A Whole Lotta Nothing

Lessons for Kickstarter creators from the worst project I ever funded on Kickstarter

2012-01-16T11:42:50-08:00

[update: I've had to change out the image above to my own after i+case project creators insisted I remove an image of the case displayed on their Kickstarter page. Also, if you'd like to see the entire conversation thread including the i+case creators, be sure to click the "show more comments" link just above the comment field]

This is the story of the worst project I've funded on Kickstarter. I am posting this not to single out the creators behind it, or bad mouth their business, but to go over my disappointment in the hopes that future Kickstarter project creators can learn from it. It's all about communication with your funders, setting up and delivering on expectations for funders, and doing the right thing when things go wrong.

My relationship with Kickstarter is a long one. I've funded 72 projects to date and I'm also a (very small) investor in it. All but a small handful of projects have delivered items/goods/works of art that met or exceeded my expectations, and most creators are doing a wonderful job. Sometimes, creators take time to make art, as at least two documentaries I've funded have gone over a year without delivering the final cuts, and I totally understand that as I'm currently late on my own small personal film project.

This is the story of the i+case for the iPhone. Like almost every iPhone/iPod/iPad project on Kickstarter, it went from launch to overfunded several times over in a short period of time. I liked the look of it since I'm not normally someone that uses a case with my iPhone, and I tend to drop my iPhone about 2-3 times a year (so far, no breakage has happened). I liked the old iPhone bumper Apple made, but the bottom cutout was never big enough for my chargers and car adapter. This i+case looked cool in anodized aluminum, and it looked like it solved a few design problems I had with the Apple bumper.

The creators started the project with CAD renderings of what it would look like but quickly followed up with real photos of built prototypes on actual phones, just days into the project. This is huge in that as a funder, seeing actual prototypes convinced me it would become a real thing and it appeared to look as good as the CAD renderings, and I threw money into the project at this point. Soon after however, some antenna issues popped up. The creators attempted to downplay it by describing the upcoming new iPhone 4S antenna design as well as showing their prototype only affecting signals by one bar. That update sent red flags, but I trusted the creators when they said "We hope this helps demonstrate our pursuit of not only making a case that looks good, but performs just as well". It is a cool looking, durable case and though it might affect my phone performance slightly, I get 3-5 bars everywhere so I figured I'd continue funding and looked forward to trying it out. I did notice a very specific comment (from Jaspreet Sidhu on the signal testing post) asking the creators to measure signal loss was ignored, even though a person went to the trouble of describing how to enter into a diagnostic mode and take accurate measurements. Another red flag, but still, I stuck with it with my hopes up.

The iPhone 4S was released before the project was funded so everyone backing it from the start was hoping it would work, and soon after the 4S launch the creators showed one working with a new 4S even though they couched the post with a few caveats. The following update sent up more red flags however. They described their problems with feedback, discounted much of it as "negative" and equated that with frivolous, and the core issue that sparked this was their prototype cases featured a prominent white logo etched into the case. In my opinion, it made the case look a little gaudy and ugly. What set off red flags was how the creators handled the feedback and I would characterize this one as "not well". Later they followed up and doubled down on their insistence that the logo stay and that no one would be happy so they will push forward. Funny enough, later that day they offered up a survey with the bright white logo vs. a subdued etched colorless logo and within 24hrs they shut the survey down showing that 85% did not want the white logo on the case. I do have to say the creators deserve some credit for going with the audience voting, as they never mentioned the white logo from the prototypes again after defending it so hard the previous week.

Miscommunication happened next. A couple days after the logo battle and just a day before the final funding completion date, the creators sent out a (now redacted) email that they miscalculated the shipping and were going to ask everyone to up their pledge and the use of bold is theirs:

All backers must add the cost of shipping to their pledge. Shipping in the US is $5, International is 9$. We will not ship if not paid in full. To do this just add the correct amount to your initial pledge. Sorry for the confusion.

