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Matt Linderman

About Matt Linderman

Now: The creator of Vooza, "the Spinal Tap of startups." Previously: Employee #1 at 37signals and co-author of the books Rework and Getting Real.

[Screens Around Town] Login screens at Apple, Acrobat, and Vimeo

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 29 comments

Apple
MobileMe

MobileMe’s login screen is more than just an empty box. The depth charge approach gives you a peek at what’s behind the login and makes you want to “unwrap” it and get inside. It’s not surprising that a company that famously does a great job with product packaging would have an online product wrapper that stands out too.

Acrobat
acrobat

Acrobat.com offers a login screen that lets you select from a variety of options. The focus shifts depending on which tool you select. And though the page doesn’t reload, there’s a distinct URL so you can link to a specific tool’s login.

Vimeo
vimeo

Vimeo offers this playful login screen. Not really related to video sharing at all, but it does hint at the vibe of the community that uses Vimeo.

Any other login screens that you feel stand out from the pack?

Alaska Airlines saves millions by rethinking check-in flow

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 15 comments

AAHustle & Flow [Fast Company] takes a look at Alaska Airlines’ effort to design a better way to get customers through airport check-in.

The airline studied theme parks, hospitals, and retailers to see how they handled similar situations. Then, the team built mock-ups in a warehouse using cardboard boxes for podiums, kiosks, and belts in order to find ways to increase efficiency.

The resulting makeover at the Seattle airport is likely to save almost $8 million a year (and means they won’t have to spend $500 million building a new terminal).

Ed White, Alaska’s VP of corporate real estate, assembled a team of employees from across the company to design a better system. It visited theme parks, hospitals, and retailers to see what it could learn. It found less confusion and shorter waits at places where employees were available to direct customers. “Disneyland is great at this,” says Jeff Anderson, a member of White’s skunk works. “They have their people in all the right places.”

The team began brainstorming lobby ideas. At a Seattle warehouse, it built mock-ups, using cardboard boxes for podiums, kiosks, and belts. It tested a curved design, one resembling a fishbone, and one with counters placed at 90-degree angles to each other. It built a small prototype in Anchorage to test systems with real passengers and Alaska employees. The resulting minor changes, such as moving the button that sends a bag down the conveyor belt, “increased agents’ efficiency and prevented them from straining themselves,” says Gordon Edberg, a principal at ECH Architecture who helped implement the adjustments.

The Seattle design begins with a deep lobby where 50 kiosks are pushed to the front and concentrated in banks. “You need to cluster kiosks in the ‘decision zones’ where passengers decide what to do within 15 seconds,” says airline technology expert Kevin Peterson. Alaska placed “lobby coordinators” out front, à la Disneyland, to help educate travelers. The 56 bag-drop stations are further back and arranged so that passengers can see security.

The results? During my two hours of observation in Seattle, an Alaska agent processed 46 passengers, while her counterpart at United managed just 22. United’s agents lose precious time hauling bags and walking the length of the ticket counter to reach customers. Alaska agents stand at a station with belts on each side, assisting one passenger while a second traveler places luggage on the free belt. With just a slight turn, the agent can assist the next customer. “We considered having three belts,” White says. “But then the agent has to take a step. That’s wasted time.”

The new design will create significant cost savings. Seventy-three percent of Alaska’s Anchorage passengers now check in using kiosks or the Web, compared with just 50% across the airline industry.

A lot of airlines accept the status quo model (i.e. long lines/waits) as an inevitability. Good on Alaska Airlines for daring to rethink the whole process and coming up with a solution that actually works.

[Tx PM]

Related: Little tweaks, huge impact

"You have to treat your employees like customers"

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 28 comments

SvN reader Michelle posted this comment in the best customer experience you’ve had lately thread:

Several weeks ago I ran out of cash at the Farmers’ Market. After sampling some goat cheese I told the vendor I’d definitely buy some the next week because I’d ran out of cash that day. She said “take it home today and pay me next week.”

