NEW PRODUCT CHANNEL – (Mobile Web, Kiosks, API)
The challenge: Apptentive’s Mobile Web (WebSDK) lacked key product features compared to the Mobile SDKs (Apple/Android) that made the company successful. I took the role as product producer to update the WebSDK and create product parity with the mobile SDKs as another customer feedback channel.

HOW DOES A HYPOTHESIS BECOME A PRODUCT?
I participated in a Hackathon. My proposal was an IoT device with hardware buttons (GPIO ports) connected to a Raspberry Pie using the new API and WebSDK. To complete the project, I conceptualized, designed and built a responsive web app. I called it a progressive survey (skip logic) able to iterate through a variety modal windows that captured the binary Yes/True, No/False feedback questions.

PROOF OF CONCEPT – Customer Love Summit
To engage customers in Apptentive’s new products, the company created the Customer Love Summit. I was able to take this event to the next level by showcasing a variety of proof-of-concept feedback mechanisms in real time, all powered by attendee participation. The vision was by the end of the event the CEO on stage could switch to a monitor showing how many customers participated in a live demo dashboard featuring the new API in action.
The Results – Customer participation and enthusiasm were at an all-time high. Everyone involved – from customers to CEO and the event coordinator – loved the feedback mechanism.

DEMO TABLE
I owned the Summit Demo Table, spearheading a variety of feedback devices that included hardware button, 3 kiosks, Table Tents (QRcode), LTE Demo and Geckoboard monitor. Besides doing all the visual graphics, I worked with the developers to make sure each feedback API functioned properly. Participants/Investors gave the Demo Table, and the ability to test out devices in person, high marks.

Example Use Cases: At the event the projector showcased a variety of customer examples on how the new API could capture a variety of different types of feedback. Some closed new customers.

DEMO SITE EXAMPLES
I took the initiative and coded a fictitious Demo Site to QA every product scenario. This sped up the development process by discovering issues through dogfooding the product faster. I built the site to have a background image so it can be easily swapped for any customer interview or sales call.
Results – Sales was able to close deals before product features have been fully productized.

PRODUCT SCENARIOS
In addition to utilizing InVision prototypes, we found it helpful for the team to fully understand individual workflows. I created a series of diagrams, each of which represents a key product scenario and level of effort to implement the feature through the customer POV, edge cases, product bugs, and design polish. The results were instantaneous and ongoing – a better advised staff, who could respond to product needs.

LEVEL UP DESIGN
The original message center looked dated and was triggered by a small, fixed Contact Us button in the bottom right corner of browser windows that was not discoverable. My design solution was to elevate the visibility for the on-screen button and to incorporate additional feedback interactions into the design as a seamless experience.
Results – After updating the button customer feedback increased, enabling the company to be more responsive to customer feedback.

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
Customers also wanted the ability to customize the look and feel of feedback interactions, since native dialog boxes (Apple/Android UI) lacked the ability to align with the App brand style.
THE SOLUTION
The innovation was to give customers the ability to fully customize feedback types together into one seamless experience. The wireframe shows how the Love Dialog, Notes, Surveys (skip-logic) and Message Center (open-ended) can be stitched together into one fluid experience. By removing checkboxes and radio buttons and use another binary control as an alternative really simplified the experience (NDA).

MARKETING SUPPORT
After successfully shipping the WebSDK, I transitioned to help support marketing efforts, since I was the most knowledge about the product and designed the product page (marketing website), one-pager, product capabilities brochure, and full e2e product video demo.
THE RESULTS — 6 months after launching the WebSDK sales were able to close significant new revenue deals.
