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Filed under Thoughts on July 3, 2008 by Jennifer Epting

From Faceless to Family

We released our first product--the lovely Kindling--to public Beta early last week. Preparing Kindling for public consumption (even the Beta phase) was a test of our imaginations. We were constantly evaluating who would use the application, what they would want answers to in the FAQ section, how they would react to a video explaining the app itself.

Once Kindling was ready to be released, my most immediate responsibility was to extend a few exclusive invitations and then take control of the tidal wave of invite requests that came pouring in. One by one, they crowded into my inbox, and on that first day, one by one, I responded back.

I'm not entirely sure what people think happens once they submit their name for a Beta invite. I suppose they assume their information is sent to an almighty database, which then electronically generates an invite code and sends them a confirmation email. Lest you believe otherwise, here at Arc90, all Kindling requests are processed by human hands--and lovingly cared for by yours truly.

And truth be told, I think of this huge document of names and group descriptions as a funny sort of family. For the past week, I have paid more attention to this group of people than I would a newborn baby, because--in effect--Kindling is a newborn. And for all the time and energy my colleagues and I have invested into its conception, it feels a little scary (and oh so exciting!) to watch a large group of users interact with it for the first time.

In releasing Kindling to public Beta, you--our customers--have become a real, tangible presence in our lives (mine especially). You're Dan with 25 members in your group of lawyers or Lisa who runs a Yoga studio. Even by only having your names and group descriptions, I now consider you part of the family and don't think I'm not wondering how you're getting along with your Kindling instance. I get a real kick out of imagining you in your office implementing new ideas, all because of this cool little app we released last week. Because to me, that's one of the most compelling reasons to work in this industry--the ability to put useful work into the world.

I suspect that this feeling will wear off as the number of requests grows higher (and certainly as my experience with releasing products increases) but for the moment, the fact remains that I'm thinking about our Beta users, cheering them on when their usage stats go up, and worrying about them when their stats take a dip. I have a secret dream of sitting down and having coffee with all those people who've requested an invitation. Or inviting them to Thanksgiving. You know, either way.

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