How it all started. A case study of MindMeister

1. Development Case Study

2. Hello
who I am what we’ll talk
about
Michael Hollauf The Story of
Co-Founder of MindMeister MindMeister
Email: • why usability is key
michael@mindmeister.com
• (ab)using viral marketing
Skype / Yahoo / Twitter:
mhollauf
• some other experiences
and observations

3. About Us

4. About Us
Who, MindMiester?

5. About Us
Who, MindMiester?
Collaborative web-based mind mapping tool
Based on Ruby on Rails & AJAX

6. About Us
Who, MindMiester?
Collaborative web-based mind mapping tool
Based on Ruby on Rails & AJAX
hmm...

7. About Us
Who, MindMiester?
Collaborative web-based mind mapping tool
Based on Ruby on Rails & AJAX
hmm...
It’s like Google Docs, but for mind maps

12. History
2006 2007 2008

13. History
Idea
2006 2007 2008

14. History
Idea
First prototypes
2006 2007 2008

15. History
Idea
First prototypes
Start implementation
2006 2007 2008

16. History
Idea
First prototypes
Start implementation
Start private beta
2006 2007 2008

17. History
Idea
First prototypes
Start implementation
Start private beta
Go live
2006 2007 2008

18. Background

19. Background
Our past
8+ years in IT industry
Lived through Web 1.0 boom
Quit to set up own company

20. Background
Our past
8+ years in IT industry
Lived through Web 1.0 boom
Quit to set up own company
Drivers to start own site
Liked Web 2.0 activity
Discovered Ruby on Rails in 2005
Free resources in company

21. Early
2006 The Idea

22. Early
2006 The Idea
Using Google Docs and MindManager

23. Early
2006 The Idea
Using Google Docs and MindManager
Google Docs:
collaborative word processing

24. Early
2006 The Idea
Using Google Docs and MindManager
Google Docs:
collaborative word processing
MindManager:
non-collaborative brainstorming

25. Early
2006 The Idea
Using Google Docs and MindManager
Google Docs:
collaborative word processing
MindManager:
non-collaborative brainstorming ...

26. The Plan

27. The Plan
Create web-based mind mapping tool
Based on HTML / CSS / JavaScript / AJAX only
Enable real-time collaboration (with effects...)

28. The Plan
Create web-based mind mapping tool
Based on HTML / CSS / JavaScript / AJAX only
Enable real-time collaboration (with effects...)
Focus on
Simple and intuitive interface
Fewer features, no learning required
Appealing graphic design

29. August
2006 First Prototype

30. August
2006 First Prototype

31. UI Design

32. UI Design
What we wanted
clean & simple
but with a bit of eye candy
more Mac than Windows

33. UI Design
What we wanted
clean & simple
but with a bit of eye candy
more Mac than Windows
-> Web 2.0

35. 29/10/2006

36. 29/10/2006

37. 29/10/2006

38. 02/11/2006

39. 07/11/2006

40. 12/11/2006

41. 30/11/2006

42. 30/11/2006

43. 30/11/2006

44. The Name

45. The Name
Choosing the name
took nearly half a year
lots of beer mat scribbles and ajaxwhois
searches

46. The Name
Choosing the name
took nearly half a year
lots of beer mat scribbles and ajaxwhois
searches
It should be
unique
memorable
innovative, if possible
with available .com domain ... ?

53. Feb 12,
2007 Private Beta Start

54. Feb 12,
2007 Private Beta Start
Why you should do a beta phase
Two launches
quot;privatequot; makes it exclusive
You get lots of feedback ...

