Productivity is defined as the rate at which a person,company or country does useful work. As humans, we don't want to waste our energy so we try to increase our productivity constantly using different techniques and tools.

In order to fulfill this need a lot of apps came to life Todoist, Evernote and many more.But an U.F.O appeared in 2013, Notion which took a whole new approach on what is a productivity tool by coming with the idea of letting the user create his productivity system.

Today, I will talk about how Notion inspires me as a developer through my 3C theory. (Don't worry I'll explain it 😅)

Start with Why

Simon Sinek in his book Start whit why explains about how important it is for a company in order to win in the long term to have WHY. As a company there is more than just logical reasons for trusting a service or buying a product. When watching this video from 2019, You really see that the founders had this vision of making a software that people can tweak.That was their WHY. This spread from the founder to the developer himself when he is saying that his side project what making a less refined Notion. This fits nicely to the first point of my 3C theory.

The 3C theory

As a developer I like to inform myself a lot through articles, videos and newsletters. I like to imagine what the future will be in software in general as I am directly impacted by any changes in the languages, the process or methodologies.I have come up with this 3C theory that a lot of long term software and major tech companies will head toward these 3 criteria. The first being the work culture i.e how you fit in a enterprise plays a major role in her success. The Apple employees are not only interested in getting their paycheck they all embrace the culture through their thought process or even their products. The second being the community.You can see that a lot of tech companies open developer advocates positions in order to federate communities around the tool. And the last (or is it ? 🤔), the customization as individuals we want to be unique and the tools that we use can be a reflection of this.You can see the iOS and Android updates are a lot about customization.

Disclaimer : This theory is just my personal thought and the examples are sketchy as always take it as is.

🎑 Culture

The work culture in Notion is taken very seriously. Matching the minimalist approach of their offices. For example in this screenshot taken in the official Notion video, there is a lot of books on the floor not in a fancy shelf.

They focus on what's essential not the packaging.They also have all matching profile pictures in black and white that fit in the design system.

For my last point they all use the software on a daily basis some thus increasing their need for upgrading the software.This is incredibly rare in a company that the product is so deeply connected throughout the company.

🫂 Community

Why a community is a must have in 2022 and in the future. Firstly it's free marketing, Notion doesn't have to actively promote their software because people convince their friends to use it. I myself have been convinced by a former a colleague and here I am writing an article about it (laughing). The Notion team also made an effort to make an entire documentation with videos which is incredibly useful. They've also made certifications in order to reward the most active members and some people now setup Notion workspace for a living. They also cheer people that make content about the tool for example in France Camille Blanchod comment and likes posts on Linkedin. Influencers like Thomas Frankp which have a lot of reach makes videos about the tools so it gains new users by the day.

📚 Customization

How can I write article on Notion without mentioning the customization.This concept is at the core of the software and it allows them to propose a different experience for each user.Actually more than different because the user can choose how and why to use it.For example as a founder of startup you can use it as a CRM but also create pages for potentials clients. When you come up with your workspace it's like building an IKEA desk.You take your table top your legs and your have the satisfaction of building it. Because we can't control everything in our life it feels comforting to know that at least you have your notion.The cool things is as the software adds new features you can leverage that or remove previous tensions points. Recently, they added progress bar to databases which many people tried to do it using formulas and this feature surely changed a lot of work spaces.

A fourth ?

Like the three musketeer there is a fourth one. Why didn't I added to my theory is because I think this one is more complex.

The fourth one for me would be Connectivity as a lot of tools especially in the no-code ecosystem we have interactivity all over the place. Through APIs, Notion is able to connect and automate with a lot of services.I didn't put it because this a choice because making your product interoperable is a strategy.For example Apple has an ecosystem of it's own, therefore I don't think that all software should be with an API as it could be only use as a service.

If you read this far thanks you, I had a lot of pleasure writing this article let me know in the comments what did you think of my 3C theory !

See you next time !