Ustrategy

TabUp and TuneStory Stand Out at SVOD's Day 1 Business Plan Competition

It was the first day of SVOD 2008 Technology Investment Conference today and I was on the judges panel for Internet startups. Of the companies I reviewed, two stood out:

TabUp is a personal organization system for anything in your life. Think reminders, calendars, tasks, music, bills--the works. It is visually compelling, provides lots of customization options, and seems easy to use.  TabUp has a few areas for improvement, though, including a user interface that fits those of us who are no longer in the 5-15 year old range, a stronger business model (even a novice can see the potential in revenue based on the targeted and information-rich demographic, but TabUp didn't do a good job at communicating it), and a change of their key message: TabUp should not be about "keeping tabs" but rather about being "as simple as a tab" or about "taking control over your life."  'Keeping Tabs' may work in Russian but I suspect something got lost in translation on its way to the US.

TuneStory stood out as a nicely designed, cool feature--one fraught with risk. TuneStory basically lets iPod users share song ratings with their social network on any application they use. Like a song? Give it a star rating and next time you sync, your rating will show on your friends' playlist. They're currently developing the application for iPhone. TuneStory is basing their revenue model on share of the downloads and on targeted ads...but the risk is immense as the model stands because TuneStory, in essence, has put all their eggs in one basket: As soon as a competitor (Mufin, Project Playlist, or iTunes itself) adds cross-platform rating, TuneStory may be gone. Not to mention their reliance on partnership-based deals.  I really want to see these guys succeed--they're sort of the Russian version of the American dream...but I suspect either luck or some work will be needed first.

Overall the caliber of companies was impressively high although the presentations' quality often low--almost certainly due to the difference between European and American business-case presentation styles. But more about that in a seperat post.

Facebook Email Settings Are Lost...And Found?

Some Facebook users noticed over the last couple of days that they no longer receive new email notifications. Just 20 minutes after posting a status update in which I pondered if other people were having the same problem, this is what I saw on my Facebook home page:

 

I'm not quite sure how customers should feel: is it the comfort of knowing Facebook is hearing their voice or the eeriness of having a Big Brother hovering above? Of course, this could be a mere coincidence...all I'm saying is that it's a bit strange.

Twitter: See If You Can Find Your Friends Now! Down again.

With Twitter's 'Search People' functionality down for weeks, an alternative has been to add people through your friends' Following list. This morning, some users are experiencing a Follow issue there as well; when they click on a person others are following, they see this:

If I get this right, Twitter is all about creating networks through the function of following. So if no search-to-follow, and no following through who others are following...what's exactly left?

Twitter Is Over Capacity. Say What?

No matter how many fish there are: I can't imagine users who are seeing this message are happy whales right now.

Jackson Fish Market: Visually Beautiful; Poorly Executed

TechCrunch showcased today Jackson Fish Market's new site called What A Lovely Name.

The site, like the other Fish Market sites is beautifully designed -- to those of you with kids, it is sweetly reminiscent of Janie and Jack's gift wrap. And, it is filled with just the right SEO keywords for anything baby, parents, and names.

I so much like the way the site looks that I decide to conduct a brief expert review. Within the first couple of minutes something about it just feels wrong. First, the usability of the site is terrible at best: areas that seem to be clickable aren't going anywhere, the name-by-Disposition functionality works only for some combinations but not for others, and there are lots of missed interaction standards such as clicking an option off instead of on to make a choice.

There are a number of reasons why a high caliber company which was founded by ex-Microsoft employees would launch a site with such poor interaction and functionality: Securing funding in these difficult times is one, another (and not unrelated), is getting lots of qualified traffic to the site. So Jackson seems to have turned into a user-destination site when in fact it's about something else.

Just read the company description on CrunchBase or their 17-page long (!!!) white-paper, and you too will find that Jackson is not a consumer site but is actually about creating branded software applications for other companies. What does that mean? Essentially, Jackson in the business of helping companies grow their brand through what's supposed to be value-ad interactions. In Jackson's case, it might be that Bloomingdale's would use the Jackson's Invitastic site to create beautifully looking invitations customers can send to friends with a special "family and friends" discount code. Or to use Jackson's example--Disney would have a family photo album application brought to you by Disneyland.

So why the baby naming site? And why slap it together to just have it up when the functionality is unquestionably raw?

