UI Breakfast: UI/UX Design and Product Strategy

What makes a perfect product demo? How do you engage and convert a potential customer instead of boring them to death with a monotonous screenshare? Today our guest is Aaron Krall, a SaaS enterprise sales coach. You'll learn when SaaS demos are a good fit, how to organize and structure your call, and how to move the sale forward by making it all about the user. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes SaaS Growth Hacks — Aaron's famous Facebook group Breakthrough Advertising — a book by Eugene M. Schwartz 24sessions — Aaron's favorite no-download tool for scheduling and conducting video calls Zoom, GoToMeeting — other popular tools for video calls Calendly, Book Like A Boss, YouCanBook.me — popular scheduling tools Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product with Benedikt Deicke and Claire Suellentrop Aaron's blog Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaron_krall Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Userlist.io. This new tool helps SaaS founders get a better understanding of each individual user journey, and send users relevant behavior-based email. To learn more, join the waiting list at userlist.io. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

Chats and messengers represent a huge design challenge: there's always room for innovation, but the users are deeply attached to existing UX patterns (think of the latest Skype update). Our guest today is Kostya Gorskiy, Design Lead at Intercom. We talk about their recent messenger redesign, peculiarities of popular chat platforms, and how to design a messaging interface for your own product. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Intercom — Kostya's current place of work Yandex — Kostya's previous place of work as a design director Product thinking: behind our new Messenger home screen — an article by Brian Donohue Design for the Real World — a book by Victor Papanek Inside Intercom — Intercom's blog & educational resources Follow Kostya on Twitter: @k00 Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by The UI Audit. Want to design web applications that are actually useful to people? This book will help you adopt a smarter approach to UI/UX — from product strategy to each individual screen. To get you copy, head over to uibreakfast.com/audit and use your special promocode SUMMERTIME20 to get 20% off any book package. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

Optimizing the trial-to-paid conversion rate is one the most effective ways to improve any SaaS business. Our guest today is Alli Blum, a SaaS onboarding optimization consultant. You'll learn how to define the user's path to success (and their common roadblocks), write onboarding emails based on research data, segment your users, and A/B test every step in your onboarding funnel. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Alli's consulting website NomNom — Alli's favorite tool for aggregating customer feedback and user research Episode 30: Describing Customer Motivation (Jobs to Be Done) with Eric White Putting the (Onboarding) Cart Before the (Product) Horse — slides from Alli's talk at MicroConf 2018 The Sustainable SaaS: What Permaculture Can Teach Us About Building Software — Marie Poulin's talk recap from MicroConf 2018 Inside Growth at Wistia: The Process Behind Our A/B Tests — an article by Andrew Capland how they've ran over 150 A/B tests to improve their conversion rates Recommender system (recommendation engine) — a Wikipedia article Get Alli's free course on SaaS trial optimization Follow Alli on Twitter: @AlliBlum Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by The UI Audit. Want to design web applications that are actually useful to people? This book will help you adopt a smarter approach to UI/UX — from product strategy to each individual screen. To get you copy, head over to uibreakfast.com/audit and use your special promocode SUMMERTIME20 to get 20% off any book package. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

We've been building websites for decades, yet each project imposes new challenges when it comes to navigation. Our guest today is Els Aerts — a famous usability expert, speaker, and co-founder of AGConsult. We talk about the core principles behind effective navigation, how to figure out what information deserves the spotlight, and how to avoid common pitfalls. You'll also learn how to deal with navigation challenges in different industries: government websites, ecommerce, and SaaS. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes AGConsult — Els' agency Identifying Customer Top Tasks — an article by Gerry McGovern Treejack, OptimalSort — tools by Optimal Workshop for tree testing and card sorting Balsamiq, Axure, InVision — prototyping tools Information Scent — a definition at Optimizely Glossary Navigation versus search — Els' article GOV.UK — a good website example without top navigation Jakob Nielsen, Jared Spool, Gerry McGovern — usability authorities to follow CTAConf 2018 — one of the upcoming conferences where Els will give a talk (August 27-29, 2018 in Vancouver, Canada) Follow Els on Twitter: @els_aerts Get €200 off user research training by AGConsult Academy using promocode UIBREAKFAST (valid until June 31, 2018) Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Balsamiq. This super easy-to-use wireframing tool can help you and your team get user interface ideas down before you start coding or sweating the details on fancier tools. Try it free for 30 days at balsamiq.cloud. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

What is a product strategy? More importantly, what makes a good one? Our guest today is Zack Naylor, co-founder and CEO at Aurelius. We talk about product strategy vs tactics, the objectives and key results framework, the elusive product-market fit, and customer research as the foundation for all of the above. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Aurelius — Zack's product, user research and insights platform Aurelius Podcast — their podcast The Nerdery — Zack's previous place of work Why The Best Design and Product Teams Decide What, Then How — Zack's article on strategy vs tactics Objectives and key results (OKR) — a popular framework for defining and tracking objectives and their outcomes The Exact Customer Research Process We Used for Userlist.io — an article by Claire Suellentrop, Jane's co-founder Aurelius Podcast: Episode 18 with Patrick Campbell — an episode on customer development, user research for pricing and using data for better decisions Product/market fit — a term that defines the degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand Ask 37signals: How do you say no? — an article by Jason Fried Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results — a book by Christina Wodtke Just Enough Research — a book by Erica Hall Indi Young — a famous data scientist and researcher How to Win Friends & Influence People — a book by Dale Carnegie Follow Aurelius Blog Follow Zack on Twitter: @zacknaylor Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Userlist.io. This new tool helps SaaS founders get a better understanding of each individual user journey, and send users relevant behavior-based email. To learn more, join the waiting list at userlist.io. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

