Disqus - Latest Comments for kaz

Re: Prototyping with Framer, part 2

kaz — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:29:36 -0000

Hi, rookie question - where do I get the source Sketch files for this episode?

Re: Better isn’t good enough

kaz — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:32:30 -0000

I agree that better isn't enough, but labeling each service's core activity as a status update seems to ignore or downplay the more significant new types of content/interactions that each service created.

Facebook: private networks were a short term win, the significant change was bringing "real" identities to online communication.

Twitter: the very concept of "following" was poorly defined before Twitter. Choosing the right verb was a huge step in enabling the "follow your interests, not just your friends" dynamic. And Twitter also helped introduce the concept of thinking about experiences as micro-events. "Is this tweet-worthy?" wasn't something people ever had to think about until they had a tool to capture/distribute these thoughts.

Instagram: Rather than just offering visual status updates, Instagram allowed for the creation of moments that previously went un-captured. Filters made everyone feel like they could take "interesting" photos.

Re: Instagram Stabbing Itself By Leaving Twitter Cards Off

kaz — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 00:37:51 -0000

"Creating monetization models that are more in-line with the web"

Since when does Instagram do things that are in-line with the web? Their app-first approach has been key to them delivering highly refined user experiences, and that goal is the same even when introducing ads.
Like Facebook (and Twitter) - they want to have their core experience occur within an environment that they control.

Even with improved photo tools, I'm not sure Twitter can own "photos" like Instagram currently does. Each medium seems to take a dominant form, even when they support multiple types of media.

Twitter = text (even though they support photos, videos)
Instagram = photos (even though they offer videos)

In the end, Instagram doesn't want to keep up with Twitter - they want to surpass them. The gamble is that the IG+FB network will provide enough engagement to keep the community happy despite lacking Twitter's tremendous distribution power.

Re: Why companies should have Product Editors, not Product Managers

kaz — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 23:35:31 -0000

From another related blog post: "Software isn't built; it’s written...Engineers are the authors, Product managers are the editors." https://medium.com/on-start...

Re: Top 10 Posts on Product Management from the Industry's Best | Sachin Rekhi

kaz — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:30:44 -0000

Fantastic list, thanks for collecting and sharing. If it went to 11, I'd suggest this Quora post from Chris Wetherell: http://www.quora.com/What-i...

Re: Why the integrated approach to mobile devices is winning

kaz — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:17:58 -0000

Apple seems like they're constantly attacking the idea of "good enough". Whenever a space looks commoditized, Apple jumps in with a non-commodity option. See: laptops, MP3 players, cell phones, (and maybe even retail stores?)...Up next: TVs?

Re: Apple - You missed the last step in your MB Retina strategy

kaz — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:55:28 -0000

Still space themed, but retina high-res: http://www.flickr.com/photo...

Re: Elapsed Time: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: Why App Markets Should Ditch the 5 Star Rating System

kaz — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:30:28 -0000

All great suggestions, and from a dev perspective there's no doubt that app search, rating, and discovery could be majorly improved. But I wonder if app users are feeling the pain yet.

Are they desperate for a better app discovery experience when just word of mouth let's them know about all the mega hits like Word with Friends, Draw Something, Angry Birds, etc...? I sort of get the sense that "normals" have enough apps already and aren't really searching for more. What do you guys think?

Re: Elapsed Time: FIRST! Two sharing vectors for you to exploit.

kaz — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:07:10 -0000

These are totally in sync with one of my favorite startup idea generators...courtesy of @jkottke

"A…way of thinking about how to choose web projects is to take something that everyone does with their friends and make it public and permanent. (Permanent as in permalinked.)" Please be sure to be the FIRST person to mention any startups that go after these ideas.

http://www.kottke.org/07/03...

Re: What Happens When Sharing Is Turned Off? People Don’t Dance.

kaz — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:16:00 -0000

From Sept 2010: "Ask the indie professor: Why have audiences stopped dancing?" (spoiler: the use of phones is the suggested cause)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/m...

Re: http://www.brittanybohnet.com/post/4034021268

kaz — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:03:43 -0000

Related to Rodrigo's comment, here's more info on the repackaged story:

"This joke used to be told about Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton previously. And was passed around about someone else before that. Just Google "married him, he'd be president"

http://www.quora.com/Is-the...

Re: Um, Where’s Twitter For Android On Twitter’s Top 10 Apps?

kaz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:28:58 -0000

The chart shows unique user totals, not total traffic. So even though 3rd party apps may have a low % of unique users, those users could be generating a lot more traffic.

