Dull thoughts in a sharp world.

Solid presentation by Tara Hunt:

Featuritis (feature creep) is a common plague of all startups and depending on stage, can cripple a startup. In trying to determine the core value to the end user, relying on a combination user feedback, introspection, and internal company feedback can lead to complex and convoluted solutions to simple problems.

In an old article by the NewYorker, “Feature Presentation“, the author cites:

In part, feature creep is the product of the so-called internal-audience problem: the people who design and sell products are not the ones who buy and use them, and what engineers and marketers think is important is not necessarily what’s best for consumers. Being technically savvy themselves, engineers love to enhance the capabilities of a product and give users more control and more options, particularly now that, thanks to digitization, lots of added features don’t mean lots of added production costs. The engineers tend not to notice when more options make a product less usable. And marketing and sales departments see each additional feature as a new selling point, and a new way to lure customers. Often, the result is a product like Microsoft Word 2003, which has thirty-one toolbars and more than fifteen hundred commands.

You might think, then, that companies could avoid feature creep by just paying attention to what customers really want. But that’s where the trouble begins, because although consumers find overloaded gadgets unmanageable, they also find them attractive. It turns out that when we look at a new product in a store we tend to think that the more features there are, the better. It’s only once we get the product home and try to use it that we realize the virtues of simplicity. A recent study by a trio of marketing academics—Debora Viana Thompson, Rebecca W. Hamilton, and Roland T. Rust—found that when consumers were given a choice of three models, of varying complexity, of a digital device, more than sixty per cent chose the one with the most features. Then, when the subjects were given the chance to customize their product, choosing from twenty-five features, they behaved like kids in a candy store. (Twenty features was the average.) But, when they were asked to use the digital device, so-called “feature fatigue” set in. They became frustrated with the plethora of options they had created, and ended up happier with a simpler product.

So how do you solicit meaningful feedback from users and identify what is truly important to them?

A common theme seems to be in the distinction between a need and a want.  Though this seems like a simple task to distinguish, as noted above, most users will convey features as a need.

1   A/B paper prototype

Create different wireframes/mockups to test against.  For example, if a user says they want feature x, understand if they want feature x over feature y by providing two sets of wireframes.

2   Guide user to explicitly give both positive and negative feedback

People tend to be either overly positive or overly negative.  Get their viewpoint by asking questions like, “Name 3 things you like and dislike about this.”, and “Tell me three things you would change and keep about this.”

3   Keep user focused

If you’re testing functionality, avoid graphical or presentation feedback.  Avoid pushing peripheral features on the wireframes because those can potentially distract the from focusing on the core you’re attempting to validate.

I also think that if you create pixel perfect mockups for validation, it may be difficult to understand if the user understands/wants/needs the feature or just likes the presentation.  Anycase, looking for more concrete methodology to identify pain/need of users in the wireframe phase.   Drop me a line if you have any thoughts.

Some other really good tips here: http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/eight-tips-on-how-to-manage-feature-creep/

How do you identify opportunities?

According the Steve Blank, McClure, and the many of the mentors/VC/advisors in Silicon Valley, this notion of hitting the ground and asking your customers seems to be the route. Customer development is a huge step in identifying problems as well as opportunities. User-centric design and product seems to be a winning strategy.

But what questions do you ask, how do you phrase questions, how do you conduct usability test, and how do you objectively find opportunities.

If I asked, “would you like to see pictures of nearby bars and restaurants when you searched for a rental?”. 9/10 people would say yes. But if you phrased it, “would you rather see pictures of nearby bars or floor plan information”, the answers would be drastically different. I also like forcing negatives, eg “What are three things you dislike about this idea?”

When doing customer development, seems vital to be able to objectively solicit information from users.

On the other side, many entrepreneurs believe much can be determined by data and research of trends. How many people are searching key terms, how have other startups have launched the feature set successfully, etc.

Personally, I’m a fan of just asking a sampling of your customer base.

