18 comments

  • M. AppelmanM. Appelman, 8 years ago

    The speech bubbles pop up a bit too slow, kept scrolling past them.

    7 points
  • Giovanni HobbinsGiovanni Hobbins, 8 years ago (edited 8 years ago )

    Like everyone else, I kept thinking "preach!" when reading this. But in real life, it's not so simple.

    In a fast paced startup environment, there isn't always time/resources to research, validate, prototype, and test every new feature. And if your first few customers want custom functionality, so be it - referrals are everything. Maybe once you've reached product-market fit and profitability you can start telling everyone no.

    It's great having principles and sticking to them but not if it's going to slow everything down and put you out of business. This "product strategy means saying no" mentality is only viable for companies like Intercom that have had success and know their place in the competitive landscape.

    Just my 2 cents. I'd actually love if someone could explain to me why I'm wrong. It's an issue I battle with daily.

    6 points
    • Derrick SchippertDerrick Schippert, 8 years ago

      You should always make time to prototype and validate with users, even 5-10 minute chats w/ the user talking through ultra lightweight sketches, wireframes, etc

      0 points
      • Giovanni HobbinsGiovanni Hobbins, 8 years ago

        Our approach has been to build and release then do the phone calls and user testing to adapt from there. Since I have to do a lot more than design as a cofounder, it's not worth making the dev team idle so I can validate everything before it's built. At least not in our current set up.

        1 point
  • Wes OudshoornWes Oudshoorn, 8 years ago

    Good design is about saying NO to scroll and hover effects.

    3 points
    • Michael AleoMichael Aleo, 8 years ago

      I think in this case, successful design was about building their email list at the bottom. It's #1 on DN. Mission accomplished.

      10 points
  • Jesus GallentJesus Gallent, 8 years ago

    I love it!

    3 points
  • Jason HegyessyJason Hegyessy, 8 years ago (edited 8 years ago )

    If you block trackers the CSS doesn't render in Safari. Was that also about saying no?

    2 points
  • Duke CavinskiDuke Cavinski, 8 years ago

    this gave me chills.

    2 points
  • Harry JonesHarry Jones, 8 years ago

    Intercom product planning meeting:

    Marketing guy: "I have this great idea, let's make a microsite all about our product management philosophy"

    Product Manager: "NO!" ... "Oh, wait"

    1 point
  • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, 8 years ago

    From Intercom’s home page:

    A fundamentally new way to communicate with your customers.

    From the saying no page:

    But we'll lose the customer.

    No.

    I like the page, but found that funny.

    1 point
  • David DarnesDavid Darnes, 8 years ago

    Can totally sympathise with this. Makes me feel better that saying no is a good idea, sometimes it can feel like you're being the Scrooge of company.

    1 point