After months of punishing weather, along comes a day that reminds us all why we love the northwest so much. (Taken with instagram)
How every product should aspire to be described by its users
When asked what inspired me to venture into an entertainment genome project last year, and since the word ‘genome’ didn’t immediately give the answer away to this person, I always simply respond with, “Pandora”.
About 4 years ago, I created a Silversun Pickups station in honor of my favorite band at the time. To this day, this station remains my go-to music discovery resource to find acts old and new, and songs fresh and worn, all carrying the genes which make the music of SSPU special to me.
Bands like Muse, Death Cab, The Postal Service, Snow Patrol, MGMT, fun., Broken Social Scene, and Gotye are just a few of the names that have found their way to me over the years and many more are still surfacing today. This station has become so accurate in terms of my personal taste profile that I haven’t actually input a downvote in easily over a year.
I was recently at a conference where the entrepreneur next to me and I got on the topic of Pandora. He explained to me how important the product is to his music discovery process and which stations he has gotten the most mileage out of over the years. But what he said next is what truly stuck with me:
“They seem to have a window into my soul.”
Wow. That statement just floored me. Up until that point, I suppose I had always felt this way about Pandora, but hearing it aloud was a bit shocking at first. We should all aspire to reach a level with the users of our products/services or viewers of our content where their personal relationship with our creations is described this deeply.
To use a product that understands me so intimately and keeps me current without losing sight of the bands who inspired the modern players I’m currently listening to, gracefully shifts me from a daily user to full-time evangelizer. This is what any creator wants for their creations, isn’t it? An army of evangelizers. But to create this army, we need to touch a part of their soul that is too-often ignored. To cross over from useful tool to daily companion.
I don’t want to know what’s popular or see/hear recommendations of the safe and familiar. I want to discover the uniquely familiar. I want to stretch my tastes just far enough where true discovery is possible without making me feel like I’m venturing too far into the weeds and losing sight of my reference point to compare these new discoveries to.
Show me that you understand me, the individual, not just me, the user.
That’s the quickest path to my soul. What’s the quickest path to yours?
Apparently Mother Nature didn’t appreciate my #nospringinsight tweet yesterday. #fine (Taken with instagram)
I love everything about Christmas EXCEPT for icicle lights! (Taken with instagram)
Tweeting while hanging Xmas lights, not recommended. But taking time out to enjoy the view, required. (Taken with instagram)
Domains for Sale
I have a strange addiction to purchasing domain names regardless of whether I have any need for them. Some were brand ideas, others were, a-hem, angry purchases directed at a company I had some issues with in the past. It’s time to unload some of these, so if you see any you like, ping me direct and we’ll work something out:
- Blendry.com
- CancelComcast.com
- Curacious.com
- Kuratable.com
- Kuratery.com
- LiquidStorytelling.com
- Musisodes.com
- Prestigery.com
What do you want to do now, Dad? This. (Taken with instagram)
World 1-1 of the kids’ Angry Birds Homebrew (Taken with instagram)
from http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/moving-cinemagraphs-gifs/
