Will Marlow - Filed under 'Software'

March 11, 2010

When is paying for software better than getting it free?

There are lots of awesome free tools on the Internet. And since I feel like I'm always recommending that people use free tools whenever possible, I thought I would lay out the case for paying money for certain tools. In my opinion, you should pay for an online tool whenever:

The tool you need is unique and you have no other options;
or
You're also buying the resources and expertise of the company supplying the software.

If you feel the same way that I do about this, you can do a lot with free software, and then you can save your money for the tools that really make a difference. Just yesterday I saw this blog post about how Google will provide free email hosting to institutions with 50 or fewer employees. (That means you can have a gmail interface, but it could come from you@yourname.com. That's a cool free tool.

Will Marlow co-founded AlumniFidelity to help his clients reposition their fundraising to benefit from Web 2.0 technology and marketing techniques. He’s working with clients such as UVA, the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, Bowling Green State University, Randolph Macon College, and he loves nothing better than a thorny marketing challenge. Read more about Will Marlow here, or email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

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Filed under // free hosted email Free software Google Google Enterprise software hosted email Software

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January 2, 2010

Usability Testing on a Shoestring

A lot of times we get really fancy when we need to do things like "usability testing."

Someone I trust recently described a great way to do usability testing for your website for just $30.00.

1. Pick three of your friends who you don't work with.

2. Give each of them $10.

3. Sit down with each of them in turn, and ask them to make a donation on your website, but don't give them any instructions.
4. Watch what they do, and take notes.

How long does the process take them from start to finish?
Do they find you by searching in Google?
Do any of them fail to make a donation?
Do they get sidetracked by anything?
Do they look frustrated?
Does any part of the process confuses them?
Where do their eyes go when they reach your website?

You can learn more by spending $30 in this way than you can by spending weeks or months thinking about the way that you think your website should work. And even if your web site doesn't have anything to do with donations, you can still learn a lot from an informal focus group like this.

Because when it comes to the user-experience of your web site, what you think is just a guess until you ask.

Will Marlow is the co-creator of AlumniFidelity, which helps schools and nonprofits improve their online fundraising results with peer-to-peer, social-based fundraising. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

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Filed under // "Usability Testing" donations higher education modular modules nonprofits Online Fundraising schools Software Software development

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December 30, 2009

Is It a Technology Problem or a Human Problem?

Some people look for technology to solve all their problems, and after they spend a lot of money, they realize that they have the same problems that they had before, and they get upset.

Examples of this include:

People who think oil and coal cause pollution, and who ignore the fact that there are widespread human behaviors that are wasteful regardless of how clean the technology is;
Doctors who prescribe medication to treat patients who might benefit more from simple exercise (this one is more the fault of the patients, in my opinion);
Amateur photographers who buy the latest full-frame, 21-megapixel pro-model camera from Canon, but who wouldn't even read the guidebook for a Nikon D40;
Companies that focus on adding new features or “enhancements” to their software, rather than addressing the core reasons why people aren’t buying or using their software in the first place.

We’re on the verge of the 7th decade since the invention of the computer, and I know it’s heresy for a technologist to point people away from technology. But to solve a problem, you need to know its cause. And if you are honest with yourself about which of your problems can be solved by the latest innovations, then your quality of life will go up.

Will Marlow is the co-creator of AlumniFidelity, which helps schools and nonprofits improve their online fundraising results. Email him at will@alumnifidelity.com.

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Filed under // Software Startup Technology

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December 9, 2009

How to Learn from Google's Beta Tag

The beta tag is one of Google’s brilliant hallmarks.

The beta phase (it can actually last forever) solves one of the key challenges in software product development. The first challenge (unsolved by the beta phase) is to build software that solves a serious consumer or business problem, which is no small task. But the second challenge (once your software solve a serious customer problem) is that you can never figure out how human beings will actually use your software once they get their hands on it. That is, unless you have a strong beta program and you watch a large number of your users in action, and you learn from them.

Google is the master of using emergent data. Don’t design Gmail. Let your beta testers play with your new email system until the right patterns emerge, and let them design Gmail for you. Same with Twitter. Let the right features emerge, don't airdrop them in from corporate HQ.

Having a strong beta culture is all about knowing when to stop inserting your own preferences and opinions into things, and letting the end users tell you how the product should be designed. That’s when the software gets designed right.

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Filed under // Beta Google Software Software development Startups

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