Creating a New IT Product? - The Top 5 Desires for a Developer

So, you are building a new product aimed at the IT world. Or you have at least a conceptual idea of what an awesome product would look like and you want to get started, but don't know where to go. In either case, you are building a product for developer, which means that your product should give developers exactly what they want.

Now, suppose that you have the resources of either time or man-power to devote to helping developers get started with your new product. However, you don't know how to effectively support your users with the resources that you do own. This article will help you figure out how to maximize your resources for supporting IT customers using a new product.

Here are the top five features that a developer needs in order to feel comfortable with your new product:

1. High Level Overviews and Short Introductions

To begin, developers need to see the big picture. You have to help the developers see their big picture with your product inserted into their vision. How you accomplish this is based on your unique customers. 

However, if you answer the question - how can I showcase the most information in the quickest way? - then you will be off to a good start. For instance, carefully crafted overview statements work well. Debuting a short video that overviews the message you are trying to get across (and why it matters to your users) is even better. Creating an interactive guide with images/videos for the user is best. Doing is learning. 

2. Sample Projects - What Is Possible?

The next aspect that developers like to see is what others (or you) have created by using your product. They want to get a feel for what kind of creative projects are possible with your product. 

A requirement for showcasing a sample project is that it must be 'cool'. Said differently, what projects are exciting enough that other people will want to bring them up in casual conversations? When you show new users cool projects that have been built with your product, a short video is almost a requirement. Too much wordy text (especially without images) can get boring quick.

3. Code Snippets

Examples go a long way for developers. In this regard, code snippets are like a thousand words to a developer. Code snippets are necessary for developers and probably easier than posting "how to guides". Find common problems that users are experiencing, solve them yourself with a code snippet, then share it with the world.

4. Community Question/Answer Support 

Why create your own email question/answer support system when you can let customers address their own problems? A community that allows one customer to ask a question followed by an answer from another customer or employee is the next best thing. If you are having trouble building your own community, leverage Stack Overflow, so that customers can ask questions there. It is your job to enable customers to help themselves.

5. Step-by-Step Tutorials

Lastly, some users need more help than others. This is often true for new products that are not mature yet. Therefore, the solution is to create some tutorials that involve step by step instructions to help users get started on a new project. 

This is like a combination of #2 and #3, but it is critical to include if customers are still having trouble despite having access to previous projects and code snippets. You would be surprised how much usage of your product will go up just by showing users how to put the key into the ignition.

Please let me know if you think developers rank another support feature ahead of one of the ones that I have enumerated above. I'm looking forward to reading comments.

The Era of Artificial Intelligent Assistants: What can we learn?

When we look in the area of artificial intelligent assistants, a few big names come to mind: Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, Google Now, and even IBM Watson. Each service is very different from each of its peers and aims to solve different types of problems. While all of the aforementioned names, as well as the smaller ones that are still trying to make it big, offer their unique selling proposition, the aim of this article is to determine which problem offers the most opportunity. Said differently, I inspect what an ideal intelligent assistant should be capable of and then reverse engineer the problem to see which service is closest (at the moment) to solving this need.

What Do The People Want?

It is true that everyone is going to want something different. Some folks want app integration, so they can speak a command into their phone and have already downloaded apps perform their wishes. Other people want information access beyond just a web search. There will always be a group of individuals, albeit a small one, that just want an assistant that can do something 'unexpected', such as show some humor in a response.

App Integration: Life Made Easy

While the majority of people will fall into the category of wanting an assistant who can help make their daily life easier, I suspect that this offers the lowest amount of opportunity. Sure, if you speak to an intelligent assistant and that assistant can either put something on your calendar, type a text message out for you, or read an email, then you saved some key strokes. 

However, that is not far from the best that this kind of service will be capable of. It might be convenient in times when the eyes are busy, but the ears are not (i.e. driving), but the matter of the fact is that people are currently open to putting up with pressing a few extra buttons on their phone to get something right versus talking to an assistant who has a track record of messing it up. Intelligent assistants can offer more than saving us a few seconds or making life mildly more convenient.

Decision Making Backed by Information

Another popular use case for intelligent assistants is to find information. In this case, speed is critical because in most cases, people want to fact check another party and must do this quickly to avoid the conversation stalling or moving on a tangent. The current search process either involves a lot of steps and physical typing if performed manually, or the intelligent assistants can help, but are limited. There is some real opportunity here. 

