Future of Web Apps – Carl Sjogreen

Carl Sjogreen from Google Calendar reviewed the Calendar project and the success they have experienced.  He seemed to wonder why so many people signed up right away. Carl, same reason why people will buy a new iPod even if there is nothing different about it from the previous version. Because there is a “cool” factor in being a first-user and also because it comes from a trusted company. Below are my notes on pieces of the discussion I found interesting.

The Road to Google Calendar:

• classic google product team
• 1 project manager and 3 engineers
• origin from both customer feedback and internal interest
• seemed like a space with little innovation – nothing out there was “right”

Talking to Customers is very important for these reasons:

• Talk to real customers
• Spoke to many people, sometimes even in their homes
• Key themes emerged quickly

He feels its important to have a vision.

6 key insights that might be useful for your next product or company:

1. Easy is the most important feature
2. Know your real competition
3. Visual design matters
4. Build products for people who don’t want to use them
5. Timing launch properly — make sure it’s the right time, it is hard to do, only have one shot
6. Driving usage

Lastly he mentioned the, “akl system”. I assume he means the acknowledge system of verification for changes. If anyone can confirm, please let me know.

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