Pretty crazy, and since the project said it would ship in December, I went ahead and upped my pledge by $5 in order to get the case before xmas. The post erupted in comments and it was the first time I saw others say they were pulling their support. I hadn't ever considered that option but being just before the final funding day I considered it, but stuck with them since I thought it was a nice looking thing. The next morning, the creators called the email demand a mistake from another project, and though they apologized they also said that international shipping would in fact increase the pledges and domestic US recipients could pay more "only if they wanted to".

The funding success message mentioned they might not ship everything by the intended window, though one week into December they showed off the first units to ship, but gave the good news/bad news that most would not ship until a month later. As a funder this was disappointing to hear, but good on them for explaining the delay and why it happened and resetting expectations of what was to come. They followed this up with a somewhat defensive post saying they were working on different prototypes with the goal of eliminating any signal loss.

The last couple updates are things I hope get taught in Business schools as what not to do when company owners communicate with potential customers. The epic update #24 starts by splitting hairs over the difference between "buying" something from Kickstarter versus "investing" in an idea on Kickstarter. They then go on to discount the entire project as a first attempt at making a prototype and that design flaws are inherent in research and development. As a funder myself, I saw those actual cases well before the end of funding and assumed those were the prototypes that needed the bugs worked out and the final product I would receive would be a working one, as most other Kickstarter projects around products work. They also talked about how they can't give refunds and then talked in patronizing terms about how the stock market works and how sometimes you just lose money in a speculative deal. This was hard to read when you consider they had their prototypes done months before for ample testing, and now with $85,000 in hand they were shrugging their shoulders to say in effect "we tried". Finally, they close with the idea that some of the people leaving critical comments on their project are competitors or out to get them so their comments can be discounted.

Their final update states that they consider the project complete since they have shipped out most every case, and though they couldn't alleviate all the signal losses, they might redesign a version 2 of it and backers would get a discount if they produce a new case. Most of this last update seems reasonable, but the creators telling everyone (including dozens of international backers that hadn't received their cases yet) that it was "over" felt like they are ignoring feedback and leaving current unfulfilled backers out in the cold by shutting things down as soon as they could.

To finish this story, I got my own cool red case last week and today I assembled it. My phone normally gets 4-5 bars of Verizon coverage and 3 bars of wifi in my house. After finagling all the pieces and tiny screws into place, I flipped my iPhone over to admire the slick new case around it. I tried out the side buttons to confirm they worked, and then I looked at my signal to see if I was one of the "few" backers with signal problems the creators had a hard time reproducing.

I had one tiny bar of phone coverage and one tiny WiFi blip. $70, down the drain as I disassembled the case, flipped my phone over to see it back to 5 bars plus 3 bars of WiFi a minute later.

Again, I mention this entire project not to single out the creators as bad people but instead to show any and all past/current/future Kickstarter backers what not to do. When you are designing a product for Kickstarter and you show prototypes, backers will assume you have worked all the bugs out first. When things start to go wrong, it doesn't help to discount the comments or question the motivation of backers giving critical feedback. When shipping deadlines are going to slip, be open and explain the hows and whys and reset expectations as soon as possible to prevent backers' plans from falling through. When confronted with a core design problem, explain possible fixes, or explore options for dissatisfied backers. When confronted with a large amount of criticism, acknowledge the flaws and don't patronize your backers or question their motivations. Overall, I think this project (as well as any future projects from any creators) could have gone well if the creators did a better job with communication, stayed attentive on comments, didn't talk down or talk back to backers so much, and helped set expectations accurately and early on to prevent the feeling of being ripped off at the end of a long project.

