I’ve been using Google Reader to handle all my RSS feeds and be my primary start page for nearly 2 years. For handling RSS feeds, I’ve found nothing better. I’ve used Netvibes, Pageflakes, Google Home, and an assortment of desktop RSS aggregators.

The one thing that keeps me coming back to Google Reader is so simple it’s laughable:

Google Reader marks items as read when you scroll past them.

That’s it. That’s the reason I won’t leave until someone else copies this functionality.

The way that it marks items as read is genius. As you use your mouse button to scroll down the list of unread items and pass an item it marks it as read. No clicking - no having to click through to the article, just pure scrolling. If you’ve ever used Google Reader you know exactly how powerful this can be.

I’ve got nearly 120 feeds with hundreds of items coming in a day, sometimes thousands. I need the easiest and most efficient way to get through that information as quickly as I can. The mouse wheel does it quickly and easily with the least amount of work on my part.

Unless someone else integrates this with their start page goodness I don’t think I’ll ever leave Google Reader.

What can we learn from this?

Simple: when designing an app, make sure that you don’t overlook how powerful the user interface can truly be. It doesn’t mean squat if people can’t use it easily and conveniently.

Do some user testing. Find where people get caught up, and where they really fly. See what they like, and what could be improved.

Sometimes the simplest things can determine whether or not people use it.