In an ideal world, when person A states a fact to uphold their opinion, person B should be able to fact check this statement quickly. Current solutions involve accurate self web searches but require more time or leveraging intelligent assistants which means that unsophisticated techniques are used to key word search. 

However, a perfect solution would be one that has the following attributes:
1. Everyone has access to it
2. Returns a single answer if there is one
3. If not, returns a confidence level with a backed source for answers that might have more than one correct answer
4. Additional guidance to make an informed decision

We must let the facts speak. Not the ego. In the end, users want an intelligent assistant that can help them make decisions backed by facts.

The Golden Solution: User Awareness

The perfect solution would consist of a combination of the above into a single entity. This 'perfect' assistant should be capable of administrative tasks via app integration as well as reliable information access with a confidence rating. However, one difference would be to make the intelligent assistant aware of the user's environment. 

Some apps have already started to make steps in this direction. An example is to, "remind me to wish my dad happy birthday next time I call him". The system has to be aware when you call your dad next. This ideal system would be familiar with the user's past and their current surroundings. 

Another great example of this would be to ask "where can I get some food?" to the assistant. The assistant could know that you don't have a car and must walk, what you ate previously to avoid those recommendations, and even what you normally like to eat. The examples are endless. 

The perfect intelligent assistant will take care of the 'situational awareness' for us. In the end, the system that will win will be one that builds on the app integration and information access assistants that already exist. The true winner will be one that knows the user down to the last DNA strand to help the user make the best decision at the right time.

Please add your thoughts, opinions, comments, and any other topics for me to look into below. 

Selling a New Product to Early Adopters

Background: Who is this Post Intended for? 

The barrier to entry for entrepreneurial selling has drastically decreased. With the advance of technology, much of the sales process can be automated. For instance, instead of having a sales force with the primary role of describing a new product to potential early adopters, YouTube videos can be made and the potential buyer can watch them on their own time. There are a million more examples like this.

This article is intended for you, an entrepreneur working on a small team that is developing a new product and trying to entice early adopters.

Now, the question that must be answered is, what does an entrepreneurial team need to focus on in order to win over early adopters? The old answer was sales, selling, and more sales. The new answer is still the same, but the frame of reference has shifted from door to door salesman, cold calling/emailing, etc. to enabling the potential buyers to learn about and play with the product themselves. This is still sales, but involves, less pressure, awkwardness, and face to face contact as previous start-ups had to endure.

What does the new era of early adopters want in a new product?

First, we need to make some assumptions. These early adopters are skilled craftsman, such as a programmer. Therefore, for the remainder of this post, you can think of selling a new development platform to a computer programmer for an example of a new product team trying to appeal to a new buyer. The new product that you want to sell has to be accessible from anywhere and at anytime, such as the internet. The early adopters must have a means for interacting with you if they choose to do.

The potential buyers, or early adopters, seek a few core essential aspects of a new product. For the purpose of the subsequent sections, I do not intend to cover their desires entirely, but focus on a few essential areas.

1. Examples of Product Usage

When a new buyer interacts with your new product, they are trying to extract as much experience of what it would be like to use this product for many hours without exerting much effort. Worded differently, the new buyer is trying to determine if this product is “cool” without spending too much time trying to answer that question.

How do you sell a new buyer on the idea that your product is cool? First, it actually does have to be cool. Second, you can do this with a short video. This is perfect for everyone. The seller gets to make the video highlight the best features of the product while igniting a warm feeling inside the buyer with an upbeat song playing in the background and mesmerizing graphics. The early adopter gets to see the highpoints of the product and they can imagine what the product will look like at its full potential, even if the product is not quite there yet.

Finally, we look at what this video should consist of. In reality, the new product team should have a portfolio of videos to show prospective buyers. They must be examples of the product usage. One video example of product usage can go farther than 100 sales calls. The example must entice the potential user’s imagination.

2. Starter Kit / SandBox

Congratulations! You have officially convinced the potential buyer that your product has the potential to be cool. However, the early adopter might not be fully on board, and given today’s standard of the buyer having the power in the marketplace, there is a good chance that they are not ready to pay quite yet. Now what?

The early adopter will want to play with your product before they buy it. Buyers are accustomed to “freemium” services where they can interact with the product for free before they begin paying. Early adopters want sandboxes to play with the product. It is your job as a new product team to enable how early adopters can interact with your product for free until they feel more comfortable.

