January 11th, 2010
Qworky, a nascent technology startup based out of Seattle currently developing online tools for better meetings, is looking for our first Front End Developer. We’re a diverse team with successful startup experience, open to new ideas and approaches. Join us as we deliver our first product!
What we’re looking for
We’re looking for a passionate Front End Designer with strong (X)HTML, CSS Development Experience to partner directly with startup co-founders to define/develop a User Interface that expresses our brand style and user experience. Must be able to commit 20 hours per week working directly with our engineering team as a freelance professional, with a mutual interest in developing into a permanent role.
The role will:
- Envision, develop, and define an inviting and differentiated, and intuitive user experience
- Propose ideas and new approaches for implementing pre-defined user requirements
- Work with Engineering to integrate frontend design with backend systems
- Have an opportunity to influence feature sets, and learn the funding/startup process
- Work alongside industry leading strategists, computer security/engineering experts
- Work offsite, via digital (Blog, Twitter, Google Wave) and coffee shop collaboration
Candidates should be self-directed with an entrepreneurial drive and a keen attention to detail, and a passion for usable and seamless user experiences.
Compensation: Open/Negotiable – Likely beginning as a $5K contract role (negotiable) with goal of evolving into an equity role based on success working together and experience.
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About Us: Our name is Qworky :-) and we’re out to create a better world through better software.
Diversity: We view diversity as a vital ingredient to sustained business success. We value unique perspectives and traditionally under represented view points in the software design process. We welcome collaborators from every walk of life. We welcome people of any gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, experience level, education background, culture, or political opinion.
Perks: This is a great opportunity for you to get to know us, and Qworky to get to know you. We envision this role transitioning into our next equity employee joining our startup team.
We’re an experienced startup team (with successful VC funded exit experience) tackling our next opportunity.
To Apply:
Please email hr@qworky.net your resume and or cover letter, including your geographic location. And please either describe your most challenging project or direct us to your online presence/portfolio.
hr@qworky.net
Tags: admin, qworky, recruiting, team
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January 8th, 2010
2009, what an eventful year! Even more in store for 2010, including the launch of our first product.
More and more I realize that Qworky’s success in 2010 will come from our ability to infect our users, advisors, community, and collaborators with the spirit of Qworky. And if enthusiasm is contagious consider yourself infected. We have a great team. A great passion for what we’re doing – creating a better world through better software, beginning with software for better meetings.
With our goal comes a responsibility to continuously challenge ourselves to define what Better Software / Better World is all about– we owe that to ourselves and to all we touch through our products and communication.
So to kick start the New Year we’d like to know What does “A Better World through Better Software” mean, or look like to you?
We’re still defining this ourselves so your thoughts are valuable inputs to shaping how we take steps towards our goal. Looking forward to your thoughts!
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January 5th, 2010
Facebook’s Data Team has released a study entitled How Diverse is Facebook? that has begot much analysis and criticism, first coalescing on the #FBDiversity tag.
The study’s purpose is described by Facebook as part of their effort to be as open and connected as possible while working to understand how different populations of users join and use their service. Despite such lofty goals, the original question that brought about the criticism, first poised by Shireen Mitchell (@digitalsista), Beth Kanter (@kanter), and Allyson Kapin (@womenwhotech), is about flaws in their methodology. However, the charge, first made by Tracy Viselli (@myrnatheminx), that the conclusions “seem self-fulfilling prophecy ish” would hold more serious implications.
The methodology aspect is quite tricky, as Facebook does not request information on race as they do for gender. Cheri Mullins (@cherimullins) analyzed this in some detail within her post Facebook “Diversity” Study Fact or Fiction, explaining how “the Facebook Data team has skewed the results to be highly self-referential.” The questions regarding the motivation of the study ask whether the data specifically answers a question “that has already been asked or assumed“, which is Shireen Mitchell’s rationale when referring to Tracy Viselli’s self-fulfilling prophecy description as semi-correct.
The methodological issues are important, especially considering the broad conclusion drawn that Facebook’s user demographics nearly mirror that of the U.S. population. Moreover, the criticism and skepticism has everything to do with the potentially alarming research from danah boyd (@zephoria), which paints a very different picture of diversity within Facebook. In her speech on The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online, she explained:
It wasn’t just anyone who left MySpace to go to Facebook. In fact, if we want to get to the crux of what unfolded, we might as well face an uncomfortable reality…What happened was modern day “white flight.” Whites were more likely to leave or choose Facebook.
