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  • - Hi, I'm Ian Small, CEO of Evernote.

  • In this series, we've been talking a lot about what's going on behind the scenes

  • here at Evernote.

  • Sort of looking behind the curtain, if you will.

  • Today, we're going to do something different.

  • We're going to try and bring you actually on stage with us; talk to you about how

  • you can be a part of building the software that we're building together to make a

  • better Evernote.

  • To do that, I'm here with Jenn, who drives our beta program.

  • Jenn, tell us a little bit about the beta program and why it's important.

  • - Sure.

  • Absolutely.

  • So the beta program is one of the ways that we bring users behind the curtain and

  • involve them in helping us create software that many benefit from.

  • And we do this in a number of different stages.

  • So we have previews, and previews are very early versions of our software.

  • They have a rough shape, but they are far from complete.

  • And during that preview stage, we're looking for early feedback and to see

  • indicators that we're generally on the right path.

  • The earlier we get feedback, the more likely we are to be on target.

  • - Makes a lot of sense.

  • If we get some feedback it's cheaper to change direction the earlier we change

  • direction.

  • - Exactly

  • - What about betas?

  • - So betas for us are when things are really stable and much further along.

  • We're ready to share new features or capabilities with larger numbers of users,

  • but before it's available to the general public.

  • And during that beta stage, we're looking to ensure that what we've built meets

  • users' needs.

  • - You talked about previews and you talked about the beta program.

  • What kind of scale do these run at?

  • - So the scale can vary quite a bit depending on what stage we're in.

  • So for example, a new version of Windows was put into preview in February.

  • We essentially rebuilt the application from the ground up and we knew there were

  • key features that were missing, issues that needed to be resolved, but we started

  • a preview with a hundred users.

  • - It really was almost a skeleton of Evernote.

  • It wasn't in any way fully featured, but we wanted to see are we on a path that is

  • going to be promising--

  • - Exactly.

  • - In such a small test group.

  • - Exactly.

  • - So as you move to the other end to betas, how big does the scale get?

  • - So those can get pretty large.

  • So our new note editor is currently in beta and we've already put that in front

  • of a hundred thousand users.

  • - That's really big.

  • So let's talk a little bit about what makes for good feedback in this sort of

  • process.

  • What's useful to us?

  • And what's little harder for us to work with?

  • - Less useful feedback is nonspecific.

  • So, for example, when users tell us 'I don't like it' that's good for us to know

  • but we unfortunately can't do much with that.

  • - What's an example of some good feedback some actionable feedback that

  • we've be able to get?

  • - What's good feedback is very specific and provides examples or use

  • cases.

  • - And so really good feedback isn't 'nice' feedback, good feedback is feedback

  • that is actionable to us.

  • - Exactly.

  • - So what we really want is feedback we can do something with.

  • Okay.

  • So who who pays attention to all this feedback?

  • I mean, I know I spend time in the forums and I sometimes engage with users and all

  • the rest, but it's more than just me.

  • - A lot of people from various functions within the company.

  • So we have product managers and engineers and marketers and customer success folks,

  • and at the end of the day we're focused on creating software that delights our users.

  • And we need to listen to our users to be able to accomplish that, so we take it

  • very seriously.

  • - So as we beta these things will it all be in the web client?

  • I know a lot of what we've been showing has been web client focused in the- in the

  • behind-the-scenes videos, but are we going beyond that?

  • - You'll still continue to see betas and new features in the web client because

  • we can move so quickly on that front and especially we can react quickly.

  • However, we are getting close to the point where we're going to start beta-ing new

  • features in our desktop clients as well as our mobile clients.

  • - That's good.

  • So if we are doing betas on things like our Mac platform or our Windows platform

  • are people going to be able to look at those betas without removing their current

  • environment, or do they have to sort of go all in and get rid of their current

  • environment?

  • - As much as possible and where we can, we do allow people to install

  • side-by-side.

  • And so for example on the Windows or Mac versions, you will be able to have both

  • the client you've been using and the beta client as well.

  • - That makes sense.

  • So even for instance on the web editor, we've always given people the ability to

  • go back to the old editor if there's something they don't like about the new

  • editor they're beta-ing.

  • - Exactly.

  • - You talked about the Mac and Windows beta so do you have any idea about when

  • those might be?

  • - That's kind of a trick question.

  • I know you yourself have avoided answering that question.

  • But if this video is any indicator, we are nearing that point.

  • - That sounds pretty good.

  • So if people are really interested in what we've been talking about, how do they get

  • involved?

  • - It's very easy to get involved.

  • So users can go to evernote.com/betaprogram, answer a few

  • simple questions, and then we'll be in touch in the upcoming months to tell them

  • more about the betas they can participate in.

  • - Cool.

  • So if this was an infomercial, I'd look at the camera and say, 'that's

  • https://evernote.com/beta program'.

  • Will there be steak knives?

  • - Possibly?

  • We shall see.

  • - We shall see.

  • It's very exciting.

  • But seriously, beta programs are incredibly important to us because we're

  • really really focused on creating software that works for you, and you need to be a

  • part of that process.

  • So if you've been interested in what we've been talking about, please sign up.

  • We'd really appreciate it.

  • Jenn, thanks for showing us everything about the beta program.

  • That's been great, and we hope to see you next time behind the scenes at Evernote.

- Hi, I'm Ian Small, CEO of Evernote.

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