Posted on May 6, 2008 by Josh Diehl

When technology isn't the power behind a killer software feature

Like so many people I waited until the last minute to do my 2007 taxes. After some deliberation I decided to prepare them myself with the caveat that I'd need software to help.  I did a little research and decided to go with Intuit's TurboTax desktop version.  Intuit also offers an online version of Turbotax for about half the price but I wanted control over my data and didn't want to get locked into one vendor for next year. 

On whole I think they've gotten the user experience down to about a B+.  Its questionnaire format does a good job of guiding you through the various tax issues and making sure you're saving as much money as is allowed.  Once completed it can be a little confusing when you need to change something but overall my complaints were minor. Solid but unremarkable software.

Except... Turbotax had a trump up its sleeve.  It turns out they've negotiated data sharing agreements with a range of payroll providers, including mine. I was shocked to discover that in about 60 seconds (after entering my provider's ID and then a figure from my W2 as a "password") all of my wage information was imported automatically.  No typing, no double checking.  Wow! What a killer feature. Not only did it validate my decision to purchase Turbotax it got me excited enough to come into the office the next day and rave about it.

It struck me that the real work in including this feature wasn't accomplished at the keyboard but in the board room.  Sure it was probably hard work to format and import the data but the real sweat was in getting all those payroll providers to sign up and share their information.  It seems like an obvious move but it took someone at Intuit to not only have the bright idea but to pick up the phone and start calling payroll companies.

I think software folks too often attack problems with a strictly technical mindset.  Can you picture the W2 brainstorming meeting?  "What if we have them scan the W2 then OCR the data?  Wait! What if they enter only half the fields and we can calculate the rest?"  Technical wizardry is great but it's only one tool in the software palette.  It's easy for developers (and ex-developer manager-types) to default to this way of thinking.  It's in their comfort zone, it doesn't require unpleasantness like negotiations and contracts, and it offers the chance to write whiz-bang code. For some challenges the technical approach works, but for others it's sub-optimal or just impossible.

The marketplace has lots of examples of software that wouldn't have succeeded without this approach: Apple's iTunes store, OpenTable's reservations, Seamlessweb's ordering.  All of these work because people at those companies were willing to step out of the realm of code and do some old-fashioned horse trading.  In the context of software as a product, the non-technical approach can mean golden opportunities for companies versatile enough to take it. 

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Posted on May 4, 2008 by Chris LoSacco

JetBlue has a great writing staff

I signed up for JetBlue's TrueBlue point program today, and I was greeted with this success page:

Thanks for joining. Your TrueBlue number is ###. Unless you've got a photographic memory, you might want to print this page for your reference. (You can also cut out the card below for your traveling convenience - or to impress your friends.)

Awesome. Made me smile and I immediately felt good about booking a flight with them (I hadn't yet, as I wanted to get the number before I booked). They really sealed the deal.

In addition, they had a really concise, clear way to describe the terms of the program:

TrueBlue points live for 1 year. So to earn your free flight, you need to accumulate your 100 points in a consecutive 12 month period. Just to be clear, that means any unused points automatically expire on their first birthday. For example, if you earn 12 points on 12/31/04, those 12 points expire on 12/31/05.

No complicated rules, just a plan English description in a down-to-earth tone.

We're currently working on our first product offering at Arc90, and crafting the writing within and about a product isn't easy. It's good to see that JetBlue took the time to put some effort and creativity into how they speak to their customers.

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Posted on March 4, 2008 by Avi Flax

NIN at the Cutting Edge of Music Distribution

With the release of their new album Ghosts I-IV, Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails have raised the bar of music distribution to the next notch.

The first order page :

A great set of options, ranging the gamut from free to $300, from digital downloads to CDs to vinyl to Blue-Ray. I really like that the options are selectable with check boxes, so, for instance I could order the $5 download and the $10 2-CD set, with a single transaction, without having to add them to a "shopping cart" and then "check out".

If you click the "more info" link under the $5 download option, this graphic pops up:

Again, a great set of options, covering a full range of convenience, quality, and ideology. The rest of the ordering process is straightforward and effective. I didn't think of getting screen shots, but the screen where you choose which file format you want - which smartly appears during the "pickup" phase, after payment - is clear and - again - effective.

I actually like that the non-free download option has a fixed price of $5 - there's less to decide than a name-your-own-price scheme such as Radiohead used for In Rainbows, and it means that I know that the musician is good with the price. Plus it's just a bargain - 36 CD-quality DRM-free tracks for $5!

ReadWriteWeb has some good background about Reznor's previous attempt at digital music distribution. The Wall Street Journal's Business Technology blog laughably describes BitTorrent as an "underground filing-trading service." (And who wrote that post anyway? It's anonymous! Lame.)

Tip: Downloaded the album, and wondering where to keep that nice PDF booklet? If you use iTunes, you can just drop it in to your library, right next to the tracks themselves. I even set the Artist and Album fields so that the booklet shows up in the track listing.

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