CEO of Friends Reunited ponders the ‘Butterfly Effect’
by Michael Murphy, CEO Friends Reunited
Throughout my time in business, I’ve learnt that small changes can have a big effect. Recently on Friends Reunited we had a perfect example of that. One of my younger more learned colleagues described it as the Butterfly Effect, and, no, he wasn’t a designer talking about pretty shapes or colours. For those like me who don’t spend a lot of time in the mind, body, spirit section of Waterstones, the Butterfly Effect is the idea that if a butterfly beats its wings on one side of the planet, by the time the ripples reach the other hemisphere it’s turned into an earthquake.
We thought it was a simple but neat little trick. We have lots of members who have really got the idea of what the site is all about; they post pictures both from when they were at school, and from their present life. The effect is great: the gap-teeth, the freckles and the cheeky smiles remain, but what was once ragged-trousers and an inky school tie are now sharp suits and expensive sunglasses. It can sometimes be quite poignant, a quick little illustration of how life changes all of us.
Originally, we planned to allow these members to create a cool-looking slideshow of their images. The pictures would be animated as if they were dropping down one-by-one onto a pile on a professional photographer’s editing table. But when we saw the final animation, it looked so good that it seemed a shame to limit it to only to those members who took the trouble to configure the option on their profile. To me it looked a brilliant and fresh way of presenting pictures, and I was convinced that once people saw it, they would love it.
So we took a bold step. We applied it to all members with three or more pictures stored on their profile. As I said, a neat little trick. More proof to our members that Friends Reunited continues to innovate and find ways to make the content more fun and entertaining. And then I saw the site activity figures at the end of the first week. The number of photos being added to the site had tripled. One small change had a massive effect. And it goes on: each one of those members with a cool slide show means more chat between their friends, more slide shows from other members, and more site traffic all round. The Butterfly Effect, right there, taking place under my very nose. I saw something that although small and cosmetic, nevertheless really appealed to me.
I’ve learned to follow those hunches because I know that what appeals to me will resonate with others. That’s where the profits and the great leaps forward are. It’s not about some mystical hocus-pocus effect at all; it’s what years of business experience have taught me. Keep doing what you think is fun, and you’ll keep people coming back for more.
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