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08

Mar

So after gallons of coffee and sacrifices to Elsbeth and my time together, BuyWithMe launches in New York. My favoite deal is the SPiN New York ping pong.  Half price with a free drink, I’m exhausted, but check it out: http://www.buywithme.com/sheckys/deals/365-spin-nyc-ping-pong

So after gallons of coffee and sacrifices to Elsbeth and my time together, BuyWithMe launches in New York. My favoite deal is the SPiN New York ping pong.  Half price with a free drink, I’m exhausted, but check it out: http://www.buywithme.com/sheckys/deals/365-spin-nyc-ping-pong

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27

Feb

if I could, I’d totally A/B test this for BuyWithMe’s registration page. 

davidkaneda:


Luke Wroblewski wrote an article yesterday titled, “Mad Libs” Style Form Increases Conversion 25-40%. The post was about a team, led by Ron Kurti, redesigning a form for Vast.com. By no means do I intend to knock the success of the redesign, but part of me wonders if the conclusion was rushed. In addition to using a narrative user flow, he’s also:

Lessened form inputs, added placeholder text, and made one optional
Removed distracting links throughout
Highlighting contextual information like the car being negotiated
Made the submit button bigger
Added icons
Said “Thank you”

Luke mentions the possibility of other factors affecting the result in his review, but I think it may be an understatement. Sometimes conversion rates can be massively improved by a minor change to a design or user flow. While A/B testing can be very useful, keep in mind that it is still a science and comprehensively reviewing constants and variables is a big part of that science.
if I could, I’d totally A/B test this for BuyWithMe’s registration page.

davidkaneda:

Luke Wroblewski wrote an article yesterday titled, “Mad Libs” Style Form Increases Conversion 25-40%. The post was about a team, led by Ron Kurti, redesigning a form for Vast.com. By no means do I intend to knock the success of the redesign, but part of me wonders if the conclusion was rushed. In addition to using a narrative user flow, he’s also:

  • Lessened form inputs, added placeholder text, and made one optional
  • Removed distracting links throughout
  • Highlighting contextual information like the car being negotiated
  • Made the submit button bigger
  • Added icons
  • Said “Thank you”

Luke mentions the possibility of other factors affecting the result in his review, but I think it may be an understatement. Sometimes conversion rates can be massively improved by a minor change to a design or user flow. While A/B testing can be very useful, keep in mind that it is still a science and comprehensively reviewing constants and variables is a big part of that science.

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01

Feb

davidkaneda:

Wise men said, a fantastic Flickr set with quotes on creativity, entrepreneurship, and marketing from the industry’s leading professionals.

If you’re working backwards from a goal, can one ever reach it? If a tree falls in the—

davidkaneda:

Wise men said, a fantastic Flickr set with quotes on creativity, entrepreneurship, and marketing from the industry’s leading professionals.

If you’re working backwards from a goal, can one ever reach it? If a tree falls in the—

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29

Jan

fred-wilson:

Status THIS - Check-In, Please

I’ve an app for that.

fred-wilson:

Status THIS - Check-In, Please

I’ve an app for that.

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The venture community has started to pile into the space with Accel leading a $30mm round in Groupon and Living Social raising an additional $5mm from VCs. Rue La La was having its leg humped by PE firms as it sold out to GSI for $350mm. Several other Sites are in the process of being funded. […]

The early successes of Gilt and Groupon have spawned loads of copycats and fast followers. The Groupon approach in particular is being ripped-off shamelessly.

Thoughtful post by Todd Dagres on private sale sites. My work at CroudSprout was a little too early to get my leg humped, I guess :-) (via alexbain)

@Bain, Didn’t I do enough leg humping to wag your tail? Maybe if Spark took a risk with CrowdSprout in 2009, they wouldn’t have to now compete with Sequoia, Kleiner Perkin, or Matrix.

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14

Jan

What Tumblr is doing to support the earthquake in Haiti is pretty great. I’m glad to participate in a community that’s responds so quickly and creatively.
For people who might not use Tumblr, the Tumblr team created a special badge (in this case a blue and red ribbon) that can be overlaid on your avatar. Once you donate, the ribbon appears on your avatar, showing your support. So not only are you rewarded for donating, but more importantly, the badge helps to spread the message to people in your Tumblr network. I chose to give a few dollars to Doctors without Boarders.

What Tumblr is doing to support the earthquake in Haiti is pretty great. I’m glad to participate in a community that’s responds so quickly and creatively.

For people who might not use Tumblr, the Tumblr team created a special badge (in this case a blue and red ribbon) that can be overlaid on your avatar. Once you donate, the ribbon appears on your avatar, showing your support. So not only are you rewarded for donating, but more importantly, the badge helps to spread the message to people in your Tumblr network. I chose to give a few dollars to Doctors without Boarders.

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30

Dec

Ira Glass from This American Life on storytelling. I’m reminded of Borges’ Harvard Norton Lectures, This Craft of Verse, which is perhaps my favorite listing/educational experience outside the classroom. How does Glass’ message of storytelling resonate?

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15

Dec

Crowds, Market Research, .coms, and Why Chef Thomas Keller is like Steve Jobs.

kickstarter:

The NY Times Year in Ideas

This past weekend, Kickstarter had the tremendous honor of being included in the New York Times Magazine’s annual Year in Ideas […] exemplifying Kickstarter’s potential.

Having been involved in a “crowd-related” startup, I am fascinated by the potential for utilizing crowdsourced/group-buying mechanics for market research.

Entrepreneur Andrew_Chen writes prolifically about this topic. His buying Google Adwords and measuring click-throughs rates of specific keywords points to the ease and affordability of determining real, viable markets for new businesses (a click-through = a conscious curiosity or desire for the product). Clothing startup Bonobos is doing similar market research on its upcoming shirt line by polling customers via Twitter about various features: do you prefer two-button collars? one button collars? button position? etc. It has been fascinating to watch how brands engage with their customers, in attempts to engineer communities. Perhaps the epitome of a company that utilizes crowds would be Treadless.com. Threadless allows anyone to upload a t-shirt design to its website, after which the community determines what design will be produced by voting on their favorites. The voting community in turn becomes future buyers. In a way, Threadless is an entirely enclosed ecosystem in which designers, market analysts, and buyers mingle. This sort of market research is nothing new. What’s different, however, is that technology and the internet have efficiently bridged the gap between companies and customers (current or potential), bypassing the traditional methods of testing markets before the product’s release. Think of movies and test screenings, TV shows and pilots, or production cars and futuristic-looking concept cars. So my question is: since testing the market has become easier and cheaper, why do brands (or startups) continue to fail to engage their markets? Ultimately, products need to be adaptable to fit individual needs/preferences/etc., which I believe leads to an evolving trend of individualism. Perhaps in the future all products will be tailored to the individual—not like in pre-industrial, 18th century hand-crafted sort of way, but in a way where customers have a direct say in determining desirable end-products. In the end, perhaps technology and a better grasp of the modern community will enable brands to create better goods.

On the flip-side of this individual/crowdsourced argument is the paralysis of choice. For example, the increasing popularity of “Chef Tasting Menus” and “Pre Fixe” menus hints at a preference for less choice—i.e. the chef cooks and you eat. In my opinion this is either the epitome of egotism or the epitome of hospitality. So in a way, Chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry is similar to Steve Jobs of Apple. They both are icons of their industry, and as icons, they make what they want, using the ingredients and the specifications they want, and you as a customer have little choice. But, yes, what they make is good.

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