Luma
The easiest way to capture, organise and share meeting notes
So last time we updated we discussed the progress we were making with 2.0, a new prototype we'd built for our software for account managers and how we were going to test it with user feedback session. As we conducted these sessions it dawned on us that while the feedback was good, there was a problem with what we were doing.
The pretty prototype only hinted at the full functionality we hoped to build one day. People weren't REALLY using the product, instead they were extrapolating in their mind what the final product would be able to accomplish - we were basically hinting at something wonderful so their response was good too.
In our goal to make a "unique" product, a tool that would help account managers with all their daily tasks, we had tacked on so many features (which were already a shortlist of all the things we had imagined) together. A product like this didn't exist - in the same manner that the combination of 10 different lottery digits is almost impossible to guess. It was also full of positive things - but we hadn't really resolved the technical ways that these problems were going to be solved.
Having realised this, we worried that it would be another long winding road (like Luma 1.0), before we had something in front of users that was truly useful.
We made a decision. We are a small nimble team so we decided to make a small nimble product. We've taken ONE of the ideas we had from 2.0 (a more efficient and organised system for taking down meeting notes) and expanded and grown the idea. This is what we've been working on the last 2 months, and it's almost ready for users.
As users of products we really love simple, fast and clever software. So we've really focused on those characteristics for this new product. We hope we have achieved it, and if not, we hope that having users on a small product means we can tinker here and there until we meet those high standards.
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Seedtable featured us in a list of the 100 best Manchester start-ups. We didn't have to apply for this so I think they scoured the Internet for news articles etc. We had quite a bit of coverage from our launch so good to know it's been picked up!
So after an initial buzz and a number of sign ups, we found users dropped off pretty quick.
We went back to the drawing board to evaluate the feedback we've had so far. From that we came up with several ideas for how to progress Luma and create something users would find value in using every day.
We've therefore got the outlines of Luma 2.0 (an internal-only name for the new version) and have begun a more comprehensive user research phase to validate the features.
We've even built a working high-fidelity prototype this time in order to get feedback on features users like, dislike, would/wouldn't find a use for, etc (we used Figma for creating the prototype, recommend it to anyone looking to do something similar).
The plus side is that we're now building up a good picture of what's actually worth the development time to build and what isn't - saving us a lot of time and effort in the long-run.
Amazing news - we've been featured on BetaList after submitting our profile roughly two weeks ago. You can check it out here: https://betalist.com/startups/luma
It was a relatively easy application process and we then got an email back a few days later to say we would be featured. It usually takes a month to be featured, but we went live on the frontpage today. We've reached out to our network to give us a few likes to see if we can hit the trending spots and get into the email newsletter too, but even so we've already had a couple of new users sign up off the back of the coverage.
Bit of an unfortunate timing as I'd have rather been featured during the week (rather than today, a Saturday) - as users are more likely to be in the right frame of mind and checking BetaList more regularly during the week. If we don't start trending, there's a high chance we'll be quite low on the homepage by the time it hits peak-traffic during the week. Nonetheless it's an excellent opportunity and the results we've had so far suggest it's worth submitting an application to similar sites.
What results have others had from coverage on sites like BetaList?
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Good luck with your campaign! I Hope it will drive you the expected traffic!
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We were featured a couple months ago, also on a Saturday (and a holiday weekend). We were excited about the number of sign ups we got, even though it didn't result in many "likes" on the post itself. Sign ups continued for a few weeks after it went live, so the day of the week didn't seem to be a huge deal.
Just a heads up for others, when we got the email saying we were going to be featured in a month, we assumed it would take at least a month, but like Luma, we were featured shortly after that. As you can see in our post (https://betalist.com/startups/hq-vpn) we have a weird double screenshot (we had added one, BetaList added the other), but you cannot easily edit your post after it is live. So, if you are accepted, make sure to clean up your listing ASAP. :-)
Congrats on being featured Luma! What other similar sites are you planning to submit to?
Over the course of May and June, we have got our first users on Luma. As it stands we have roughly 15-20 users. This is exceptionally exciting and it has provided us with some great feedback too.
Our approach thus far :
- We approached a local technology-focused publication (Prolific North) to cover our launch. An article went out on their homepage and it was included in their email newsletter - getting us infront of hundreds of local digital agencies (our audience).
- Manual outreach via LinkedIn - we've been connecting with agency owners and workers to introduce them to Luma. Not in a spammy sales way, we like to take a very honest, conversational approach. In all honesty, the results on LinkedIn haven't been great given the amount of time put into it.
- Leveraging our network. We have a lot of contacts in the agency-world from our collective time working in the industry, which has helped with getting a few trial users.
We started to play around with email marketing too, but we've put this on hold for a few weeks whilst we form a product roadmap based on feedback we've had so far. Future marketing plans include more scalable approaches like email, paid advertising and remarketing, and promotion of audience-focused content.
Our MVP launched to a close network of friends and former colleagues in April, looking for initial feedback.
We learnt a few things:
- There was still lots we hadn't considered. Parts of the app we hadn't focused on (e.g. user profiles) were actually a big deal to users!
- People will use your product in tonnes of different ways. If you don't provide guidance and clear next steps at the start of a user's initial interactions with your app, they'll make assumptions and probably use it differently to how you intended (we launched a walkthrough pretty soon after and we're currently working on a series of 'steps' users are encouraged to follow once they join).
- Be very clear and careful about how you market yourself and what your features are for. Some users mistook our app for another type of product. This was a mistake of our own doing due to how we had named and built certain features.
All in all we've had some fantastic feedback so far and it's given us a clear direction for the product moving forwards.
After years of working together in a leading digital agency and noticing a number of efficiency and productivity issues, my co-founder and I settled on a problem we felt we could solve: the dynamic and relationship between an agency and their clients.
The ability to form a strong, trusting relationship with existing clients is fundamental not only to the long-term success of an agency, but the happiness and fulfilment of it's staff. Yet, all too often it is overlooked in the face of new business.
We have begun to form ideas about features that will best aid an agency in this regard, and using our contacts within the industry we have begun validating them.
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