According to Jackson, the next generation of meaningful advertising is about connecting software and content. And since we're talking internet and there are no hard software products to put on a shelf, it's all about "driving traffic to your site." Jackson says branded software companies should focuses on increasing the number of site visitors and emphasizes the value of repeat visits. With its plethora of sites, Jackson is trying to do exactly that.

In What A Lovely Name, Jackson Fish Market has found a topic that's highly searchable by high-value users (those who will return and can develop loyalty to the site). Jackson then puts the smallest, simplest functionality it can, and released it to get user eyes. If they're true to their own preachings, they will probably evolve it over time. But until they do so, the experience significantly suffers and the user-interaction seems no different from those offered by other technology driven startups.

Let's step back for a minute from the lacking focus on user experience. Jackson does have the right strategy: address the changing landscape of online brand-advertising. They also have some of the right ingredients: the understanding that getting the company up and running early is a good idea given the "breakneck speed" of online advertising, that user-facing applications need to be visually compelling, and that to gain traction as a company they have to get qualified traffic. And if they're looking for funding, getting things up and running fast is key. Unfortunately, in Jackson's case, the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts and the execution on their strategy is gravely lacking. And as we know, historically, poor execution will bring down even the greatest of strategies.

Like many companies whose product is driven by technology, Jackson is taking a linear top-down approach to creating a solution in a highly lucrative space. But it's neglecting to think from the bottom back to the top--and the bottom--where the end-customers sit--is what counts the most in the advertising space. If a customer cannot find the names she's looking for, and areas she clicks on do not perform as expected, and if, in if 50% of the cases information cannot be found, that customer, to Jackson--is lost. And now we get into the formidable cost of re-acquiring user eyes.

Brand advertising is a great space for capable marketers. Putting together software and content in a beautiful packaging may be the next big thing. And while slapping together What A Lovely Name and getting on TechCrunch may get Jackson great traffic spikes and even a funding round, long-term it is not a sustainable model and it will be easily beat out by a company that truly knows how to fold into its execution an unwavering focus on end-user needs and who goes beyond to create a compelling and delightful interactions that will entice both clients and users to come to the site for more.

TypePad announces improvements to its blogging platform

On October 27th, Typepad announced it will be migrating to a new platform. Today, October 30th, and on TypePad's 5th anniversary, users can see the first batch of improvements in their Design functionality. This, a TypePad exec said to me this evening at the SixApart Vox party, is just the beginning. TypePad plans to bring back its once unequivocal focus on customer (i.e., blogger) experience and to offer dynamic, cross-platform features and services including top navigation, cross-platform solutions, monetization programs and services, and flexible modularity to name a few.

While there are many tweaks to be addressed on the QA list (spelling experience, rigid templates and themes, the ability to edit posts on mobile app, and more), and while they haven't always come in the right order nor always had a stellar execution, (remember the rich-text Compose nightmare?), it seems that TypePad now has a clear strategy and will iteratively release improvements over the coming weeks. The first to be release? Those that best improve the blogger experience, I'm told.

And improving bloggers' experience is key for TypePad. Over the past year, TypePad has been been seeing a stagnant growth against its competitors--Blogger and WordPress--who are boasting over 3 times the number of unique visits Typepad has seen. Specifically WordPress which has been releasing new solutions and and capabilities is one to watch for: it has shown an impressive 106.3% growth in '08 alone.. (Compete graph below.)

 

Who will come on top in '09? Who will capture new bloggers' market share (and maybe even get some to convert)? Will it be WordPress with its richly themed, ultra flexible, tightly branded Express Yourself strategy? Google's trusted Blogger platform soon to be connected via single ID and more to all of Google services? Or TypePad--the original customer-focused blogging solution with a friendly human flare?  Stay tuned...since here it's truly customers who get to vote by where they choose to blog, this is bound to get interesting as an example of users' voice impacting business results.

AT&T is finally making its free Wi-Fi...free

A few weeks back I was at a Burlingame Starbucks for a meeting and futilely tried to connect to the promised free Wi-Fi. Orange AT&T signs all around the store and a vouching starbucks associate--we still weren't able to connect to the network. Today, TechCrunch wrote that AT&T's free Wi-Fi is finally coming to town and a few hours later, AT&T sent a text to its iPhone customers letting them know it now offers free Wi-Fi "in thoudands of hotspots nationwide including Starbucks." Will AT&T be finally able to deliver on the promise? I guess we'll wait and see. If you check it out do let us know.