“It takes only five users to uncover 80 percent of high-level usability problems” Jakob Nielsen

So elite companies tend to poach when seeking top talent.  This is because the best people are usually not unemployed or surfing craigslist for jobs.

On that note, why do VC’s not poach more?  (Not for employees, but for investments)  Would seem logical that startups seeking investments are less likely to be rockstars than startups that do not need investment.  Again, there is actually a lot of complexity involved and yes, most startups need capital just to get off the ground.  But why not try to reach out to entrepreneurs/startups at a greater clip than just relying on deal flow from inbound pitches.  I know this happens, but it seems more passive.

Since really diving into design and product over the past 12 months, and attempting to consume as much UI/UX content as possible, I’ve come appreciate the dysfunctional relationship between a designer and a developer.   Though not all startups face this challenge, I find it interesting where value and focus is placed within such companies with so few resources.  The current trend seems to place heavy emphasis on usability and front-end functionality.

Accordingly, I like to place front-end work into three buckets, UI/UX, Design, and Code.

1)  UI/UX – Though these two are considered a bit difference, I like to work through wireframes for both in mind.

2)  Design – This is taking the wireframes and creating pixel perfect design.

3)  Code – Implementing pixel perfect design correctly via CSS/HTML/JS, etc.

With steps 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 containing a feedback loop.  So currently, I’ve been looking for a solid UI/UX designer who can handle at the very least the first two.  However, if finding a team to handle all three is not available, I am beginning to lean on finding an individual who can handle the last two.  Again, it seems that there is the large disconnect during the implementation of a pixel perfect mockup.

In a recent article in ReadWriteWeb titled “Design for Startups“, these two quotes really made sense to me.

Another perspective is Rundle’s contention. “A web application’s overall look and feel plays a very critical role mainly through two main factors: early adopters love beautifully-designed applications and that gets them talking. Secondly, ease of use and quality interface design go hand in hand to attract new customers and users. If the interface is not intuitive then they’ll be frustrated and give up (and tell all their friends.)”  A similar sentiment was Barrett’s opinion. “There are rare cases where an app’s mind-blowing functionality can override any other concerns but otherwise users tend to make a decision about an application’s usefulness to them within the first few moments of using it. Aesthetics play a major part in that decision.”

Noting that many developers are also doing graphic design for their applications, Barrett said, “One of the telling differences between an application design that is handled by a designer and one that is handled more by a development team is spacing. Developers don’t usually think much about how element should sit on a screen together, so you see a lot of items crammed together or unevenly distributed. This is the kind of thing an average user can’t put their finger on, but on a subconscious level, it bothers them and gives them a negative opinion of the application.”

When I’m considering signing up for a service, contributing to a site, or just thinking about clicking a button, I subconsciously make a snap decision stemming from the perception of usability and security.  Unfortunately, since most startups are starting to focus on usability, we as web consumers have been trained to make this decision based on a matter of a few pixels.

The issue is quantifying how effect much lining up a form, correctly placing a button, the color of a header, or messaging has on usability.  And how much increased usability affects our virality factor, in-bound links, SEO, branding, revenue, and sales?

As we enter the next major redesign and feedback loop for RentWiki.com, usability will be a focal point.  The challenge lies in measuring the results of each incremental usability change.

Okay hypothetical scenario.

I have dozens of social sites that house content and conversations about my company – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp, etc.

And I hypothetically have the desire to grab all that content to show visitors on my company website.

Does this scenario exist?

So we know that content from peers, or social content, is more powerful than descriptions by marketers. But a common problem seems to be aggregating and controlling our content from around the web.

Though I enjoy entertaining the thought of redesigning your website and tapping into the API’s of dozens of websites, we’ve* developed a simple solution to help collect and present content from various networks.

*And by we’ve I mean TurnSocial.com, and by TurnSocial.com I mean David Kelso.

Eric, you are confusing. What is an example?