According to research, 70–80% of all websites in the world have Google Analytics installed! However, only a fraction of them use it well. Our guest today is Jeff Sauer, founder and lead instructor of Jeffalytics. You'll learn why Google Analytics can be so frustrating, how to approach your data, what tools can help, and how to get yourself up to speed in the topic. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Jeffalytics — Jeff's consulting & training company Google Analytics Certification Course — Jeff's premium GA program Quill Engage — a tool for sending GA reports Google Data Studio — Google's dashboard service Tiny Reminder, RightMessage — examples of products with low level of awareness Jeffalytics YouTube channel and blog — Jeff's free resources on the topic MEASURESCHOOL, Simo Ahava's blog, Analytics Mania, Optimize Smart — other great blogs on analytics Sign up for Jeff's free Analytics Mini-Course Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffsauer Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by The UI Audit. Want to design web applications that are actually useful to people? This book will help you adopt a smarter approach to UI/UX — from product strategy to each individual screen. To get you copy, head over to uibreakfast.com/audit and use your special promocode SUMMERTIME20 to get 20% off any book package. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

What do founders really get out of accelerators? What are the wins and the trade-offs? Our guest today is Nina Stepanov, Associate and Head of Platform at Acceleprise. You'll get familiar with the industry terms, learn how accelerators work, and how all parties can benefit from such collaboration.Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music.Show NotesAcceleprise — the global SaaS accelerator where Nina worksY Combinator, Techstars — other famous acceleratorsVenture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist — a book by Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson, and Dick CostoloApply for Acceleprise on AngelListFollow Nina on Twitter: @ninarstepanovToday's SponsorThis episode is brought to you by The UI Audit. Want to design web applications that are actually useful to people? This book will help you adopt a smarter approach to UI/UX — from product strategy to each individual screen. To get you copy, head over to uibreakfast.com/audit and use your special promocode SUMMERTIME20 to get 20% off any book package.Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here.Leave a ReviewReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

How do you help a team of creative professionals achieve their best results? Our guest today is Andy Vitale, the director of user experience at Polaris Industries. You'll learn how to manage and grow an in-house design team, bring new members up to speed, and optimize the UX process. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Polaris Industries — Andy's company Polaris UX Design Principles Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams — a book by Peter Merholz and Kristin Skinner Design Is a Job, You’re My Favorite Client — books by Mike Monteiro published by A Book Apart Andy's website Follow Andy on Twitter: @andyvitale Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Userlist.io — a new tool for sending event-based email to your SaaS users. Overwhelmed with existing automation tools? Try this simple solution for converting free trials, user onboarding, and promoting specific features in your web application. To learn more, join the waiting list at userlist.io Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

What does the world of decentralized apps (dapps) hold for us? Our guest today is Matt Cyrankiewicz — a designer, creative director and founder at HOO KOO E KOO. Matt explains how dapps work, what makes them so challenging UX-wise, and shares his insights on the future of this exciting ecosystem. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes HOO KOO E KOO — Matt's digital product studio Decentralized application (dapp), distributed ledger, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) — Wikipedia articles Is Coinbase creating a centralized or decentralized financial system? Hashgraph wants to give you the benefits of blockchain without the limitations CryptoKitties — a famous game using blockchain technology MetaMask, Ethereum — other blockchain projects mentioned Venmo — a popular money transfer service Understanding off-chain transactions in blockchain for fun and profit AxiomZen — a studio behind CryptoKitties Dissecting the Ethereum whitepaper in four minutes The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency — an interview with Nick Szabo by Tim Ferriss Follow Matt on Medium Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Userlist.io — a new tool for sending event-based email to your SaaS users. Overwhelmed with existing automation tools? Try this simple solution for converting free trials, user onboarding, and promoting specific features in your web application. To learn more, join the waiting list at userlist.io Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

Custom sales copy will always outperform general copy — with very little effort on your side. That's the magic of personalization! Our guest today is Brennan Dunn, co-founder of RightMessage. Brennan talks about different ways of personalizing websites, shares his favorite case studies, and explains how to get started with small experiments. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes RightMessage — Brennan's personalization tool, co-founded with Shai Schechter Double Your Freelancing — Brennan's famous resource for freelancers and consultants Planscope — Brennan's previous SaaS (acquired in 2016) Laura Elizabeth — the designer who works on RightMessage Episode 103: UX Personalization with Samuel Hulick Personalizing ConvertKit.com — a video case study by RightMessage Optimizely — a popular A/B testing tool Bookify — another product mentioned as a case study The Anatomy of a Six-Figure Email Course — Brennan's article at GrowthLab 5 Ways to Use Personalization to Grow Your SaaS — Brennan's article for Baremetrics The Personalization Masterclass — Brennan's course on personalization RightMessage learning center (free content) See personalization in action at rightmessage.com/uibreakfast Follow Brennan on Twitter: @brennandunn Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Userlist.io — a new tool for sending event-based email to your SaaS users. Overwhelmed with existing automation tools? Try this simple solution for converting free trials, user onboarding, and promoting specific features in your web application. To learn more, join the waiting list at userlist.io Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.