users and algorithms: incorporating user centered design and advanced algorithms into agile...
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Users and Algorithms: Incorporating User Centered Design and Advanced Algorithms into Agile Engineering Nathan Stoll, Co-Founder of AardvarkTRANSCRIPT
Nathan Stoll [email protected] [email protected] @nathanstoll
Our Product
• What’s a decent housekeeping service in SF? How much should it cost for a small two bedroom place?
• What is Einstein’s birthday?
• How much is the cheapest iPhone?
• What’s a good book to read about Romantic Poets?
Queries X00B/yr
45% Objective
30% Research
25% Opinion
Ok
Great
Search quality Examples
Low
High
RPMs
Web search is great for objective questions, but subjective questions generate majority of revenues
The Aardvark pitch
Improving a familiar experience Friends already answer subjective questions, but... • Unreliability of a small number of friends available to you in the moment • Hard to keep up with what your extended network knows about • Social cost of asking for a favor
Why Social Search? • Users want personalized responses to questions • Most content is still locked in peoples' heads • Each individual’s network is growing exponentially • Social intimacy makes information actionable • Questions about how to spend your time and money are subjective
Our Principles and Process
Minimize risk by maximizing trials
Conception: • Picked a problem area • Prototyped in serial • Abandoned many attempts along the way
Implementation: • User-centered agile engineering • Wizard-of-oz research leading algorithmic automation • Recruited a core team, contracted to fill gaps • Focused on continuous acceleration
Early experimental Aardvark
User-centered agile engineering
Wizard-of-oz research leading algorithmic automation
Team and process learnings
Experiment with process as much as with product • Assume you are wrong • Make continuous improvement the goal • Hire and indoctrinate to support process
Exploit collective wisdom • Task people to collect and disseminate learnings • Set aside regular time for discussion • Make transparency the default
Additional Aardvark reading/viewing
• White paper on Aardvark Social Search - (http://vark.com/aardvarkfinalwww2010.pdf)
• How we do qualitative user research at Aardvark (http://blog.vark.com/?p=314)
• Our approach to design and development processes (http://blog.vark.com/?p=49)
• Preaching User-Driven Design (http://ventilla.posterous.com/preaching-user-driven-design)
• Startup Lessons Learned Aardvark Case study (http://www.justin.tv/startuplessonslearned/b/262666882)
• Why Machines Need People (http://blurkerlab.blogspot.com/2010/04/video-damon-horowitz-at-tedxsoma-why.html)