So I work in the rental/apartment space, so here is an example of an application:

1) Most apartments have relevant content all over the web.
A WalkScore, YouTube Videos, people talking about them on Twitter, nearby restaurant and bar reviews on Yelp, maybe even a Facebook FanPage?

2) Renters are consuming this content on various networks.
Unfortunately, users just do not use one resource to make a decision, let alone just an apartment website. They go to Yelp to check out the nearby bars, search on twitter for mentions, google the apartment name, etc.

3) A Social Toolbar helps websites engage their users with relevant content.
Instead of static pages, with just bed, bath and price, a toolbar allows users to interact with an apartment’s content that is traditionally fragmented around the web. They can become a fan, read neighborhood reviews, view the WalkScore, see what people are saying on Twitter, etc.

Basically, we power social content on websites.

Icanhazcontentz

Yes, you can. So here is a list of the applications we’re pulling in and some benefits.

• Facebook FanPage – Show your Facebook Steam, get more users
• Twitter – Show users what you’re talking about, get more followers.
• YouTube – Show any videos, promote your video content.
• RentWiki – Show nearby neighborhood reviews, give users a sense of the area.
• Yelp – Show nearby bars and restaurants, give users a sense of the social scene.
• Flickr – Show your picture stream, pimp your pictures.
• MySpace – They still exist? If so, give users some MySpace flavor.
• Outside.in – Show users local news and blogs, gives them insight to the local news.
• WalkScore – Give users a walkability score, display how walkable your area is.

Not awesome, but almost there.

We need feedback on how to get more awesome. Any suggestions for apps, bugs, improvements, new uses, partnerships, we want it all. feedback@turnsocial.com.

Check it out at TurnSocial.com and enjoy.

In a big city like SF with tons of students and entrepreneurs, you would think there would be more late night spots to work and study. Been trying to find the best ones, so I’m going to keep an ongoing list of spots open late in the city.  Here is also a pretty thorough list: http://www.posthoc.com/24hours.htm  (Will update as I visit them)

24 hours

Laurel Heights – Starbuck – http://www.yelp.com/biz/starbucks-coffee-san-francisco-110

Polk Gultch – Bob’s Donuts – http://www.yelp.com/biz/bobs-donut-and-pastry-shop-san-francisco

Noe Valley – Happy Donuts – http://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-donuts-san-francisco-2

Inner Richmond – Allstar Donuts & Sandwiches – http://www.yelp.com/biz/allstar-donuts-and-sandwich-san-francisco-2

Laurel Heights – Lucky Penny – http://www.yelp.com/biz/lucky-penny-restaurant-san-francisco

SOMA – Starbucks – http://www.yelp.com/biz/starbucks-coffee-san-francisco-136

Union Square – Cafe Mason – http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-mason-san-francisco

Open till 2 am

Union Square – Sugar Cafe – http://www.yelp.com/biz/sugar-cafe-san-francisco

Open till Midnight

Open till 10 pm

Western Addition – Cafe Abir - http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-abir-san-francisco

Inner Sunset – Blue Danube – http://www.yelp.com/biz/blue-danube-coffee-house-san-francisco

We’ve organized a solid panel for SXSWi this year centered around the idea of Designing Products for Real People. We as in Rob Spiro, founder of Vark.com, Rahmin Sarabi, founder of unclasses.com, and Amit Gupta, founder of Photojojo.com. Here is the description:

There is more to building a product than iterating as quickly as possible. Behind each metric is a human, and it’s critical to speak to these humans beyond the numbers. We’ll explore both sides of the coin and share best practices from each of our respective (and varying) experiences.

There are obviously two philosophies of thought in building product.  One is to rely on data and the other to connect with your users.  In the panel, we’ll talk about how each panelist has been successful in building a product, service, and community and the methodology behind each experience.  Last, we’ll attempt to provide some concrete examples, strategy for implementation, and personal insight in how to designing product.

Last, and I hate self-promoting, we need votes to get this panel to happen.  Vote here if you have an extra 27 seconds.

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/3193

Thanks and we’ll see you all at SXSWi.