…
MySpace has become the “ghetto” of the digital landscape. The people there are more likely to be brown or black and to have a set of values that terrifies white society. And many of us have habitually crossed the street to avoid what is seen as the riff-raff.
boyd’s warning about this “digital migration” is a stark contrast to the more techno-utopian depiction from Facebook. The draft of her forthcoming article, White Flight in Networked Publics? How Race and Class Shaped American Teen Engagement with MySpace and Facebook, further compares the social media landscape to the historical dynamics of segregation.
Within her response to the Facebook Data Team’s study, boyd discussed how although the data does correlate with what she has seen in the field, the focus on access misses the divergence in how different groups are using and experiencing the service. The Facebook depiction does not address the impact racial and ethnic backgrounds have on social media usage, and the resulting limitation on the extent to which users will interact with a diverse set of other users because of it.
However, boyd also professed disappointment that academics began critiquing the Facebook study while not first “appreciating the glimpse that we get into the data they get to see.” Indeed, the open study did also spark public dialogue on the issue, and their treatment of this uncomfortable subject does show a willingness to assess it further.
Yet if boyd is right that racist and classist attitudes are shaping digital media, action must be taken to shift the debate. If the internet will ever reach its democratizing potential, industry leaders and the social media community at large need to accept and address these serious, systemic issues.
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December 9th, 2009
After only a modest amount of engagement, it is quite clear that it is worth paying close attention to the #smallbizchat community.
This Twitter hashtag represents a group of people who take part in a weekly interactive talk show for small business owners, held every Wednesday from 8-9 PM EST. The professed target market for this Twitter talk show is “emerging entrepreneurs 25-54 who are less than five years in business”, and the chat topics typically range between “challenges for start-ups and issues that would challenge a business with 20 or fewer employees.”
Qworky certainly falls within this demographic, but the importance of watching #smallbizchat is even more clear in light of the manner in which they engage in online meetings through Twitter. #Smallbizchat’s founder and host, Melinda Emerson aka @SmallBizLady, does a fantastic job of providing resources to explain what a “Twitterchat” is as well as relaying specific directions to take part in the #smallbizchat Twitterchat itself. Such explanations are important given the innovative nature of the Twitter tools they take advantage of, such as Tweetgrid and Tweetchat, which are used to aggregate Tweets to the hashtag while optimizing various streams of communication in an organized fashion. Furthermore, they have a very helpful support team working to facilitate the various person-to-person and many-to-many conversations, including co-host Cathy Larkin (@CathyWebSavvyPR) and virtual assistant Sonia Schenker (@YourJobMyOffice).
The mission of the effort exemplifies the degree to which it is a worthy endeavor as well, as it entails the collaborative focus of helping “small business owners succeed as their own boss by reducing the learning curve as their small businesses start and grow.” Plus, the diversity promoting properties of Twitter are even further leveraged by the diverse constituency of this community, and there are all sorts of important perspectives fostered through this chat that would otherwise be much more difficult to obtain.
Tonight’s edition includes guest Christina Katz aka @thewritermama with the subject “Developing Your Marketing Platform”, and considering the team and resources behind #smallbizchat, it will undoubtedly be another quality event (and then some)!
There are a lot of moving parts that go into coordinating a distributed effort like this, and although we are definitely excited to take part tonight, it’s even better to receive increasing confirmation of the strong leadership that the small business community on Twitter has at its disposal.
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December 8th, 2009
Recommendations play a key role in product, industry, and company growth.
In fact, the net-promoter score — one of the most widely used business metrics — is simply a measurement of the percentage of your customers that are very likely to recommend your product vs. the percentage that are indifferent or unlikely to recommend your product.
Across industries, the top-ranking question as an indicator of profitable growth across industries is
- How likely is it that you would recommend [company X] to a friend or colleague?
Very powerful.
So with that we have two questions for you the experts- our advisors and our community. Lets use this blog thread to kick off a discussion on ‘what compels you to recommend?’ Specifically:
- What makes you willing to recommend a product to people in your personal or social network? What could compel you to recommend Qworky?
- What makes you willing to recommend a company to colleagues and investors within the investment community? What would you look for in order to recommend Qworky?
Looking forward to your thoughts!
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November 27th, 2009
As a team that firmly believes that great software means great user experiences. We pay close attention to the subletleties of user experiences of software and the web so our customers don’t have to.
With that in mind here is one design trend that I hope doesn’t continue into 2010: The Feedback Tab. Over the course of 2009 the more web enthusiasts among us have probably seen it on more than a few sites (example here).
