3 product trends to watch in 2013

Max Engel

3 Product Development

Trends to WatchJanuary 2013

1

Topics Covered

- About Me

- Introduction

- Discussion of Key Trends

- Implications

2

About Me

3

A Bit About Myself

Max Engel, Product MacGyver

About Me

4

About Me

5

About Me

6

Brickd.com(Lego)

8BitKid.com(nerdy things)

MaxEngel.com(work and personal)

Introduction

7

Where We Are

What is Driving the Evolution of Online Storytelling

Introduction

8

9

Introduction

Online Narratives Have

Changed

• Stories are being told in different ways

• Content is more readily available

• News is being commoditized

Circa iPhone app

10

Introduction

A “Story” is Now Much

More

• The story only begins when the publish

button is pressed

• The line between content creator and

contributor is being blurred

• Users want to participate and be

engaged

Forbes’ new article page

Product Trends of 2013

3 Key Driver of Innovation

Introduction

11

12

3 Trends are Shaping Product

Development

Introduction

Mobile SocialData

Discussion of Key Trends

13

Mobile

How smartphones are reshaping how we build

Discussion of Key Trends

14

Discussion of Key Trends

The Needs of Mobile Users

are Different

• Value in designing “mobile-first”

• Users enjoy “snackable” content

• Content needs to be optimized for on-

the-go consumption

Pocket iPhone App

15

Discussion of Key Trends

Responsive Design

• One site across all screen sizes

• Often HTML5 sites leveraging CSS3 to

perform media queries to make content

adapt to the screen it is on

• Ensures parity across platforms and a

consistent experience

Sasquatch Music Festival Site

16

Discussion of Key Trends

Native App vs. Web App

• Native apps help drive engagement via

push notifications and can leverage

device API’s for speed and functionality

• HTML5 web apps help fight

fragmentation

• It is important to choose the right

technology based on the problem being

solved

Grooveshark HTML5 app

17

Data

Information is abundant and freely flowing

Discussion of Key Trends

18

Discussion of Key Trends

Going Beyond Analytics

• Now the challenge is not getting

the data, but instead figuring out

how to make it actionable

• Real-time testing means content

can be optimized on-the-fly to

drive core KPI’s

• User intent can be better

understood

USA Today Uses Real-time Headline A/B Testing

19

Discussion of Key Trends

Open Platforms and API’s

• Data can become a commodity

that innovative experiences are

built on top of

• Structured data projects like

Facebook’s Open Graph give

semantic meaning to online

engagement

SoundCloud Developer Hub

20

Discussion of Key Trends

Personalization

Recommendations can be custom-tailored based on data

analysis

21

Pandora(recommendatio

n as a product)

EchoNest(recommendatio

n as a service)

Spotify(music-driven

content

recommendation)

Social

Moving from feature to foundation

Discussion of Key Trends

22

Discussion of Key Trends

Building on Social

• While social used to be a feature

bolted onto sites, it is now

enabling sites that couldn’t have

existed before

• Users need to be a part of the

content creation process

• Curation helps the best user-

generated content filter up

Rap Genius

23

Discussion of Key Trends

Distribution

• Content no longer lives in a silo, and

users may not interact with your

content or brand inside of your walls

• Social media referrals means that every

page needs to be a landing page

• The lines between writers, contributors,

and readers will continue to blur

Soundtracking’s

Twitter Cards

implementation24

Implications

25

26

While these 3 trends are going to

catalyze product innovation in the

coming year, it is also important to

recognize their pitfalls

Implications

• Monetization is still immature

• Users still love big experiences on big screens

• Certain interactions are better suited for unique designs

27

Mobile is amazing, but…

Implications

• Be mobile first, web second

• Create content that bridges platforms seamlessly

• Consider when a responsive design might lead to bad user

experience

So maybe I should…

• Doesn’t lead to serendipity

• Emphasizes quantitative analysis of qualitative evaluations

28

Data lets me do great things, except

it…

Implications

• Be data-informed, instead of data-driven

• Remember that A/B testing can’t create new ideas

So it might be better to…

• Authority still matters

• They often create a low social signal-to-noise ratio

29

Users demand social products, and

yet…

Implications

• Not discount the importance of curation

• Never forget the power of an editor

So it might be better to…

30

Conclusion:

trends are great, but being trendy isn’t

Implications

Thanks!

31

My info:

32

email:

max@maxengel.com

twitter: @8bitkid

web: maxengel.com