Let’s talk about honeymoons for a second. I don’t mean that trip to Cancun, but instead, those first couple weeks of product use where people are evaluating your service, and hoping to realize some of the values that drove them to become your customer in the first place. Some people call this “onboarding,” but I … Read moreDesigning an Effective Honeymoon Phase in Your Product (Part 1)
Let’s jump to part 2! Last week I mentioned that the free DFA Self-Assessment Guide introduces ideas for designing a honeymoon user experience and how to audit your own product’s success in this phase of the customer lifecycle. Here in part 2, I want to share some specific actionable steps you can take to improve the honeymoon … Read moreDesigning an Effective Honeymoon Phase in Your Product (Part 2)
If you’re in the analytics space, then you almost certainly have at least one “dashboard” customers use. I generally define dashboards as the landing page for your product when people log in, and so keep that in mind as you browse today’s design suggestions: Your dashboard is probably too low on information density. Dashboards with … Read moreHere are (5) dashboard design suggestions you can start to apply today
If you’re working on data or analytics products, then you’ll want to check this out whether it’s a refresher, or something to share with your team: Seeing Theory is a great visual introduction to probability and statistics from Brown University created specifically by Daniel Kunin. Enjoy! Visit http://students.brown.edu/seeing-theory/index.html More Free Insights: Subscribe Now to the … Read moreA Visual Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Here’s a super easy thing you can do today to evaluate your data product’s dashboard. If you’re displaying quantitative data of any sort, especially trends, then this will probably help you come up with opportunities to improve your design. Of course, testing the design with real users is always the best way to evaluate your … Read moreHere’s a fast way to evaluate the utility of your dashboard design
Yup, I said it. Just say, “no” to customer requests for features. Or rather, say, “why do you need that?” Today’s design tip is simple: build the word “why” into your vocabulary when talking to your customers. Be incessant until you “ladder up” and get to the meat of the matter. Asking “why” is critical designing great … Read moreStop giving customers what they ask for. Yup, you heard me right!
Do you have some good analytics that could be helping customers out….if they gave you the right inputs up front? Today’s lesson is about using your analytics to facilitate the process of completing a form that requires users to type in specific values to complete a task. I work on technical and analytics-driven products frequently, … Read more(3) ways to use your analytics to simplify form field entry
My teapot, or rather the water heater, helps me make great tea, based on the type of tea I want to drink. It also was a reminder for me about how good design means translating quantitative values into qualitative values people can relate to: As a tea drinker, my goal isn’t to heat the water … Read moreWhat can my teapot teach you about designing for analytics?
It’s homework time! Let’s talk about NEST (Thermostat) for a minute. In particular, their monthly report. I have a thermostat and hot water radiators in my house (no central air). Each month, the NEST device sends me a report of how I did in terms of energy use etc. How good is this report? Hmmm. … Read moreWhat’s wrong with the analytics in the NEST thermostat’s monthly report?
Ah, fluff. It’s a great word, and it was actually born in its marshmallow form just a mile away in Somerville, MA. There’s even a fluff festival. A few weeks ago, we talked about the various levels of maturity that an analytics-driven product can go through, with the Holy Grail being one that delivers actionable, useful … Read moreIs your product producing automated insights/recommendations based on…fluff?