Before Windows 95 was launched, the earlier versions - Windows 2 & 3 already had a base of over 50 million users.
Back in the early 90s, that was huge.
And the worry was that a complete change would help some users but make it worse for millions.
Finding what people would wrestle with was the problem.
Today, we look at files and folders and they seem so basic, it's hard to believe that people needed to be told how to navigate to one or the other.
The two pane view confused people because they could not understand how folders could exist within other folders.
That's where the difference between files and cabinets in the real world breaks down.
Hierarchy was unknown. So, the concept of drilling down to the level of the file took several iterations for people to understand.
The 'drag and drop' which we use almost without thinking today was hard to teach.
People had to click, hold and drag one icon into another one.
Today, it looks laughably simple.
But the first ever interaction of holding the mouse and controlling the cursor took a couple of sessions.
Hand-eye co-ordination and discovering the speed at which the cursor would move was comical to begin with.
Today, we think nothing of swiping between screens, zipping up files and attaching them to emails.
But back then, it was like UX 101
The Start Button, the Find icon and the Help Icon had callouts when the mouse moved over them.
It was that basic!
Cracks in the brand image
The ads ooze luxury.
The showrooms look futuristic.
But the salespeople fall short. It's the nightmare of brand managers.
Several aspects of the brand experience cannot be controlled beyond a point.
The more expensive a product, the higher the expectations are.
In a sense, the online experience is confined to what customers see on the website. How smoothly the transaction proceeds from payment to delivery defines the brand experience for most customers.
None of know what 'Amazon' looks like. It's confined to the website and the package that arrives on the doorstep.
But Bose is different. They retail high end audio speakers and have built an image of exclusivity.
This is an actual experience from a customer, someone I know who has a taste for good music and is particular about what he plays it on.
A few years ago, he said, the salespeople were approachable, knowledgeable and knew the product line down to the subtle differences. Which recreates the aura around the brand and keeps it on a pedestal.
Recently, he walked in to buy another product from Bose he had checked out online. The salespeople had only a cursory interest and practically no knowledge about the differences between one speaker lineup and the other one.
Worse, one of them tried to foist what he thought would be the best one.
This is how brand images are destroyed - at the last point in the chain where conversion should happen.
Instead, a lack of product training and uninterested salespeople dealing with customers completely devalues brand perceptions.
Mealtime special effects
It's roasted over a flame directly and ready to eat in a few seconds.
Or swells when deep-fried in oil.
But the varieties and the recipes of this simple, dried in the sun lunch and dinner accompaniment are culinary art.
It is still a small-scale industry because it has not yielded to mechanization. The 'dried in the sun' papad retains some moisture, and that is essential.
The sun does its magic when each papad is put out to dry in hot sunlight and returned each day a little drier than the previous day.
Since the market for papads in India is huge, it provides employment to millions of women who are engaged in making the dough, flattening it, drying it and packaging it.
The large papad brands are essentially aggregators who have built a deep distribution chain.
But the varieties of Indian papad and their consumption varies by states which are a few hundred kilometers apart.
The Kerala pappadum swells when deep fried and is light and flaky. The Tamil Nadu appalam from the neighboring state stays flat and usually comes in much larger sizes.
The dough that goes into making papads is also according to the spices and the food influences of the region.
Lijjat, made by a co-operative organisation of women is one of the biggest brands in the country - and they make 14 varieties for the different regions they cater to.
The collective crunch of papads cracking is the sound effect you will hear at mealtimes in homes across the country every day.
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