Well first they need to earn the ! after their name again. I think that thing has become tarnished and has slipped down into three dots and not an exclamation point. Google has breezed past them with their mail, calendaring, docs platforms. Yahoo mail is sad. I left it because it will not even do IMAP and its interface is clunky and stupid. So new CEO, you have a few things to get right past mail and docs and collaboration too:
- You have to figure out how to do what I would call “controlled innovation”. You will not bring back the masses with just plastering a new wall over the same shabby interior. Yahoo is dull and the ! has slipped.
- You need to figure out what to do next. You have this cool stuff like widgets and zimbra. But what do you do with them? How about inventing new platforms and devices? Take a risk new CEO.
- Finally, you need to see what went wrong and not make the same mistakes. Make different ones. Those are okay. There is a slim balancing act between point 2 and 3. You need to balance but take calculated risks.
What is Yahoo’s mission anyways? What is it that they see being their value? Being a universal home page is still true but I navigate away more now than before and I refuse to use the services. They simply have not kept pace with those on google. Too bad actually.
My designs are for them to become more and different, take calculated risks, try things. But in the end, it may be too late for some of them. People have gotten used to a better gmail, google calendar integration with third part services, and more integrated offerings now. Lets not even discuss how google does their hosting because its easier, cleaner, faster to get the service.
I miss the ! but will it come back? Don’t know and I don’t want to be mean and say “don’t care”. But its close to that. Yahoo you simply have lost relevance. What to do?