It’s not surprising that a vendor at a Farmers’ Market would behave that way but it was still so refreshing to just be trusted as a consumer. It seems like so many businesses/vendors think consumers are “trying to get one over” on them. Naturally the goat cheese lady now has a loyal customer for life.

It occurred to me the exact same concept applies to workplaces too. Just swap out the word employee for customer. When employees are trusted and treated like adults, they appreciate it just as much. The result: loyal employees who want to stick around forever.

The secret to Southwest’s success
Southwest Airlines founder Herbert D. Kelleher has a similar theory. He says, “You have to treat your employees like customers.” His final meeting as head of Southwest shows what an employee-centric management style can create…

herbWhen Mr. Kelleher, 77, entered the main meeting room, shareholders gave him the kind of standing ovation usually reserved for rock stars. The Southwest pilots union is also in the process of negotiating a new contract with management. But not only did the Southwest pilots not set up a picket line, they took out a full page ad in USA Today thanking Mr. Kelleher for all he had done. “The pilots of Southwest Airlines want to express our sentiment to Herb that it has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of his aviation legacy,” said the union president, Carl Kowitzky, in a statement…

But when he brought up the pilots ad — and when he talked about how much the company’s employees meant to him — he wept. “I’m Lucky Herbie for having all of these years with all of you,” he said. More than a few people in the audience wept right along with him.

No surprise there, either. Over the years, whenever reporters would ask him the secret to Southwest’s success, Mr. Kelleher had a stock response. “You have to treat your employees like customers,” he told Fortune in 2001. “When you treat them right, then they will treat your outside customers right. That has been a powerful competitive weapon for us.” As he stepped away from the company this week, his line didn’t change.

“We’ve never had layoffs,” he told me the day before the annual meeting, sitting on the couch of the single messiest executive office I’ve ever seen. “We could have made more money if we furloughed people. But we don’t do that. And we honor them constantly. Our people know that if they are sick, we will take care of them. If there are occasions or grief or joy, we will be there with them. They know that we value them as people, not just cogs in a machine…”

“There isn’t any customer satisfaction without employee satisfaction,” said Gordon Bethune, the former chief executive of Continental Airlines, and an old friend of Mr. Kelleher’s. “He recognized that good employee relations would affect the bottom line. He knew that having employees who wanted to do a good job would drive revenue and lower costs.”

Don't tackle your own good news

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 26 comments

When we launched the new Backpack, we were going to increase the prices across the board. It was a big overhaul and we felt the improvements were worth it.

But at the last minute, we changed our minds and decided to let old customers keep using Backpack the same way for the same price (or less).

Why? We didn’t want the excitement of the new launch to be drowned out by customers upset by a rate hike. We feared the new Backpack’s good vibes would get hijacked by pricing naysayers. So we took that possibility off the table.

The result: A decent number of people thanked us for grandfathering them at the same (or a lower) rate. But to most it was a non-story. And in this case, a non-story was a big win. It let the spotlight shine on the good news instead.

Lesson learned: Don’t tackle your own good news. The blogosphere can be an unforgiving place. Take pains to eliminate any negative aspects that might overshadow a launch or other good news.

[On writing] Skybus, Slicehost, how to write good headlines, etc.

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 17 comments

The Skybus Rules of Flying
Before Skybus went out of business, it offered “The Skybus Rules of Flying” which used straight talk to explain how the airline kept prices low. Brave choice…perhaps too brave?

3. Bring a book. We’re not big fans of fancy in-flight entertainment systems. So grab that best seller at the airport, or buy a Sudoku puzzle onboard if you’re feeling brainy. You’ll touch down before you know it…

5. Don’t be late. We won’t wait. Please arrive no later than 30 minutes before takeoff, or we’ll leave without you. Really. By that time, there won’t even be anyone to check your bag. It’s nothing against you–we just have to keep our flights on time, or things get expensive in a hurry.

Slicehost
Slicehost goes for the “we’re just like you” angle at its homepage.