How is the new product team supposed to accomplish this? That is a tricky question to answer in generic. However, if you have a new product, and you truly know the type of customer you want to sell to, rest assured that you already know the answer to this question. Remember, early adopters want to try before they buy.

3. Support

Congratulations (again)! You have now convinced your early adopter that your product has the potential to be cool AND that belief has been confirmed with your start kit and sandbox initiative. Now what?

Chances are that early adopters have either bought your product or are extremely close to buying it at this point in time. For the ones who haven’t purchased it yet, how do you push them over the edge to try a brand new product that they may be uneasy about? You offer them a support team.

If your support/customer service team makes the early adopter feel comfortable, then you are moving in the right direction. This can be accomplished with reputation, continuous contact with the early adopter, and/or beyond expectation customer service. Again, if you have made it this far, you will know deep down what your customers will appreciate in terms of support. You are responsible for giving it to them.

Conclusion

This new age has enabled both buyers to become more informed about new product selection and sellers to reach their buyers in convenient ways while bringing the best of their product forward. If you are an entrepreneurial working on a new product and trying to accumulate early adopters, then you must offer many things, but there are three specific ones at the top of the list. They include illustrations of how your product can be used, a starter kit to get curious minds further interested in your product, and a top notch support team to instill confidence in your product.

Do you have additional thoughts that a new product team should incorporate into their business? Please comment below.

PaaS: The New Era of Developing

What will the future of programming code look like for the developer? The millennial generation will not be fully aware of the hardships that their predecessors went through to get a computer program up and running. Long forgotten are the days of punch cards. Now, with the new era of cloud computing, the days of managing infrastructure will be as archaic as short-shorts in basketball.

PaaS Me the Code and Data

Specifically, the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) initiative will help developers focus on what they care most about - data and code. Compared to data center managers and infrastructure specialists, application developers only want to build out their next $1bn app. They don't care what hardware it runs on or where the data is stored. However, PaaS does just that!

Developers can now pay a cloud service provider a relatively small premium to manage the middleware, OS, virtualization, servers, storage, and networking concerns. This is absolutely ground breaking for the developer. Now, the programmer can almost instantly start writing code and getting an application, whether it is web, mobile, or anything else, in under a few minutes.

What Does This Mean?

The direction that the IT industry is moving in has huge implications. Specifically, entrepreneurs will be impacted the most. Start-ups will not have the face the barrier of entry of obtaining and managing their IT infrastructure. The entrepreneurs can simply start writing code to accomplish whatever task they have their passion set on. Enterprises will now have to be on their feet since many more start-ups will emerge posing potential threats to their business. Just look at Uber's attack on the Taxi industry.

When Will It Begin?

It already has. There are a plethora of start-ups that have formed within the last several years that have leveraged an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider to accomplish their dreams. This step towards cloud computing saved this new generation of entrepreneurs the hassle of owning and managing their servers, storage, and networking environment. However, they had to be savvy enough to create their own middleware.

But, with the emerging PaaS technologies, these entrepreneurs will no longer even have to worry about the middleware nor the infrastructure. They can simply jump right in and do what they love - code applications and control the data. There is a pending tidal wave of new start-ups headed towards the beaches of "this is how we have always done it". Are you ready for it? 

Quantified Self - Leveraging the Internet of Things

The era of the Quantified Self (QS) is well among us. Technology experts are coming to terms with the realization of how powerful the Internet of Things (IoT) will be moving forward. These two movements, with a strong backing of avid followers, will lead us into a very data centric and data driven culture - for the individual. There has been some overlap of these two areas, but we are just scratching the surface of the possibilities.

What would the world look like if we started integrating the QS movement with the emerging technology of the IoT?

1) New Forms of Data Sources

First, data would start coming from a plethora of sources. For instances, rather than just wearing a FitBit or a data collection shirt, we could start gathering data from everything. Shoes could collect data on the force that you are walking/running with each step. Eyewear could determine your running style. Shirts could determine the best posture for your body style. We need to change our thinking from just wearing forms of apparel to articles of clothing that have the technology to capture data. The right data.

2) Sports Will Change Forever

Second, all the previous examples are merely centered towards improving running form. What if we could start amassing data and insight for sports that are much more complex in nature. Imagine a golf glove that could determine the most appropriate grip for your golf swing. Clothes could be used to capture the ideal form to throw the fastest fastball or most difficult to hit curveball. Tennis would change drastically from foot work to specific swing styles such as top spin, serve, and slices. I am only ankle deep in the ocean right now.

