looks Much Better
I accidentally showed Pinterest instead...

57. Now lets go to the
Profile Page
Learn from others.
Problem solved.

58. Yay! I can change my name by clicking on my name, as well
as the background image!
But how do I change my work info??? I can’t click on it.

59. Hmm, there’s a little “profile” icon here. Perhaps I can
change my other info there.
Let me try to click it

60. Ahh! The left menu appears when I hover on the left
It can’t be the “Profile” button because I just
clicked on that

61. Hmm, I’ll try to move my mouse quickly and click the icon.
I tried to click on the icon, but...

62. The hover effect was too fast and I accidentally clicked
on the home button instead...
Hey, how come I keep seeing this Chris Pirillo guy?
Doesn’t anyone else use Google+?

63. Anyway, I’m still figuring out how
to change my work background.

64. Oh okay, I think this just tells me which page
I’m on, but it’s not a button

65. Maybe it’s this one here:

66. Yay! This is the right place!
OK...I actually feel dumb. Should I really share this?

67. Wait a second...I can change my
NAME anytime I want by just
clicking on it, but I have to
investigate and dig deep just to
update my profile?

68. Okay. Much Better :-)
Note: most might just give up instead of keeping
their profiles updated

69. OK, now lets look at the “People”
Navigation Page

70. Hmm, defaults to asking me to invite more people
No. I think I want to check out my friends instead

71. Hmm okay. I can look at 12 people at once within a circle
Lets see if I can find my friends who
went to UCLA

72. Hmm, the action button doesn’t seem to be able to do it
Let me try the relevance sorting

73. Hmm, sorting doesn’t really help me with that either.
What else can I do? What about the
right search box?

74. Lets try to find my friends who work at
Google on the right search box.
Nope...in fact, it shows me a lot of accounts that
aren’t my friends...

75. OK. Lets try the search box on the top.
Hmm, that’s not it either...hey is that Chris
Pirillo again at the bottom again??

76. Maybe the People and pages tab is where I’ll find it this time
Oops, guess not....

77. I guess it’s just impossible to find
friends based on their profiles. Just
their names.

78. Hey, but what if I want to see my
friend’s photos?
Perhaps I should try the “photo”
navigation?

79. OK. I can see my own, but not other peoples’
I guess I feel a little dumb...
Lets go back to the people tab

80. Argh! No I don’t want to add new people right now!
I want to look at my friend’s photos!

81. OK. Back to this page again.
Lets check out Jun Loayza’s photos.

82. Wait, Single Click is just select?
Oh OK. I need to double click to
see a friend’s profile

83. Ah, this is his homepage.
OK. Straight forward enough - Photos.

84. Yay Finally! I feel smart
I get to interact with my friend’s photos.

85. Wow, that was harder than I
thought...I don’t think I feel like
checking out other peoples’
photos anymore after that

86. Lets check out other stuff in
Google+

87. Lets just check out some content.
I like this post about 3D Printing. I’ll comment on it.

88. Oh no, all the other strangers who commented on it
are creeping into my GMail!
I don’t really want to get emails from strangers
commenting on stuff.

89. Alright. How do I turn that off?

90. OK. I have experience with gmail, so I know I
should start with my head on the right top
Lets try “Account”

91. Hmm, where do I go now?
Which one would you pick?

92. OK. I tried “Profile and Privacy”
After scrolling down, I didn’t find it. I’m lost. Google
+? Products? What’s the difference?

93. I gave up on the hunt. I decided to Google it.
Ah, the answer is “Google+”

94. Yay, here it is. I finally found it.
I almost never wanted to comment
on Google+ Posts Again

95. Ahh, I got more emails during this time!
(even though I archived the conversation)
I’m glad I turned it off. I don’t need more
eMail stress...
But wait...what’s this?

96. Oh, someone I don’t know is promoting his
event....
How do I turn it off?

97. Oh, I could scroll down and mute the post
Simple enough. I feel slightly smart.

98. OK. Lets check out the
remaining features on
Google+

99. Lets check out the “What’s Hot” Navigation
Alright. Lets try “Preakness Stakes”
in Trending

100. Wait, why are you showing me posts from 2012?
I thought this stuff was trending...

101. Checking out the Google Hangout Tab!
Wait...why would I crash hangouts of
strangers?? Awkward...

102. What about the “Local” Navigation?
There’s only one recommendation, and it’s a
church? Just because I’m Christian?

103. Alright. Up to this point I haven’t
gotten much value out of Google+,
just felt confused/dumb.

104. Google says this is a social layer
on its other products.
I guess I will focus on socializing
with friends.
Lets “be social” with Jun Loayza

105. I remember now I should click on the
“People” Tab! :D

106. $%^&! No I don’t want to add new people right now!
I want to interact with my friends!!

107. Clicking on “Your Circles” on the right

108. Double Clicking on Jun Loayza

109. Take a quick guess - how do I send him a
message? 4 Seconds?
Hmm, I can’t post a new message on his wall
it seems.

110. There’s no where to click, and his name appears
to be a dead link...
Right here! But how do I find out more
about him?

111. So much for helping me socialize and
getting to know my friends more.

112. At this point, I gave up on being very
“social” on Google+

113. Just too much work to interact
with friends and their photos.

114. I’m already a relatively savvy person in
tech! I cannot imagine someone like
my mom using a product like this. I
dread guiding her through the
experience too
And.....

115. This person is actually me
???????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

116. Google says that Google+ is a
social layer that integrates personal
data throughout all their products

117. It’s great that Google can get
more social data. But why
should consumers love it?

118. This is similar to when Google
launched Google Wallet

119. When asked, Google said they
launched it to collect more data
on purchase behaviors.

120. But they didn’t say their purpose was
to solve a problem for the merchant
nor the consumer.They wanted to
collect more data.

121. Consumers didn’t complain that paying
with a credit card was too painful
Merchants don’t complain that they
didn’t collect money fast enough

122. Not surprisingly...
soon after, they declared that they
needed to go back to the drawing
board due to low adoption

123. Same thing here. Google should not
just focus on becoming smarter by
collecting more data.

124. Google needs to make products
that users love and cannot live
without - every single day

125. So the important lesson here is:

126. When it comes to social,
don’t focus on being smart...
(Note:This holds true for offline social interactions too)

127. Focus on making users
feel smart

128. Google+...
I want to love you
I want you to improve
Please improve...

129. ThankYou