The feedback tab is what I call a Selfish User Interface. It prioritizes what the business ’wants’ over we the users want- as opposed to allowing the two to work harmoniously together. What do I mean by this?
Well look at how large the tab is, on most screens its the most dominant element on the page- the tab also follows the user, in a stalker like fashion, up and down the page. There is positive intent behind this tab, as businesses that implement it obviously want to hear from their customers. The reality is we (as website users) have more important things going on than to give businesses feedback. Interfaces should encourage feedback and make giving feedback painless- but demanding it? Thats going to far.
Perhaps a simple link along with the other top level navigation elements would do the trick. However, businesses shouldn’t kid themselves into believing the user’s top priority is to give their business feedback.
No more selfish UI in 2010.
Tags: design, ui, user experience, web applications
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November 19th, 2009
Mission, Vision, and Positioning Statements oh my! Whats the difference among them? Well it depends on who you ask.
Wikipedia, the go to source for known unknowns states:
- A Mission statement tells you the fundamental purpose of the organization. It defines the customer and the critical processes. It informs you of the desired level of performance.
- A Vision statement outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be. It concentrates on the future. It is a source of inspiration. It provides clear decision-making criteria.
But don’t look for examples or information on what is supposed to come first. You won’t find that there.
As a matter of fact if you search harvard business review for sample mission or vision statements- you’d believe they didn’t exist.
From Harvard Business Review “Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?”
Nestled within an hbr article I found this nugget which highlights the clearest correlation between the three that I’ve seen thus far.
But as far as examples the best example of mission statements I’ve found is from Target:
Our mission is to make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less.® brand promise.
About.com also has some great information on writing mission statements as well.
As far as vision statements I’ve found are from an InformIT article; some examples:
- Land a man on the moon and safely return him to earth by the end of this decade.
- I have a dream that all men will be judged by the merit of their character, not by the color of their skin.
- To become the premiere supplier of reliable, high-quality, complex military defense systems and commercial aerospace products.
And don’t even get me started on positioning statements, which are often confused for vision statements.Positioning statements come from Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm. It follows the form:
- For (target customer)
- Who (statement of the need or opportunity)
- The (product/service name) is a (product/service category)
- That (key benefit, compelling reason to buy) –> should be measurable
- Unlike (primary competitive alternative)
- Our product (statement of primary differentiation)
- *(addition, if proof is not obvious state the proof point) Because proof point
Position statements are very important and probably the most important aspect of defining your business.
So whats Qworky’s Mission and Vision statement?
We don’t have one. I can’t say I’m particularly focused on developing one- instead most of our energy and effort is spent defining our mantra. To quote James Collins (author of Good to Great) and Jerry Porras:
Many executives thrash about with mission statements and vision statements. Unfortunately, most of those statements turn out to be a muddled stew of values, goals, purposes, philosophies, beliefs, aspirations, norms, strategies, practices, and descriptions. They are usually a boring, confusing, structurally unsound stream of words that evoke the response “True, but who cares?” Even more problematic, seldom do these statements have a direct link to the fundamental dynamic of visionary companies: preserve the core and stimulate progress. That dynamic, not vision or mission statements, is the primary engine of enduring companies.
I’m firmly in the “make mantra” camp.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: business documents, mission statements, startup life, value proposition, vision statements
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November 13th, 2009
Sprouter, a Twitter-like social network for entrepeneurs, launched its beta yesterday. From the National Post’s profile of their CEO Sarah Prevette:
If Facebook is a place where users connect with people they already know, LinkedIn is an online rolodex and Twitter is a place to build a brand while engaging in ongoing conversations, Sprouter is designed to filter out the noise of the rest of the social-networking world to allow entrepreneurs a dedicated space to get help with what’s causing them consternation.
I’m at http://sprouter.com/jdp23
Tags: Sprouter
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November 10th, 2009
Just got my new HP up and running. And I have to say their first run experience is beautifully elegant, and inviting. All until I actually landed on my Win7 home screen and saw how many applications were on this machine with no easy way to remove.
When uninstalling the HP Games application – I had to check the box no fewer than 20 times to uninstall all the pre-installed games. Not only that its impossible to discern true software enhancements (drivers, etc.) from redundant functionally (HP MediaSmart Music anyone?). Sadly I chalk this poor experience up to prioritizing business goals, over user experience- when they need not be in conflict.
Tags: customers, software, user experience
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