iPhone App Creation + Marketing … A Great Learning Experience August 6, 2009
Posted by fredillies in Communication, Design, Gadgets n Gizmos, Life Balance, Simplifying your life.1 comment so far
I’ve sure learned alot throughout the process of designing and building an iPhone app, and now about marketing it. Thought I would post about what the process has been like so far. Ours is a very simple app, but there are still many steps to go through.
I’ve been envisioning a simple role-based to-do list for the iPhone since the day that William Bakker & I sat in a meeting and followed the real-time blog coverage of Steve Jobs now famous iPhone launch presentation at MacWorld. I had previously created a desktop version of this kind of tool (called “Overview”) using FileMaker, and was subsequently very disappointed that FileMaker (an Apple company) didn’t create a simple version of their software for the iPhone.
When the iPhone SDK was released, I toyed with the idea of trying to teach myself iPhone programming (the hype around the SDK made it sound easy… and hey, this was Apple after all). I soon realized that the SDK made things easier for people who KNEW C+ Programming! That definitely counted me out 
Eventually Mark Fraser suggested I talk to Andrew Little (one of the programmers from our halifax offices). I provided Andrew with specifications for the functionality and user experience (including pixel-accurate digital artwork of each screen). Andrew said he was eager to learn iPhone programming, and he said he would have a look at the spec and let me know what kind of effort it would involve. 2 days later he had a working prototype, and from then on we worked back and forth together to perfect the app. Because we both have day jobs it has taken about 5-6 months to get a finished and fully tested version submitted to the App Store (at the time of this writing we’re awaiting approval from Apple).
MyRoles is another entry into a VERY crowded niche in the iPhone app world. At last count there were over 50 competing products, most of which essentially do all the same things. (Some more elegantly than others!). So why would we enter such a crowded market? Well, for starters, our motivation was not financial. For me, it was a chance to bring my task management vision to life in a tool that *I* could use on my iPhone. In addition, I could learn about all aspects of iPhone development and marketing, which would come in handy when working with our clients on mobile strategy. For Andrew, it was a chance to learn iPhone programming so he could create a new service offering for T4G. If it didn’t really take off maybe Andrew and I could earn enough for a vacation or two.
And how would MyRoles compete in such a crowded market? Well, we have 3 things going for us: A legitimately unique differentiator (MyRoles lets you easily manage your tasks by the various roles you play in your life); Extremely focused functionality (does ONE thing and does that extremely well); and we have a simple and very intuitive user interface. (Others claim to be simple to use, but they do so many things that they require a lot of instruction about how you use it. Many of the competitors have modeled their systems after David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) system/methodology. MyRoles takes a different (more zen-like path), by stripping away everything that wasn’t CORE to simply managing tasks by role. We intentionally did not design it for the diehard GTD fans, cause they love to spend time on details and tweaking their systems. MyRoles was designed for busy people who don’t want to waste time maintaining a complicated system.
So how do we get the word out? Well, first we built a website that clearly communicates our unique selling proposition (what makes MyRoles different than all competitors) and what’s in it for people who chose to use it (simpler task management and the promise of more balance in their lives). Next we send out an announcement about MyRoles to *everyone* we know, followed by individual personalized emails to the scores of iPhone app review sites around the world. We created a Facebook page for MyRoles, a Twitter feed you can follow, and I’m writing this blog post to tell our story. All of this to start to build a buzz around the app, so that it gets some momentum… and then we’ll see where it goes. Oh yeah.. we have a couple of videos in production which we’ll post on our website and YouTube. It’s anyone’s guess how this will do in the AppStore, and if anyone will buy into the idea that “less is more” when it comes to finding a task management system that you can adopt and keep using over the long haul.
Telling your story – The Elevator Pich April 4, 2008
Posted by fredillies in Communication, Gadgets n Gizmos, Work.add a comment
I’ve been facinated for some time now with the concept of “telling your story”. My two favourite recent business books are “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds, and Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath. One area of particular interest is the applications of their philosophies to the “elevator pitch”. For those not familiar with this term, imagine you had 30 seconds to tell a prospect what your product or service is and why they should use it. From my experience, it is extremely hard to do this. Most people I know (myself included) have difficulty being able to consistently pull this off under time pressure, but I believe it can be mastered. It requires 3 things:
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The ability to distill your company/product/service message down to its essence;
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So much practice delivering this message in 30 seconds that you could do it instinctively at any time of the day when confronted by a co-worker with a stopwatch;
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The charisma or presence to be able to connect with your listener(s).
Although I don’t have any video example of Steve Jobs doing an elevator pitch, I’m sure he would be outstanding, given that he is the the zen master of Presentations. See this post by Garr Reynolds or this video of Jobs announcing the iPhone. It’s not a stretch to imagine him giving the greatest elevator pitch of all time. Yet so few people seem to get it right. The following are some examples of ”elevator” pitches featured on the NY Times website this morning. The clips are from the CTIA Wireless 2008 (the largest mobile phone industry trade show).
The first example, an exec talking about the new Samsung Instinct, lacks any passion, and seems to speak more to features than benefits. A better example is this clip of the LG Vu, which is more passionate, more benefit-driven (and BTW is given by someone who is much more believable as a spokesperson… which one of these two people can you see tuning in and watching TV on their phone?) Note that she actually showed what the experience of watching TV on the phone was like.
What would the video of YOUR elevator pitch look like? Would you want it on YouTube?
The joy of the unexpected February 28, 2008
Posted by fredillies in Communication.1 comment so far
Check out this video played at the TED Conference. It reminded me of one of the six concepts that Chip & Dan Heath write about in their book Made to Stick: “UNEXPECTED”. By doing something unexpected (in a presentation or in advertising, for example) you can immediately cut through the ‘noise’ and snap people out of their haze long enough to make a lasting impression. And I just love thinking about everyone who witnessed this in person… the child-like wonder that could be seen on their faces… how it changed the rest of their day…. and the STORY they would have told. What a cool performance piece!
A Rich Online Social Experience July 8, 2007
Posted by fredillies in Communication, Society & Culture, eBusiness.add a comment
My 2 youngest daughters graduated from University recently, and they spent the better part of their 4 years telling me how cool FaceBook was, and that I should register. (Of course I didn’t because I didn’t want to be arrested as some kind of middle-aged stalker of university age kids!) But eventually, as it began to spread to a wider community, I joined. Within the first couple of days I really got it….and I could tell you what it’s like but you really have to experience it. I will say that it’s a way richer experience than just email or instant messaging. I’m shocked at how enjoyable it is, and I am really surprised by how much this online experience feels like a real community (maybe it’s because it’s a community of your real-life friends..who knows) but IMO, the concepts employed by the site are very successful in achieving this goal. For some comments about how social networking sites will need to evolve, see an interesting post by William Bakker.