From the post: "Users of programs like TweetDeck are some of the most active and frequent users—which is why, along with the nature of how these clients work, a disproportionate amount of the traffic from Twitter runs through such tools."

Re: Twitter+Hits+50+Million+Tweets+Per%26nbsp%3BDay

kaz — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:31:19 -0000

Got part of my answer:

As of June '09:
Google searches per day: 304 Million

As of Feb '10:
Twitter tweets per day: 50 million

Re: Twitter+Hits+50+Million+Tweets+Per%26nbsp%3BDay

kaz — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:20:32 -0000

Any idea how many search queries are performed on Google per day? Would be interesting to see how these two metrics have been trending over time.

Re: Infectious Now Lets You Print Your Own Designs For Custom Wall Decals, iPhone Skins, And More

kaz — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:30:56 -0000

So, Techcrunch/Mobilecrunch has reviewed both GelaSkins and Infectious - what's the verdict - who's got the better covers?

I've owned Gelaskins in the past, and have loved them because of their design (back before you could customize them) and quality - but curious to hear how the quality of Infectious stacks up.

Re: Can We Please Have Jerry Back?

kaz — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:12:06 -0000

Yahoo! had their visionary in Jeff Weiner. He was the only one who could articulate a clear and inspiring strategy inside the Big Purple.

The company's had their share of opportunities to turn things around, but they continue to stumble along.

Re: Tiny Speck Gets Digg's Designer. Digg Gets The Guy Who Designed Threadless

kaz — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:54:24 -0000

Another interesting move in designer webland - Zach Klein's headed to Boxee. Excited to see what happens at all these places.

Re: The Buffett Letters

kaz — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:11:36 -0000

one more request for the letters please. are there any years in particular that are favorites?

kazwell at g mail dot com

Thanks Brad

Re: Products People on Twitter

kaz — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:08:53 -0000

Nice idea Cindy,

I'm a PM in the Bay Area, working on building consumer-focused webapps (cause that's where the passion is - for both creators and users). I'm always trying to learn more about how to best take ideas from concept to product (and I sometimes write more than 140 characters about the process here: now-what.tumblr.com)

http://twitter.com/kaz

Re: Untitled Document

kaz — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:05:15 -0000

"It just depends what you what to pay attention to. If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won't consider possibilities that aren't annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred...You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't." Lots more related thoughts here: http://www.marginalia.org/d...

Re: Untitled Document

kaz — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:57:10 -0000

I guess pipes are popular for physical/digital hybrids: http://www.clusterflock.org...

Re: [bijan sabet] the personal tumblelog of Bijan Sabet

kaz — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:43:46 -0000

Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to nicely edit the footage - far too many videos with quality content online that become intolerable with the lack of any editing whatsoever.....also, I think this video helps explain some of the gaps I have with "getting" twitter. I fundamentally disagree with Jack's quote of "make the canvas small enough and then anything you put on it is a masterpiece."

Re: Apparently You People Don't Really Care About Twitter Downtime

kaz — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:58:43 -0000

Could I request more traffic reports from Google Trends instead of Hitwise? http://tinyurl.com/65xgng

Re: My Thinking on YHOO

kaz — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:08:23 -0000

Great comments from the XY!'s. Spending time at Yahoo! it's hard to see comments like "focus on what it’s good at" and "imagine if they had the right CEO" and not get frustrated. As Joe mentioned, Yahoo still hasn't decided what it wants to be when it grows up - and if Jerry (who's been there since Day 1) doesn't yet know that answer it's hard to think of any outsider who will (personally I think they should have left Jeff Weiner decide but too late for that).

Also per Joe's comment about Yahoo needing to pick a competency I think they should go after the more social/community aspects - ultimately Yahoo! could/should be best at knowing what I'm up to and what I like on the web, ie: who do I contact the most via email, what topics am I most interested in via bookmarks, what movies did I recently see, who are my favorite sports teams, what are my recent statuses via IM, etc....and then help me find people/things I'd be interested in based on that past activity.

Jerry and Sue should start watching reruns of Cheers and do whatever they can to turn Yahoo! into a place where everybody (you care about) knows your name.

Re: FatDoor+Closes+Its+Doors.++Reopens+as%26nbsp%3BCenterd.

kaz — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:48:20 -0000

Not sure if Centerd is much of an upgrade over Fatdoor.