Apples, Bananas, and Oranges

I'd like to talk about choice.

More specifically, the art of choosing.

A friend of mine is working on a new business idea. The other day, they shared some options for the creative direction—in other words the look and feel—of their new idea.

They wanted input from me and a few other friends on it, because they were feeling a bit stuck.

When I took a look at the options that their designer had provided, I realized where the stuckness was coming from.

***

One of the lessons I've taken from my time in marketing, is that the art of choosing comes down to being given the right choice at the right time.

Put simply, depth after direction.

Let me illustrate this using fruits.

If you're early in a decision process, you want to focus on variety.

Do you want an apple? A banana? or an orange?

They're quite different. That's a good thing.

You can really get a sense of which way you're leaning when you have stark differences like this.

As you get a bit further down the decision process, you want to focus on depth.

Suppose you chose to go with apples, do you now want Gala, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or Red Delicious?

The reason my friend was stuck, was because their designer had provided them with varieties of apples, when what was needed was varieties of fruits.

Wrong choice, wrong time.

***

If you're ever working with a designer, or if you're ever designing anything yourself, try to get to a variety of fruits as soon as possible.

It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be different.

That way you can make the initial choice about direction.

Depth comes afterward.