First impressions of Google Schemer – a design critique presented by Kai Turner for Oxidant

1. First impressions of
Presented by Kai Turner – 20 December 2011

2. Splash page
Not Google branded
Schemer has been launched as an
independent product, with its own visual
identity.
This is a refreshing move for Google–
perhaps taking lessons from Wave and
Buzz– they are letting Schemer sink
or swim on its own merits, without
carrying any of the positive (or negative)
associations of the Google brand.
Fun & Whimsical
Not being tethered to the Google brand
has allowed them to pursue a fun and
whimsical art direction, charmingly
animated.
There’s not enough original illustration in
web design– it’s a trend we’d like to see a
lot more of.

3. Homepage
Simple concept,
Well executed
No lengthy introduction, or video tour
of the site – after signing in (with your
Google account) – it’s immediately
apparent what’s going on here:
Tell people what you want to do.
Social graph
It’s fully connected out of the box.
Google+ integration is so seamless, it
makes you think the whole site is possibly
a proof-of-concept for how Google would
like 3rd-parties to start using Google+.
And no social website would be complete
without some ego service– Schemer has
the concept of ‘inspiring’ your peers.
Another feather in the cap for all you
social media influencers.

4. Find stuff to do
But – is it useful?
Not yet.
The quality of the service depends on the
quality of things to do as entered by the
budding community.
The ‘schemes’ are not so inspiring at
the moment. If the value exchange of
inspiring tips for the time invested (or
wasted) is not met– interest, and repeat
visits, will quickly decline.

5. A scheme
Simply done
Don’t underestimate the temptation for
the designers and developers to over
complicate something like this.
They’re not trying to build the semantic
web, or create a rewards mechanic using
concepts of ‘gamefication’ – it’s an idea
that came from the core, personal needs
of the team who developed it– and they
seem to have maintained the original
vision.

6. Your schemes
It’s a social to-do list
Your own view reveals the truth of the
matter– it’s just a to-do list.
The social element is certainly not present
in most to-do lists. But maybe there’s a
reason for that– are to-do lists inherently
private?
Something else worth considering is that
Google is already managing a number of
people’s to-do lists– and it wouldn’t be
that big of a leap to set some of them to
public or private.

7. My profile
Feeling inspired?
It’s a great conceit– inspire your friends,
and get inspired by them.
However, it’s a big promise.
And you can’t exactly tell someone they’ve
been inspired, so it immediately rings as
being untrue.
A confident service should demonstrate its
qualities. The impression it makes is for
the audience to decide.
Email notification

8. The attention landscape
Its core utility is that of a to-do list, albeit
a social one.
Is that enough to pry us away from our
deeply ingrained tools?
To-do
Lists
Event
Planning
Social
Networking
One glaring omission is the lack of sharing
on social networks.
Sharing on Facebook and Twitter is a
‘hygiene factor’ for new services. The event planning and management
This Google-centric view of the world has space is both crowded with services and
hindered Google’s other social networks. yet notoriously difficult to own.
However, it does give us another reason to Facebook’s not doing it well. Twitter’s not
use Google+. doing it at all.
There’s an opportunity for Google to grow
in this space.

9. 43Things
It’s been done before
If Schemer left you with a sense of
deja-vu, it could be that you remember
43Things– which has been running since
2004 (although press coverage seems to
have dried up circa 2008).
Did 43Things not fully exploit the market?
What is Schemer going to bring to the
concept that is different?

10. The Verdict
Watch this space
The value of the service will be defined by
the early adopter community who will set
the tone for Schemer as a service through
the content created.
Schemer has an uphill battle.
It will attract a core community (as
did Quora or Hunch) – but to truly go
mainstream it will need to be adopted as
a seamless extension of Google’s other
services– Calendar, Reminders, Tasks– and
of course, the overall success of Google+.
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