Apple iPhone extended keyboard doesn't want to play

I'm at the Apple store in Burlingame right now. I'm not buying anything--I'm posting on this blog. That's my main purpose. And I think it's justified. See, I just spent 8 minutes trying to reply to a Facebook comment using the new Apple extended keyboard (version 2.1). 'Two thumb typing is back in the game,' I wanted to say, but as I got near the end of the sentence, typing slowed down, then slowed some more, the letters hanging in the air like a possessed typewriter key in the back--and then--it crashed. No matter, these things happen. After all, a lot of magic is crammed into that little device. So I open Safari again, then Facebook, then go from home to Profile, the click Status, then comment, then type again and--yup. Keys start to get stuck, typing slows down--and iPhone's out again.

Seriously, Apple. First, you don't provide an extended keyboard, then you finally do, but then it's apparently only lasting so long. Good thing there's an Apple store when you need it with a free-for-all computers and unlimited wifi. Almost feels like home.

The Apple Customer Experience- not always a Golden Delicious

The gap between Apple's user experience and customer experience seems to be widening by the day. And with an estimated 40-45 million units expected to enter the market this year alone¹, it is no surprise.

Apple's products have been commended for years for their intuitive, easy to use, appealing design. With each new product it launches, Apple demonstrates repeatedly that it understand what users want, how to create rewarding and simple interactions, and how to create user preference--both on logical and emotional levels.

As Apple launches new innovative products (iPhone), enhances the stickiness of its applications (iTunes), and cements Steve Jobs' brilliant approach to an ecosystem-based business model--it is also demonstrating how difficult it can be to deliver a matching customer experience.

Customers who encounter difficulties with Apple products are often left frustrated at the lack of resolution. Apple, it seems, is simply not structured to address anything slightly more complex than its pre-supposed user needs. As long as customers have needs that match Apple's list of How To's we're all good. But try something different and you might as well be sent right back to the PC world or worse. "Hi, my name is PC...now we're just as bad."

For example, a source tells us that many cabled headsets have been returned for loss of conductivity within the warranty period. Apple, wishing to make the exchange easy, will exchange the headset on the spot--no ifs whens and buts--as long as you can hand over the damaged set. Problem is, with the volume of exchanges, Apple has been running out of its exchange-designated sets available in stores. While it may have plenty hanging on the shelf for sale, the stores are not authorized to provide these to customers in lieu of an exchange unit. Instead, customers need to call Support and have a new set mailed to them. This takes a number of days and can be disruptive to business.

Here's another example--long time in the running for one of the most aggravating issues of the iTunes/iPod combo. Assume you have purchased a new PC and you want to move your iTunes library from an old PC to the new one. Apple has made this extremely difficult. While it would let you move purchased media, it is currently not offering, and in fact, near-preventing customers from transferring their media to another computer. While we're aware of the DRM issues Apple and the music industry have been facing, it seems that there should be some mechanism to allow users to move that which they're already using to a different machine.  Luckily for third party developers, this has opened the door for a multitude of backup and transfer applications. Customers can also find information on how to move songs to an external hard-drive but the process can be unfriendly and time consuming; iTunes closes the transfer each time you start it which requires multiple points of initiation, babysitting the computer, and/or disabling iTunes while the transfer is taking place.  I'm sure 'Becky Socker Mom' would love to try that one in her spare time.

Apple has been riding on the waves of customer loyalty for years. Jobs' has consistently pounded the customer-experience message. So much so that other companies often talk of how to Apple their products. But a good customer experience isn't a given with good user experience.

As Apple continues to grow and add users, products, and services, it will also need to grow its customer experience practice. Just like its products can be intuitive and easy to use, customer problems should be anticipated and solved with equal simplicity at all points of interaction with the company: in-store, online, and via its products.

Remembering the basics--a complex task?

Ooyala's Backlot is has all the ingredients (and funding) to be a successful B2B video solution primarily designed for content providers and publishers. The company defines Backlot a "scalable video platform with detailed analytics, content syndication controls, and advanced monetization features."

This is all really nice and powerful--but right now, as I'm looking at video clips from TechCrunch50, I cannot find the Forward or Backward buttons to save my life, let alone any kind of basic tagging to help me navigate clips from 3 days of filming.

I realize the final application on the client side might include every single basic and advanced feature one can hope for. Even so, for a startup the size (and people-caliber) of Ooyala who primarily depends on user interaction at each and every interaction for user adoption and preference, no corners should be cut--especially when we're talking about basics.