97: To Build, or Not to Build - Jane Portman of Userlist
August 1st, 2019
28 mins 40 secs
About this Episode
While Ben’s on vacation, Derrick welcomes another podcast host who can commiserate with him about email automation.
Jane Portman is a UI/UX expert and consultant who hosts the UI Breakfast Podcast and co-founded Userlist.io. She describes what it takes to create a customer messaging tool.
Today’s Topics Include:
- Product Priorities: Slow, steady, and quality
- Lifestyle Business: Overall goal is to replace consulting with SaaS recurring revenue
- Challenges: Limited development time and resources; slow growth rate to adopt mission-critical product
- To Build, or Not to Build: Avoid feature creep by focusing on what to add or improve
- Playbook Post: 10 steps to successfully position a product
- Launch Process: People are waiting for the right time for the right tool for their business
- Customer Conversations: Pre-product interviews about problem to be solved; followed by product demos to grant access to beta version for feedback
- Finding Customers: Landing page, updates, stories, sign-ups, mailing list, and more
- We’re out of Beta! Simple and straight-forward product launch plan and strategy
- Generic Illustrations: Product design trend that has to end
- Email Experiences: Educate people on how to ethically use email to serve their business
Links and resources:
User Onboarding: The Ultimate Guide for SaaS Founders
Behind the Scenes of Our Upcoming Public Launch
How We Used April Dunford’s 10-Step Method to Overhaul Positioning at Userlist
AoP Episode 91: Feeling Superhuman with Rahul Vohra
Humans of Flat Design on Twitter
Derrick Reimer Website
Derrick Reimer on Twitter
Ben Orenstein Website
Ben Orenstein on Twitter