July 2016 Summaries

At Intercom, they've recognized that disruptions like modals and pop-ups can be intrusive and annoying to users, causing them to close the message without even scanning it. To address this, they've designed a new messaging system that gives users more control over their attention, allowing them to read messages when they're ready. This flexibility means customers can finish tasks on the website or app before engaging with the message, and even come back later if they want to. By putting users in control, Intercom has seen higher engagement rates, as users are more receptive to messages that don't disrupt their experience. The new system also respects user preferences, never showing a dismissed message again. Ultimately, Intercom aims to create a more human-like messaging experience, being more personal and respectful of end-users' time and attention.

Semantic design versioning is a system to organize and track the evolution of designs in collaboration. It helps in capturing complexity, conveying meaning, maintaining order, and ensuring extensibility. This approach enables designers to break down problems into smaller parts, define each part's meaning, arrange steps in an ordered manner, and create a system that can grow with the team's needs. By adopting semantic design versioning, designers can communicate more effectively, navigate complex projects, and ultimately create better experiences for their customers.

The first wave of the internet was deeply impersonal, enabling immediacy, scale, and access, but anonymity ruled, making conversations transactional and disposable. However, Intercom's messenger aims to change this by making internet business personal, allowing users to express richness in real life through technology. The new messenger features profiles for real people, sharing simple details like name, photo, and job title to build trust between users and businesses. Face and name perception play a central role in social interaction, and Intercom's messenger puts names and faces front and center to facilitate human connections. Despite the potential for fake profiles, transparency through system text such as active status labels, location, and local time adds authenticity to conversations. These small details may seem unimportant but assembled together, they subtly change the conversation for the better. Users may not initially care about this level of detail in a messaging experience, but once they see it, they start to crave connection, leading to increased trust, forgiveness, and loyalty from customers.

The Intercom Messenger is a new messaging platform designed to help businesses more personally connect with their customers. The messenger has been developed after a year of work and takes into account the changing nature of communication technology, which is shifting from email and live chat to social platforms and modern messaging. Businesses currently lag behind in terms of communication with their customers, who prefer to interact with people rather than faceless brands or soulless technologies. The new messenger aims to address these needs by providing a more personalized and adaptable solution that supports various message formats, delivery options, response methods, customization, and platform flexibility. With this release, Intercom is positioning itself as a leader in the future of business communication, with plans to continue innovating and expanding its offerings.

The text discusses how people buy products, highlighting that customers may describe their problem in different ways and need multiple ways to frame your offering. It emphasizes the importance of building roads that connect with each customer, regardless of their starting point. The article identifies four ways people can end up using a product: they have a problem but don't know how to solve it; they know the problem and think they know the category of the solution; they know the problem, the type of solution, and want to replace an existing one; or they know the problem and the type of solution but are looking for something new. The text also touches on the niche-to-win strategy, where a company identifies a specific market segment to gain initial traction before deploying competitive marketing. Ultimately, it stresses that there is no single way to market a product and that having a plan for these four starting points is crucial for any marketing strategy.

We redesigned our blog, Inside Intercom, to create a connected and organized experience. The new design aims to provide content that's more akin to a high-quality editorial publication, with a focus on hierarchy, typography, and illustration. The homepage now features a lead article, followed by secondary and tertiary articles, with a solid grid providing structure. The podcast is fully integrated into the design, with an inline player allowing readers to listen while browsing. New categories have been added, including Startups and Marketing, making it easier for readers to discover relevant content. Reading enhancements include usability and navigation improvements, such as estimated reading times and progress bars, as well as a more personalized approach through commissioned illustrations and author portraits. The new design reflects Intercom's design-led culture and aims to provide a better experience for readers.

The article highlights the importance of messaging in onboarding new customers to a product, as it can help demonstrate value and ensure continuous engagement. It emphasizes that most onboarding efforts focus solely on the initial interface interactions, neglecting the crucial 30 days following sign-up. Successful onboarding is about providing ongoing value through messaging, which can be used to show users why they're there, what they can accomplish, and what to do next. The article suggests a series of five messages that can guarantee new signups get the most out of the product: a welcome message, follow-up message, activation message, education message, and nudge message. Each message aims to sell the value, make action easy, use active language, set expectations, and educate users based on their behavior. By using these messages collectively, businesses can convert new signups into engaged users and provide long-term value for both themselves and their customers.