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7. Listening Failures
Customers said: 30-second load times suck
Friendster focused on: VOIP
Data: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/business/yourmoney/15friend.html
8. Listening Failures
Customers said: 30-second load times suck
Friendster focused on: VOIP
Result: $30MM to ???
Data: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/business/yourmoney/15friend.html
11. Listening Failures
Customers said: We don’t want more work
Wasabe focused on: Effort-heavy features
Data: http://blog.precipice.org/why-wesabe-lost-to-mint
12. Listening Failures
Customers said: We don’t want more work
Wasabe focused on: Effort-heavy features
Result: Mint $170MM, Wesabe $0
Data: http://blog.precipice.org/why-wesabe-lost-to-mint
18. Failure to Understand
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/4649102556/ Data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
19. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/4649102556/ Data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
20. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
• 200k blind taste
tests
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/4649102556/ Data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
21. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
• 200k blind taste
tests
• 55% liked new taste
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/4649102556/ Data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
22. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
• 200k blind taste
tests
• 55% liked new taste
• 40k letters
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/4649102556/ Data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
23. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
• 200k blind taste
tests
• 55% liked new taste
• 40k letters
• 6,000 calls/day
24. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
• 200k blind taste
tests
• 55% liked new taste
• 40k letters
• 6,000 calls/day
• Off shelf in 79 days
25. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
• 200k blind taste
tests
• 55% liked new taste
• 40k letters
• 6,000 calls/day
• Off shelf in 79 days
• Was brand, not taste
26. Failure to Understand
• $4MM research
•200k blind taste tests
•55% liked new taste
• 40k letters
• 6,000 calls/day
• Off shelf in 79 days
• Didn’t understand
brand importance
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/4649102556/ Data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
30. Failure to Understand
• 500 votes for
OpenID integration
• Customers disliked it
• We finally
understood that the
issue was signing up
for a new account
31. Failure to Understand
• 500 votes for
OpenID integration
• Customers disliked it
• We finally
understood that the
issue was signing up
for a new account
• Built simpler sign-in
32. Failure to Understand
• 500 votes for
OpenID integration
• Customers disliked it
• We finally
understood that the
issue was signing up
for a new account
• Built simpler sign-in
• 7x increase in
conversions
34. Success Through Understanding
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tychay/513991272/in/photostream/ Data: Personal interview
• “A stupid idea”
35. Success Through Understanding
• “A stupid idea”
• 6 months building a
camera
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tychay/513991272/in/photostream/ Data: Personal interview
36. Success Through Understanding
• “A stupid idea”
• 6 months building a
camera
• Traffic “went off a cliff”
after 6 weeks
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tychay/513991272/in/photostream/ Data: Personal interview
37. Success Through Understanding
• “A stupid idea”
• 6 months building a
camera
• Traffic “went off a cliff”
after 6 weeks
• People said: “I want to
broadcast”
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tychay/513991272/in/photostream/ Data: Personal interview
38. Success Through Understanding
• “A stupid idea”
• 6 months building a
camera
• Traffic “went off a cliff”
after 6 weeks
• People said: “I want to
broadcast”
• Now 3MM visitors/month
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/tychay/513991272/in/photostream/ Data: Personal interview
44. Best Practices
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/28096801@N05/4581041971/in/photostream/
• Avoid the vocal
minority
45. Best Practices
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/28096801@N05/4581041971/in/photostream/
• Avoid the vocal
minority
• Not representative
46. Best Practices
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/28096801@N05/4581041971/in/photostream/
• Avoid the vocal
minority
• Not representative
•May not be your best
or stickiest customers
47. Best Practices
