Simplicity: Clearly a Winner in a World of More

By Ed Martinez

September 17, 2009

According to the Oxford American Dictionary, simplicity is defined as “The quality or condition of being easy to understand or do.”

That is the delivery model Jason Fried, co-founder and president of 37signals has been focusing on for ten years, when it comes to his line of software. “All of our applications are based on the same idea, do a few things really, really well, and then get out of the way. We focus on just a few key things that we think really matter and execute them really well—and then stop there,” notes Jason.

Jason’s mission is not to solve everyone’s problem. Their web-based software applications focus on features that matter to small groups and small businesses—without all the bells and whistles found on similar applications.

Basecamp is a project management tool that doesn’t have a lot of the tools found on other project management solutions. For example, it does not have charts, graphs and numbers. It is a basic application that is used for communication. “We found that projects fail, because people don’t communicate. It’s not because of charts, numbers and stats,” adds Jason. Basecamp focuses on communication, to-do lists, simple scheduling and file sharing.

Highrise is a CRM (customer relationship management) tool. “A lot of small companies want to keep track of who they talked to, what they said and when to follow-up next,” notes Jason. This application prepares you for the next call, next meeting, next pitch, next follow-up and next sale. You can track leads and deals, review your conversations and centralize your contacts. Again, just the basics.

37signals also offers an easy intranet for your business called Backpack. The application allows you to share information with your team, and keep your documents, discussions and schedules in one place.

Campfire is a lot like instant messaging, but designed exclusively for groups. You can invite a client, colleague, or vendor to chat, collaborate and make decisions.

Among 37signals’ customers, you will find CPAs, small attorney practices, a translation services provider, and small design firms, just to name a few. Its belief that bells and whistles wear off, but usefulness never does, rings true with so many businesses that too often find themselves confused and frustrated with most software solutions on the market. Jason believes that if a business grows into a much bigger company down the road, and a more sophisticated tool is needed, they will outgrow his products; and he believes that is the way it should be.