55. Feb 12,
2007 Private Beta Start
Why you should do a beta phase
Two launches
quot;privatequot; makes it exclusive
You get lots of feedback ...
Tips
Invite everyone you know (200+)
Add an invitation button / code
No longer than 2 months
Upgrade offer at end

56. Feb 20,
2007

57. Feb 20,
2007

58. Feb 21,
2007

59. Feb 21,
2007

60. Feb 21,
2007

61. March
2007

62. March
2007

63. March
2007
Competition

64. March
2007
Competition
Be confident

65. March
2007
Competition
Be confident
Be inspired

66. March
2007
Competition
Be confident
Be inspired
Be there first ;-)

67. May 1,
2007 Going Live

68. May 1,
2007 Going Live
Statistics at Go Live

69. May 1,
2007 Going Live
Statistics at Go Live Statistics one week after
Go Live

70. Other Awards
Best User Centered Design
Hasso Plattner Ventures
July 2007
Innovation Award 2008
Initiative Mittelstand
February 2008
European Top 100 Winner
Red Herring
March 2008

71. User Numbers

72. Site Scores

73. Site Scores
Google PageRank: 6

74. Site Scores
Google PageRank: 6
Googe Domain Visibility: 59%

75. Site Scores
Google PageRank: 6
Googe Domain Visibility: 59%
del.icio.us Bookmarks: >10053

76. Site Scores
Google PageRank: 6
Googe Domain Visibility: 59%
del.icio.us Bookmarks: >10053
Fastest growing Web 2.0 site from
Germany (Rank 197)

77. Design & Usability

78. Design & Usability
Lessons learned

79. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister

80. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister
Every euro spent on design is a euro well spent

81. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister
Every euro spent on design is a euro well spent
Less is so much more

82. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister
Every euro spent on design is a euro well spent
Less is so much more
Recommendations

83. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister
Every euro spent on design is a euro well spent
Less is so much more
Recommendations
Get a great designer on board

84. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister
Every euro spent on design is a euro well spent
Less is so much more
Recommendations
Get a great designer on board
Target non-technical users

85. Design & Usability
Lessons learned
THE differentiator for MindMeister
Every euro spent on design is a euro well spent
Less is so much more
Recommendations
Get a great designer on board
Target non-technical users
Watch every Apple demo

86. UI Design: The Share Dialog

87. UI Design: The Share Dialog

88. UI Design: The Share Dialog

89. UI Design: The Share Dialog

90. UI Design: The Share Dialog

91. UI Design: The Share Dialog

92. UI Design: The Share Dialog

93. Marketing

94. Marketing
Do’s

95. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers

96. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals

97. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API

98. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API
Write regular newsletter & blog posts

99. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API
Write regular newsletter & blog posts
“Add to del.icio.us / digg” button

100. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API
Write regular newsletter & blog posts
“Add to del.icio.us / digg” button
Spend time (and money) on SEO

101. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API
Write regular newsletter & blog posts
“Add to del.icio.us / digg” button
Spend time (and money) on SEO
Be generous with Premium accounts

102. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API
Write regular newsletter & blog posts
“Add to del.icio.us / digg” button
Spend time (and money) on SEO
Be generous with Premium accounts
Track everything!

103. Marketing
Do’s
Write to bloggers
Post site to app portals
Create an API
Write regular newsletter & blog posts
“Add to del.icio.us / digg” button
Spend time (and money) on SEO
Be generous with Premium accounts
Track everything!

104. Marketing

105. Marketing
Don’ts

106. Marketing
Don’ts
Comment Spam

107. Marketing
Don’ts
Comment Spam

108. Marketing
Don’ts
Comment Spam
Pay for placement and
ads

109. Marketing
Don’ts
Comment Spam
Pay for placement and
ads
Give premium accounts
to everyone

110. Other Experiences

111. Other Experiences
Business Model
Don't start charging before its really stable
Carefully select premium features
Viral / “Spread the word” features
Business Use features
Think of students etc

112. Other Experiences

113. Other Experiences

114. Other Experiences
Technical Issues
Everybody has them
It pays to be honest and upfront
Explain why it happened (and why it won’t happen again)
Announce maintenance windows

115. Other Experiences

116. Other Experiences

117. Other Experiences
Support
Excellent,
Be responsive - people love thanks! It's so great to
getting an answer within receive such a positive
response from you, it's such a
minutes refreshing change from all
the other websites that
just ignore my
Hi
... thanks for Michael,
the quick Well, that’s about the
reply. Makes me fall in fastest turn around
support I’ve ever had.
love with Mindmeister Not even enough time
even more! ... to think about going

118. Current Status
Investment round closed
New version
out soon
Business and
Academic
Editions
Lots of new
features!

119. Thank You!