Built for developers
We’re just like you. Sick of oversold, underperforming, ancient hosting companies. We took matters into our own hands. We built a hosting company for people who know their stuff. Give us a box, give us bandwidth, give us performance and we get to work…

The Why Slicehost? part of the site goes on to explain why it’s not the right fit for everyone.

We aim to please developers – people who know their stuff. People who write software, build servers and get things done. If you’re new to web applications and hosting in general, we’re probably not the best choice for you. If you want the cheapest price, go to any of the volume driven web hosts with outsourced support. But if you know what needs to be done and want a host who will help you get there, you’re in the right place.

Accentuate the negative?
Copywriting Tips: Accentuate the Negative says you should leverage (don’t fight) the customer’s belief in compromise by addressing a product’s downsides head-on.

People are as likely to assume that a downside has a corresponding upside as vice versa. They’ll also gladly accept negative admissions, whereas they’d otherwise demand substantiation for positive claims. Combined, these two principles work magic. For example, take this lame and totally unsubstantiated claim for a made up photo printer:

Our new IQ268 photo-quality printer produces the most stunning, nuanced black-and-white prints in the business.”

Credibility on that one? Zero. Now read this:

The ink for our new IQ268 printer costs more than the competition’s — 30% more, on average. In addition to the normal five ink tones everyone else uses, our printer uses two extra gray-scale inks, exclusively for printing monochrome photos. Why the expensive ink? Because, without it, the IQ268 wouldn’t produce the most stunning black-and-white prints in the business.

Since the reader automatically accepts the negative admission, they become more likely to accept the implied upside. Does mentioning the extra grey-scale inks help, too? Sure, but only insofar as it’s linked to better picture quality. That association is more likely to be accepted coming on the heals of an admission. In other words, the downside still highlights the upside by contrast, making the bigger claims that much more believable.

Continued…

Obama/Clinton support visualizer that rocks

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 10 comments

visualizer Interactive NY Times graphic. See it in action.

According to “You need this to get a job in journalism,” multimedia experience is becoming increasingly important in newsrooms.

Journalists who can flourish in both the Web newsroom and the print newsroom today:
• Can package the news online.
• Can create original multimedia.
• Have solid journalism credentials.
• Have strong technical skills.

Journalists who expect to get a job will “walk in the door with”:
• A proficiency in Photoshop, HTML and blogging software.
• An understanding of Web publishing systems (content management systems).
• Experience in the production of multimedia — including the use of audio and video editing tools.

Related: Q&A with Fiona Spruill, editor of the NY Times Web newsroom

The customer doesn't care whose fault it is

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 30 comments

A lot of companies point fingers when something goes wrong. So it’s impressive when a company asks, “Even though it’s not our fault, what can we do to make this situation better?”

“Believe It or Not, Someone’s Listening” discusses Travelocity’s devotion to the entirety of the customer experience and gives this example:

After discovering a pattern of dropped reservations at certain hotels, Travelocity hired a company in India to call the hotels ahead of customer stays to make sure they were prepared for the guests. The company says this has reduced the incidence of dropped reservations in two years to less than 1 percent from as high as 20 percent.

Increasingly, said Ms. Peluso, “We are taking accountability for things we otherwise wouldn’t take accountability for.”

In the end, the customer doesn’t care whose fault it is. They just want the problem fixed. And if it’s not fixed, the entire chain of companies involved suffers. So it’s neat when a company takes responsibility for something that’s normally considered out of scope.

Some other examples: Amazon replaced a stolen package even though it had been delivered to the right apartment building days earlier and signed for by a neighbor. Amazon knows a disgruntled customer is a disgruntled customer, regardless of where the fault actually lies.

This attitude can extend to manufacturing too. Threadless knew customers were dissatisfied with the existing options for blank tees, so it decided to start manufacturing its own.

One more example: Most tech hardware companies buy off the shelf stuff, which means things look and feel the same. Apple discovers new materials and production processes so they can build things no one else can build.

Of course, you can’t take responsibility for everything. Sometimes you’re better off letting a customer go than promising the world (e.g. a web app writing off IE5 people).

