Open Mountain Blog

I realized something recently that using SMS for capturing quick notes might actually work better than pen and paper. To me, pen and paper is the most effective interface ever created. It is easy to use, intuitive, and the results of user actions are completely predictable. All these points are key to a good user experience. The notion that SMS could compete with the almighty pen was an interesting revelation that was worth noting.

I came to this realization while visiting my sister in New York. I was impressed with her latest life improvement campaign. Her focus and progress have been amazing, if typical of her. You see, my sister is the oldest in the family and the classic over-achiever. She was a stats major at Berkeley and became a senior partner in the actuarial practice (read mathematician on steroids) at KPMG. Therefore, I was not surprised by her driving progress, but what I found interesting was the key to her success. Her “coach” presented her campaign as a mathematical problem.

Can you say math geek?

My sister tracks her progress every day in a journal including the aforementioned mathematical process which she hand calculates. Can you see where a Web site would start to help? You leave your journal at home and need to record an entry. You do the same calculation every day which could lead to a mistake. You are tracking progress over time and that is something computers are made for. No brainer. Fire up Ruby on Rails and let’s create a startup.

But then, I noticed the true challenge in this scenario. Her journal uses the most intuitive user interface on the planet, pen and paper. So simple to use. Free from power supplies and foreign oil.

Damn you pen and paper! Mocking me as you sit open faced on the kitchen table. Damn you!

How many times have you read in my posts that I love simple and intuitive technology. GPS systems. Door knobs. And now, pen and paper. I was about to tell my sis that she was better off with the system she had when her husband pointed out something very interesting. My sister texts all the time. She has her Blackberry out at my nephew’s t-ball games. She reads email during meetings. She has her device open more than anything else.

Ah ha, the crackberry is mightier than the pen!

We quickly surmised that if my sister could capture her journal entries via SMS, she would have a more effective way to track her progress. Then, she would get the other benefits Web sites offer like historic tracking, search, automatic calculation, email reminders, and many other features we brainstormed that day in the kitchen in front of the demoralized pad no less.

Give that man a ribbon!

I am still mulling over developing the site. But truthfully, SMS to me creates a better user experience and provides a more effective tool for tracking then pen and paper. Writing a message is as simple as taking a note. Carrying a Blackberry now happens as frequently as keeping a pad in your bag. Capturing data via the Internet enables the many benefits of using computers to store data and manage processes.

Hurdle overcome, now what’s next? Oh yeah, if I could just capture some of her drive, I might have built the thing already