Monthly Archive for October, 2008

Pick the right product for the right customer

Published
by
jason
on October 20, 2008
in Photography and Technology
. 0 Comments

A friend recently sent me a great pitch video that Steve Jobs gave while he was at NeXT. The video is a fascinating piece of marketing history, especially because the endeavor turned out to be such a failure. While I realize that this is a pitch, pitches, like any other kind of story, have the effect of convincing the audience and the people telling it. He totally overestimated the need for usability at that point, in 1991, in the development of the workstation/pc market. In addition, he projected his tastes onto a market that, to this day, has an almost supernatural aversion to being cool.

I am struck by the difference, between this pitch and the iPod pitch, or even the Mac pitch from Nerds.  He wasn’t framing the NeXT station’s differences from the point of view of benefits as perceived by the customer. Instead, he uses future tense language about how NeXT will be better and people will want what it does. Although he doesn’t seem to completely realize it, he makes the key insight that there was an audience out there that would appreciate an functionally and artistically elevated approach to an otherwise humdrum product category. His thinking was great, it was just his target that was wrong.

He needed a group of people to whom he could teach taste and elegance, and it turns out that consumers and the iPod let him do that. The best part about the iPod, aside from design, was that it changed the way people perceived the digital music player market. The positioning stroke of genius was the statement that the iPod held 5000 songs and let you take all of your music anywhere you went. It was the customer’s problem stated in the words they would use, and providing a solution to an immediate and tangible issue that they faced. Add to that the awesome experience of using the device (especially compared to competition), and you have something remarkable: a story that customers can tell each other, and an exclusive club of cool that has a badge that you carry around with you.

Most striking, for me, is the realization that Jobs, or someone, needs to be a pitch man, a maven of taste, to make Apple successful. He needs to radiate an understanding of cool. It is important because his goal is to get people to accept his definition of cool, and he knows it. He is totally right to leave the technical and user interaction innovations to someone else and be the man that can convince people that they want to be as cool as John Mayer.

Iterations

Published
by
jason
on October 15, 2008
in Photography
. 0 Comments

There are many times when repeating things is necessary and helpful. That is certainly the case with a strong QA/testing/feedback process in software development. The key is getting feedback early and then often. In my most recent project at Fog Creek, we took a product from concept to release in 6 weeks. It was a substantial amount of work. It adds some great new functionality, but my best guess is that it took us fifteen to twenty percent longer then it “should have.”

The problem was simply that our rock star QA analyst was away on vacation at [what we failed to recognize as] a pivot point in the development cycle. It happened just as we finished the first pass of Fog Creek Copilot OneClick’s functionality, before any of the chrome was applied. The people around to give us feedback had a strong technical understanding of the product and the problem that it was solving. As a result, we spent a full week without serious first-time user feedback.

It is a distinct advantage, that QA analysts aren’t programmers (usually). It’s awesome that FC attracted a few that put themselves in the shoes of lead users in a way that is very hard once you are deeply involved in the architecture of the software. Without their feedback, we made decisions about features and interaction design, as well as assumptions about the readiness of the software for delivery to market, that were wrong.

We could have solved this problem without Alison (QA analyst extraordinaire) if we had recognized it. Steve Krug has a great methodology for dealing with this exact issue, through quick and cheap usability testing, but we didn’t think it was dangerous to delay the collection of feedback just a few days. Its not that we had to undo all of the decisions that were made in that intervening week, but some made it harder to incorporate the necessary changes that came out of Ali’s testing. Even hallway usability testing failed us, to some extent, because we had explained too much about the product and the process to our colleagues. Without credible non-tech-centric feedback, our blind spots grew, but our awareness of them receded. More importantly, we lost momentum because we started to feel like it was done even though we were only really at the halfway point, in terms of time.

The day Ali returned from vacation and started filing bugs, our productivity went right back up, our sense of urgency returned, and our blind spots started shrinking. 2 weeks later, we were cleaning the dust out of the corners and putting the final touches on the product. It’s comforting to know that this is a problem that can be hedged by proactively improving our process. Next time around, we will be sure to have either QA or user feedback built-in to the “initial pass complete” phase of our development cycle.

The world is putting on a show

Published
by
Jason
on October 14, 2008
in Photography
. 1 Comment

It is Fall, and the foliage in southern New York is putting on a spectacular demonstration of the awe-inspiring beauty that still exists in the world. Running around with my camera in one hand and J by my side made it a weekend where every second paid double, or more, through the photos.

Uncertainty

Published
by
Jason
on October 10, 2008
in Photography
. 2 Comments

It seems to be the single word that describes the last few weeks. On Wednesday morning, I looked out over the Hudson River on my way to work and felt like nature was acting as a mirror.

Here’s to hoping that the fog lifts.

A soft touch

Published
by
jason
on October 6, 2008
in Management and Photography
. 4 Comments

I hated going to the dentist. I have great strong teeth, have only had 2 cavities in my life, but I hated going to the dentist. Why?

Because the dentists I had seen before were almost universally nasty. Nasty and condescending. Every time I would go, despite having no cavities and brushing twice a day, I would get the shaking head and the sucking of teeth about my “dedication” to gum health. Or what about my “sincerity” in avoiding tooth decay?

Last week I went to a new dentist. A phone call to let them know I was running a few minutes late led me to the knowledge that there had been a snafu when my appointment was made, and I wouldn’t be able to get the cleaning I was expecting. I could, however, still see the doctor.  Grumpily, I made my way to the offices of The Family Dental Group. The office is nothing special from the outside, a little gloomy actually. I walked to the door ready to do battle (I hadn’t been to the dentist for nearly 4 years).

I announced myself to the receptionist, and a moment later, the hygienist walked out and announced that her next appointment had just canceled. She looked at me, asked if I was Jason, and proceeded to fend of the doctor saying that she would rather get me a cleaning today as opposed to having me wait over a month for the next appointment. One point for the hygienist.

The cleaning was a bit rough, but really not all that bad. The amazing thing was that throughout the 30 minute process she apologized and cooed over how much it probably hurt. Not once did she give me the sidelong threat of future pain that I was expecting if I didn’t resolve my “irresponsible” lack of office visits. She knew that I knew that had I made regular office visits this process would have been less onerous for BOTH of us. Her approach, however, was so far from what I expected that she actually got my attention. I cared what she had to say afterward when she handed me the toothbrush, floss, and gum stimulator and explained how to use the last as though I already knew but, “just in case I needed a reminder”. I have been following her instructions, and I have already made my next appointment. The doctor who filled my small cavity followed with much the same openly caring attitude.

The humanity of the service was unexpected. It was remarkable. Every other dentist, and their hygienists, that I had visited previously behaved in the same supercilious way. The Family Dental Group changed my perception. Just another example that going to the edges can change the game. The Family Dental Group isn’t the cheapest, it isn’t the closest to my home, but I don’t dread the idea of my next appointment. For that, I am willing to pay extra and travel further, and all they had to do differently was show genuine care for me (not just my teeth).

I can’t help but think, “how hard would it be to show a little extra concern for our customers?” We already treat our customers well, but I am taking this as a personal challenge. If everyone took a little extra time, showed a little more genuine care, I bet life would get a lot more pleasant in a hurry.