For all of this to work, it is critical that a central data hub must be established for each individual in the QS. The IoT would collect data from each source and store it in a master data management system, so that analytics and insights could be performed.

3) What About Areas Other Than Fitness? 

Now that I have opened a line of thought for how the sporting world would change, what about your daily life? In this area, the management of energy is of utmost importance. Forget sleep pattern collection, time management, or even productivity evaluation. In the end, the management of one's energy is the center block for improving the productivity and output of your life. Sleep and time management are merely inputs to the equation.

In this future, the IoT technology could be used to monitor one's energy and develop the most appropriate sleep, eating, and work patterns to maximize energy. How would this technology manifest itself? I am not certain of the specific answer. But on an abstract notion, the technology will utilize the data collection from numerous sources, store it in a centralized data hub, run analytics on the data, and present the insight to the user in the form of the QS.

Our society is moving towards the junction of the QS and the IoT. There is no doubt about that. How do you foresee the world unfolding and powering the individual with data insight from everyday activities?

3 Ways to Exceed in the Workplace

We all want to get ahead in the workplace. Many people focus on performing specific job functions to perfection. While this will help, there are other areas that will have a resounding impact. I will detail three areas that are simple ways to make work with your boss and your teams easier. 

1. Over Exceed Expectations

This expression is over used, but it does have tremendous reasoning because the results from over exceeding expectations are undeniable. If you do the bare minimum, your team will look at you as nothing more than a robot. However, if you show that you can provide additional value to the team, they will never know what you're full capabilities consist of. Because of this unknown, they will come to you with new tasks and new ideas due to the fact that they know you have the potential to pleasantly surprise them.

As a form of action, be conscientious anytime you submit a task or even send an email. In these work tasks, make an effort to do one thing different that is above and beyond. It doesn't have to be cumbersome and time consuming. Show that you are willing to do something for your team that is above the minimum amount. One small effort can go a long ways.

2. Be Relentlessly Persistent

A group of researchers wanted to find out what made certain people exceed in the workplace. Their results boiled down to the fact that the more persistent people are in presenting new ideas to their team, the more successful they were. 

You can gain an advantage by relentlessly being persistent. Don't be annoying. But don't let "no" or a lack of response get in your way. If you have a bold idea and are convinced that there is sound logic behind this idea, then do not stop pushing your team on this matter until they acknowledge you and commit to hearing your point of view.

3. Lay Out Next Steps

We have all experienced that feeling during a call where exciting ideas exchanged and we feel that we are going to create an awesome product for the customer. But as a week goes by, you realize that there is no more. That one meeting was the end of an astonishing new idea.

Why? Because no action items were identified in the call. People typically talk a big game, but few are willing to walk the walk. Therefore, you can help facilitate the fruition of profound ideas by not only taking on action items yourself, but recommending action items to your teams at the conclusion of a meeting. This is the case for EVERY meeting. Do not leave without a list of action items for your team.

Please try out each of these ideas during your work. Specifically dedicate a large amount of focus to one idea per week until these become second nature. Then, sit back and see the results. Feel free to share anything you've learned from incorporating these ideas into your daily life.

How Increase Your Problem Solving Skills

The first step to becoming a great problem solver is to first identify a problem. While millions of problems exist in our daily lives, it can be somewhat difficult to sit down at once and think of a handful of these problems. Therefore, the first step in enhancing your problem solving skills is to:

1. Create a list of daily problems. 

Simply, write down five problems a day, everyday. Your list of potential problems to solve will quickly grow large. These can be work, personal, relationship, or any type of problem that causes pain in your life.

2. Create ideal solutions to these problems.

The next step is to create a short and simple solution to these problems. Your solution should not already exist, otherwise it would not be a problem to begin with. So, you will be creating something new. If you have the time, you can come up with more than one feasible solution for each problem, but at least one is the minimum.

3. Create an in-depth solution for one of these problems.

At the beginning of the day, when you are reflecting on your problems and solutions from the previous day, spend sometime in one area. Take one of your solutions that you baked up and really hash it out. You don't need a four page business plan, but think through more of the details of your solution and how you would roll it out if you had sufficient time and money.

Repeat this process. Everyday. You will begin noticing more problems, but instead of viewing them as nuisances, you will view them as opportunities. Feel free to share some of the problems and solutions that you have identified by using this process.