February 2017 Summaries

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a simple survey that asks customers how likely they are to recommend a company to a friend or colleague, with a score of 0-10. It's a powerful metric that can be used by every employee in the company to improve customer experience and find new customers. NPS helps identify market position, key messaging, and ideal customer personas for marketers, while also providing insight into motivations and drivers of future buyers for sales teams. For customer support/success teams, NPS allows routine account engagement and proactive issue identification, reducing future support needed. CEOs/Founders can use NPS as a KPI to measure the health of their organization, and product/engineering teams can gain feedback on brand/product sentiment through categorization of data. Data science can enhance analysis with the "voice of customer" and finance departments can use NPS to improve financial forecasts tied to LTV. HR can also measure employee satisfaction with eNPS, which provides a framework for measuring employee satisfaction, determining recruitment prospects, and making departmental or company-wide improvements.

Three productivity apps, Plan, Week Plan, and PomoDone, were selected based on cost, scheduling capability, and simplicity. These apps cater to different needs, with Plan being ideal for quickly scheduling time blocks, Week Plan offering comprehensive prioritization and scheduling, and PomoDone tracking and implementing time blocks using the Pomodoro Technique. Each app has unique features, such as drag-and-drop task management in Plan, weekly planning and goal-setting in Week Plan, and task-focused time tracking in PomoDone.

Copper is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that seamlessly integrates with Google apps, allowing users to manage their workday tasks, schedule follow-up calls, and track sales progress in one familiar place. The tool was built using Google's material design principles, making it look and feel like the G Suite tools users already use. Copper eliminates data entry by letting users add new contacts, track email opens and views, and create new opportunities right from their inbox. The tool also provides visual pipelines of deal activity, allowing users to easily see what's hot and what's lagging. Additionally, Copper integrates with Zapier, an app automation tool, which unlocks access to 750+ other business tools, enabling users to automate tedious steps in their pipeline and free up time to focus on closing deals. By using Copper and Zapier, teams can close deals without a dedicated sales staff, harness the competitive energy of their sales team, set clear goals for individuals and the company as a whole, and celebrate team wins.

API documentation should cater to both developers and non-developers, as non-developers often initiate the integration process despite developers ultimately implementing it. While developers benefit from concise, fact-focused documentation, non-developers require information presented in an empowering and accessible manner, often organized by use case, to help them understand the potential of the API and how it can solve their problems. Non-developers, although not experts in coding, are usually willing to experiment and explore possibilities, and effective documentation can aid them in conceptualizing the API's capabilities before involving a developer. Thus, it's crucial to create materials that appeal to both groups, enabling non-developers to confidently communicate their needs to developers while ensuring developers can easily implement the requested solutions. Integrating with platforms like the Zapier Developer Platform can further enhance accessibility by allowing users to connect with numerous apps, thus broadening the API's appeal and usability.

Slack is designed to replace all communication tools, but it can also be a distraction if not used properly. To use Slack productively without getting overwhelmed by distracting conversations, one should quickly catch up on conversations in Slack by using All Unreads, which shows all unread messages from all channels in one place. This feature allows users to browse unread channels alphabetically or by newest/oldest messages, and even uses "Scientific order" to prioritize channels based on importance. Users can also use Slack's keyboard shortcuts to quickly clear through unread messages, switch between channels, edit their last message, and more. Additionally, users can turn off notifications, rely on email notifications, and use features like Highlight Words and Starred messages to stay focused and informed. By managing and optimizing Slack channels, such as being picky about sidebar channels, muting unnecessary channels, and defining each channel's focus, users can reduce distractions and increase productivity. Ultimately, finding a balance between using Slack for team communication and preventing it from taking over work time is key to staying productive in the platform.

The modern worker is faced with an overwhelming number of software and hardware options, making it challenging to pick the right tool for their goals without significant time and energy investment. To overcome this, one must adopt the "less is more" principle, also known as Essentialism, which emphasizes focusing on what's essential rather than doing less for the sake of less. To evaluate tools effectively, consider choosing them for a specific purpose, selecting the right number of tools that serve multiple purposes, finding the optimal balance between ease and control, and staying curious while making informed decisions to avoid wasting time on endless evaluations.

Mastery is a mindset that requires focus, practice, and feedback to continually improve one's skills and abilities. It involves setting clear goals, identifying key habits and skills to focus on, and practicing well to achieve excellence in a particular field or profession. The pursuit of mastery can lead to increased motivation, purpose, and meaning in life, as well as improved performance and achievement. To start this pursuit, it is essential to develop the ability to focus on what's important, practice well, and seek feedback from others. By adopting a craftsmanship mindset and applying these principles, individuals can overcome the challenges of modern work and create a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their careers.

