Dead Simple User Testing

Clay Shirky on Meet-ups User Testing

Every now and again, I see a business doing something so sensible and so radical at the same time that I realize I'm seeing a little piece of the future. I had that feeling last week, after visiting my friend Scott Heiferman at Meetup.

On my way out after a meeting, Scott pulled me into a room by the elevators, where a couple of product people were watching a live webcam feed of someone using Meetup. Said user was having a hard time figuring out a new feature, and the product people, riveted, were taking notes. It was the simplest setup I'd ever seen for user feedback, and I asked Scott how often they did that sort of thing. "Every day" came the reply.

Every day. That's not user testing as a task to be checked off on the way to launch. That's learning from users as a way of life.

Andres Glusman and Karina van Schaardenburg designed Meetup's set-up to be simple and cheap: no dedicated room, no two-way mirrors, just a webcam and a volunteer. This goal is to look for obvious improvements continuously, rather than running outsourced, large-N testing every eighteen months. As important, these tests turn into live task lists, not archived reports. As Glusman describes the goal, it's "Have people who build stuff watch others use the stuff they build."

"Wealth Management" A Turnoff to Many Clients

"Wealth Management" A Turnoff to Many Clients

Wealth management is an industry buzzword, but a lot of affluent folks don’t like the term.

According to a survey of 503 households with at least $500,000 in investable assets conducted last summer by Spectrem Group, 41% of respondents either “strongly disagree” or “disagree” that the term “wealth management” appeals to them. The percentage comfortable with the term increases as wealth level increases, and is more acceptable to senior level executives than to business owners.


As for the type of services offered under the  “wealth management” umbrella, the affluent most want them to include comprehensive financial planning (78%), estate planning (68%) and tax planning (64%). Legacy planning to pass along wealth to the next generation was next (59%), followed by asset management (57%).

The survey also found that independent financial planners (29%), independent investment advisors (15%) and full-service brokers (18%) were by far the ones the affluent turn to first for assistance.

In addition, 59% of respondents prefer to pay a fixed fee, rather than commission, although business owners have a stronger preference (67%) than senior corporate executives (48%) for fees. Additionally, 24% are not aware their financial provider has wealth management programs. Of those who are aware, only 32% of those with less than $1 million in assets, and 51% with more than $1 million in assets, are taking advantage of the wealth management services.