Photo : http://www.flickr.com/photos/28096801@N05/4581041971/in/photostream/
• Avoid the vocal
minority
• Not representative
•May not be your best
or stickiest customers
Solution: Limit votes so everyone is at the same volume
48. Best Practices
• Avoid the J-Curve
Photo & Data: http://buildingreputation.com/writings/2009/08/ratings_bias_effects.html & http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/09/five-
stars-dominate-ratings.html
49. Best Practices
• Avoid the J-Curve
• Y! properties:
average 4.5 out of 5
stars
Photo & Data: http://buildingreputation.com/writings/2009/08/ratings_bias_effects.html & http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/09/five-
stars-dominate-ratings.html
50. Best Practices
• Avoid the J-Curve
• Y! properties:
average 4.5 out of 5
stars
• YouTube tried
like/dislike, still had
the J-curve
Photo & Data: http://buildingreputation.com/writings/2009/08/ratings_bias_effects.html & http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/09/five-
stars-dominate-ratings.html
51. Best Practices
• Avoid the J-Curve
• Y! properties:
average 4.5 out of 5
stars
• YouTube tried
like/dislike, still had
the J-curve
• (Almost) nobody
rates badly
Photo & Data: http://buildingreputation.com/writings/2009/08/ratings_bias_effects.html & http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/09/five-
stars-dominate-ratings.html
52. Best Practices
• Avoid the J-Curve
• Y! properties:
average 4.5 out of 5
stars
• YouTube tried
like/dislike, still had
the J-curve
• (Almost) nobody
rates badly
Solution: Only allow up votes, don’t default to top ideas
Photo & Data: http://buildingreputation.com/writings/2009/08/ratings_bias_effects.html & http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/09/five-
stars-dominate-ratings.html
60. The Importance of Saying No
• Don’t forget your
vision
Data: UserVoice internal & http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
61. The Importance of Saying No
• Don’t forget your
vision
• StackOverflow had a
clear vision
Data: UserVoice internal & http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
62. The Importance of Saying No
• Don’t forget your
vision
• StackOverflow had a
clear vision
• Completed 30% of
ideas, declined 62%
Data: UserVoice internal & http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
63. The Importance of Saying No
• Don’t forget your
vision
• StackOverflow had a
clear vision
• Completed 30% of
ideas, declined 62%
• 0 to 6.5MM
monthlies in 2 years
Data: UserVoice internal & http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
64. The Importance of Saying No
• Don’t forget your
vision
• StackOverflow had a
clear vision
• Completed 30% of
ideas, declined 62%
• 0 to 6.5MM
monthlies in 2 years
• “educating
customers”
Data: UserVoice internal & http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
65. The Importance of Saying No
• StackExchange let
anyone create a
StackOverflow
Data: http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
66. The Importance of Saying No
• StackExchange let
anyone create a
StackOverflow
• For every 1
successful site, there
were 20 sites with 3
users
Data: http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
67. The Importance of Saying No
• StackExchange let
anyone create a
StackOverflow
• For every 1
successful site, there
were 20 sites with 3
users
• The vision was
missing
Data: http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
68. The Importance of Saying No
• StackExchange let
anyone create a
StackOverflow
• For every 1
successful site, there
were 20 sites with 3
users
• The vision was
missing
• New sites have to
prove themselves
before launching now
Data: http://mixergy.com/stack-exchange-joel-spolsky-interview/#transcript
71. Conclusion
You have the tools to win:
1. Actively solicit feedback
2. Avoid the vocal minority and the J-curve
72. Conclusion
You have the tools to win:
1. Actively solicit feedback
2. Avoid the vocal minority and the J-curve
3. Spend the time understand what people
are really saying
You’re smart. We all know you can fail from lack of listeningWasabe – Spending tracker - Wesabe had a higher goal, but people didn’t want the work of balancing a checkbook - Mint acquired for $170M,Wasabe shut down
You’re smart. We all know you can fail from lack of listeningGoogle Wave – huge Google focus, hailed as the next big thing, nobody understood how it worked – shut down barely a year after launchSo you know to listen, but do you know to understand?
You’re smart. We all know you can fail from lack of listeningGoogle Wave – huge Google focus, hailed as the next big thing, nobody understood how it worked – shut down barely a year after launchSo you know to listen, but do you know to understand?