But, when done thoughtfully, redefining the scope of what you’re accountable for is a great way to 1) differentiate yourself from competitors and 2) take ownership of more of the customer experience.

Will your next meeting pass the "blizzard goggles" test?

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 12 comments

No Schedules, No Meetings talks about Best Buy’s Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), the subject of a new book. Here’s an excerpt that explains why you should put on your “blizzard goggles” before attending a meeting.

One day, before ROWE, Phil was unable to come into work because of a snowstorm, which in Minnesota is perhaps the ultimate in socially acceptable excuses. Phil had six meetings scheduled for that day that were canceled because everyone was having trouble getting to the office. When he returned the next day, four of those meetings were never rescheduled. One was resolved with an e-mail, another with a phone call.

He had spent much of his “snow day” worrying about those six meetings. He was ready to drive in and brave the weather in order to have them. Now that he’s in a ROWE he thinks about that snow day a lot. When an invitation to a meeting comes up or when he’s thinking about scheduling a meeting, he puts on his “blizzard goggles.” Is this meeting really necessary? If there were a snowstorm today, would that meeting fade away, or could it be taken care of with an e-mail, or, would it in fact prove to have genuine value?

Sometimes it takes some snow to put things in perspective. [tx BL]

Related
Hepatitis leave: Ricardo Semler says, “When people tell us they don’t have time to think, we ask them to consider what would happen if they suddenly contracted hepatitis and were forced to spend three months recuperating in bed. Then we tell them to go ahead and do it.”

[Screens Around Town] Apple, FriendFeed, and Borders

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 19 comments

Apple search
Apple.com’s quick search pulldown is an innovative way to present online search results.

search

FriendFeed
Narendra Rocherolle writes:

I don’t know if it actually works or on what interval, but [FriendFeed’s] idea of sending email for notifications if “I haven’t logged in recently” is pretty clever.

friendfeed

Borders Magic Shelf
Christopher Jobson writes:

Borders launched their first ecommerce site in 7 years and they feature a new heavily-visual search tool called “Magic Shelf”. Other than an unfortunate name, it’s a fun little tool, reminiscent of Apple’s methods for searching through albums in iTunes. Once you create an account you can change the parameters used to propogate potential items. Though not good as a primary search tool, it’s engaging enough to pull me into the site for a bit.

Retail politics in business

Matt Linderman
Matt Linderman wrote this on 7 comments

Retail politics – a type of political campaigning in which the candidate focuses on local events and meeting individual voters

It always seems weird to see presidential candidates shaking hands, kissing babies, and working rope lines. But even when you’re running for the highest office in the country, you still have to get out there and press the flesh.

As a business, it’s a good idea to recognize the value of retail politics too. There’s no match for meeting someone in the flesh. You can broadcast your message to a huge audience via the web, but you can’t replicate the interaction you get when you meet someone in person and explain to them exactly where you’re coming from.

For example, 37signals is out in full force right now at RailsConf (David, Jeff, Jeremy, Mark, Ryan, and Sam are all there). Other recent appearances: Ryan spoke to a large agency in Germany and Jason spoke to AIGA/NY at Smart Models (a good summary here).

Admittedly, RailsConf is speaking to the choir. But we also make an effort to talk to general business audiences, students, and other people who don’t normally get to hear our way of thinking. In fact, presenting new ideas to those sorts of crowds can lead to the most interesting conversations.

Actually, that’s another benefit to retail politics: It’s a great way to present controversial ideas. A lot of our opinionated comments make people think we’re too arrogant or dogmatic. Yet their tone usually takes a 180-degree turn when they meet us in person.

Eye contact has a way of diluting harsh views. In person, it’s a lot easier to separate the human being from his/her opinion. You get less of the animosity tone that reigns on blogs, etc.

Bottom line: Don’t forget the power of retail politics. Sometimes getting out from behind the keyboard and attending a Meetup, conference, or similar gathering can do you, and your business, a world of good.