Product Thursday: Wireframing for Noobs (MBAs too!)

One of the longstanding jokes in business school is that MBAs think in PowerPoint. In the startup world, people don’t often think in PowerPoint - they think in code.  So what’s the easiest way to bridge that gap?

Don’t try and be something you’re not (unless you actually want to learn how to code). Instead, use the skills you have/are good at and put them to good use. Think you’ve got a great idea for a product but can’t build it with code? Build it with PowerPoint or Keynote.

Clickable prototypes save a ton of time in the design process and you can get your ideas in front of people quickly to test whether or not they’re valid. Keynote works on iPads too, so if you’re looking to build a mobile app, you can do it in Keynote AND test it on iPads with real users.  I’ve been doing this lately and I love it.

No more excuses. JFBI, even if it is in Keynote.

House of Cards: The Content Wars Are A Game of Thrones

House of Cards has gotten a ton of attention lately for a few reasons:

  • It’s an awesome show (though I haven’t seen it yet)
  • All episodes were delivered at the same time (to satisfy binge viewers)
  • It’s another major step for Netflix in delivering unique content to keep viewers locked into their model

Why is this model smart?

Content providers can use exclusive content to be valuable & differentiate themselves from competitors. Netflix has already done this with Lilyhammer.  They’ve also continued tapping into ”binge viewing” behavior in an organized way.  Although it’s unclear what the biggest benefits of that behavior will be quite yet, they’re learning something valuable by being a first mover here.

People want access to content without restrictions and aside from being the only place to access it, Netflix’s distribution models is working for consumers with a “watch where you want, when you want” mindset.

What are the downsides of this model?

It’s really expensive and only works for top-quality content. Because its so expensive to do it this way (and therefore the costs of failure are high), it only works for top caliber content and therefore isn’t something that will be the only way things are done. It’s why “pilots” exist in TV - see if the audience likes it and then sink more money into it. Episodic content that follows this model also has a benefit of giving viewers a reason to come back to a service. In that sense I think we’ll see these models mix.

Piracy is still going to be a big issue. If you don’t subscribe to Netflix or the service, there’s no way to get the content except pirating it. That’s part of the reason Game of Thrones was pirated a ton (and consequently was so successful). Many of the dynamics in this post on the music industry could also apply to video content. We still haven’t seen a producer of content fully embrace the piracy engine to positive effect yet.

What does this all mean for the people playing this “game of thrones” in the content landscape?

The implications of all of this are good for startups - Americans watch over 5 hours a day of content and not all of it is that “top notch” stuff like House of Cards or Game of Thrones. Startups don’t need to unseat that “top value” content quite yet - they can let this game of thrones happen and focus more on the Torso of TV (read Suster’s post if you haven’t) and create a ton of value around providing meaningful context and discovery for the rest of the video landscape.

We’ve created a secure, prosperous island in an economy that is suffering under the weight of the riches those on the island extract.
No, this isn’t referring to the banking industry, it’s referring to the healthcare industry. If you haven’t read this giant article in Time yet, it’s eye opening and equally unsurprising if you’ve had first-hand experience with the healthcare system.

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