The command line interface (CLI) remains an essential tool for developers, serving as a powerful way to manage local processes, interact with cloud services, and perform continuous integration tasks. The text discusses best practices for building user-friendly CLIs, emphasizing the importance of an excellent help screen, standard conventions for commands and flags, and the necessity of testing across different platforms to ensure broad usability. It highlights the significance of security when CLIs interface with services, advocating for secure authentication methods like OAuth tokens instead of storing raw credentials. Additionally, customization is key, allowing developers to tailor the CLI to their needs through configuration files that can set default parameters. Drawing from Zapier's own experience in developing their CLI, the text suggests leveraging established patterns and conventions from other successful tools to enhance the developer experience.

O'Reilly Media, a prominent publisher of technical books, has made many of its titles available for free through various channels. The company's O'Reilly Open Book site offers some free books with Creative Commons licenses, while others are only available online reading or are out of print but now offered for free due to their age. Free coding books cover topics such as R programming, JavaScript design patterns, Clojure, and RESTful web services, catering to both beginners and experienced developers. Additionally, O'Reilly offers a range of media and internet culture books that explore the history and influence of technology, including classics like "The Cathedral & the Bazaar" and "We the Media". Furthermore, the company's Atlas site features other free online books that can be read but not downloaded due to copyright restrictions.

When starting an online store, it can be challenging to commit to paying for an eCommerce platform, especially when you're just beginning. Fortunately, there are several free options available, including Storenvy, Selz, Big Cartel, Jimdo, Gumroad, and Facebook Pages. These platforms offer various features and pricing plans, ranging from simple store builders to full-featured eCommerce stores with customization options. Self-hosted apps like WooCommerce and Magento can also be used, but require more setup and maintenance time. Additionally, form builder apps like JotForm, Cognito Forms, and Google Forms can be used to create a simple online store, although they may not offer all the features of other platforms. Ultimately, finding the right free eCommerce platform will depend on your specific needs and business goals.

Zapier advocates for the use of subscription webhooks over static webhooks due to the significant differences in user experience and success rates. While static webhooks require users to manually enter a URL to receive notifications, often leading to errors and a lower success rate, subscription webhooks streamline the process by allowing applications to register for notifications through an API endpoint, which can be automated and does not burden the user with manual setup. Data from Zapier shows that static webhooks have a significantly lower success rate, with only about half of users succeeding after 20 minutes, whereas subscription webhooks reach a more than 50% success rate in under five minutes. This data has led Zapier to recommend that developers avoid implementing static webhooks, except for initial prototypes, and instead adopt subscription webhooks to enhance user experience and integration success. Moreover, providing a user interface, as exemplified by Stripe, can help developers and technical users manually test webhooks while maintaining the benefits of subscription webhooks for general users.

Deep Work' by Cal Newport advocates for a focused approach to work, where individuals eliminate distractions and work on a single task with full concentration for extended periods. This approach is crucial for producing high-quality work and achieving personal growth. In contrast, `Messy' by Tim Harford suggests that embracing chaos and disorder can be beneficial for creativity and productivity. The two books highlight the importance of finding a balance between focus and flexibility, autonomy and structure, in order to achieve one's best work. Ultimately, both books propose that individuals should prioritize their most valuable work and strive to produce meaningful output.

The Zapier team has a significant crush on Airtable, a relational database that has emerged as an app darling across various teams within the company. Airtable's ease of use and versatility have led to its adoption by nearly every team, from data science to product marketing. The team has shared stories of how they are using Airtable and automation to organize their work, highlighting four members who are leveraging Airtable to streamline their workflows. These users include Russell Pierce, who uses Airtable to track partner popularity on Twitter; Joe Stych, who leads product marketing at Zapier and uses Airtable to automate launch processes; Chris Geoghegan, a product manager who uses Airtable to establish and automate a feedback loop for new product features; and David Brownman, a software engineer who uses Airtable to track his personal interests in gaming, reading, and concert-attending. The Zapier team has also developed built-in apps that can be used in workflows, such as email and SMS triggers.

Silence is often underappreciated as a productivity tool, but it can have significant benefits for our health and focus. Excessive noise from airports, highways, and other sources has been linked to various health problems, including high blood pressure, sleep loss, and stress hormones. General daily distractions, such as conversations and interruptions at work, can also be detrimental to our ability to focus and create value. In contrast, silence allows the brain to return to its normal default state, promoting relaxation and reducing mental fatigue. By incorporating periods of strict quiet time into our day, we can improve our productivity, creativity, and overall well-being.

Node JS is a widely used programming language for building APIs across various company sizes, and using a framework can simplify the process by focusing on data access rather than endpoint exposure. Three popular Node JS frameworks for API development are ActionHero, Hapi, and LoopBack, each offering unique features. ActionHero excels in real-time communication and built-in queuing, making it ideal for services requiring such capabilities. Hapi, known for its modularity, allows for easy expansion and is noted for its performance under heavy loads, partly due to its origins with Walmart Labs. LoopBack, which is built on Express, stands out for its support of the OpenAPI Specification, providing tools for API documentation and exploration. While each framework has its strengths, the choice depends on specific project needs, such as real-time features, modularity, or API description generation. Community support metrics provide insight into each framework's popularity, but the ultimate decision should align with the API's purpose and user needs, potentially leveraging platforms like the Zapier Developer Platform for broader API integration.