Verizon vs. AT&T iPhones in NW Oregon

2012-01-05T14:17:21-08:00

A friend asked me to review my switch after 3+ years on AT&T to Verizon with the iPhone 4s. I've been using the Verizon phone for nearly 3 months and I spent all summer sitting next to an intern using the first Verizon 4 iPhone, so I got to use them side by side before switching. Here are my thoughts after a few months of usage:

In general I always have coverage everywhere I've been in Portland and in cities beyond, more so than when I had an AT&T phone in the area. I haven't noticed the reported call sound quality increases (cell phones just generally sound like talking into a tin can and still do) but I do have to say I've never dropped a call since I left AT&T. When I would be driving on the freeway in Portland, my calls on AT&T (through bluetooth, of course) would drop about half the time. It was almost like clockwork when I'd hit the city limits of Portland that my calls would begin to drop on AT&T. That has never happened with Verizon. In nearly three months, I've never gotten a "network busy" error either, which is something that happened a couple times a month on my old AT&T phone.

The only downside I've found is that data is a bit slower. Not super slow and you get used to it really fast and forget about it, but I remember thinking web pages I always accessed on AT&T were loading on Verizon in a few more seconds than usual. I do tons of stuf online with my phone so this can be a dealbreaker for people working 100% online that require the fastest data connection, but I gave up a slight bump in speed for reliable networking. The Verizon phone always seems to have a 3G connection.

There was one other aspect aside that also made me switch and it was the increased coverage that Verizon has over everyone else. I noticed in the coverage maps that Verizon extends a mile or two into the wilderness more than AT&T and every single time I went for a mountain bike (MTB) ride in Oregon (Bend, Dallas, McMinnville, McKenzie River, Mt St Helens, Hagg Lake) my AT&T connection would disappear either in the parking lot or the trailhead. I've taken a couple MTB rides since I switched and on one ride I always had a connection whenever I stopped to check and another I had a connection about 3/4 of the stops (only in a small valley of dense forest was there no connection). This was really important to me since I broke my wrist last year -- I know I'm no longer invincible and if anyone riding with me ever crashed on a MTB ride, normally we'd all be screwed and have to hike out with an injured person. Having some chance of phone service made me feel a bit safer whenever I go off road.

That's about it, increased coverage, calls never drop, but data speeds are a tad slower. The costs are about the same but I have liked switching to Verizon since the local store has a very competent staff that helped me get phones on launch day and have fixed a couple of tiny issues since I got the phones (like changing callerID, etc). The local AT&T store was mostly unhelpful in the three years I would sporadically interact with them.

Search as an election predictor

2012-01-02T20:09:32-08:00

Adam Mathes has a series of posts at MLKSHK (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) showing searches from Iowa users for each candidate in the last month as well as the 2008 search results for a similar time period (and search was a good predictor for final results in the Iowa caucus).

Long story short: Adam predicts Ron Paul will win in Iowa but not much after and spoil the election for any other Republican candidate. I don't know if Adam is right or wrong, but it's an interesting approach and I could see it coming true.

The Short Second Life of Post Secret; or How Griefers, Sexters, and Haters Ruined an App in Only Four Months « The Learned Fangirl

2012-01-01T19:14:22-08:00

Today, the Post Secret app officially died. How things spiraled down so quickly is a highly cautionary tale for anyone who fully trust anonymity — and expects it not to become a tragedy of the commons. As Frank Warren, the founder of Post Secret, states on the website, this was a difficult decision made, but one made necessary due to problems with some of the anonymous secret postings:

via thelearnedfangirl.com

Post Secret's iPhone app was taken down from the store today due to abuse from their estimate of 1% of users.

It seems like they could have controlled this a little bit by letting users report offensive/off-topic/sexting/abusive posts, then they could have had their volunteers review those. If deemed inappropriate (and this can be problematic here but any policing is better than zero policing), the volunteer moderators could have banned all secrets from those reported handset IDs from the public sphere. The problematic users wouldn't know they were set to hidden, but their stuff wouldn't get seen by the world. That seems like it could have helped lick the problem users in the bud pretty quick, and prolonged the life of the app.

Speed Notes (automated iPhone text files on Dropbox)

2011-12-07T20:54:52-08:00

I tried out this app called Speed Notes the other day (thanks to a mention on MetaFilter Projects). It's pretty simple, you tie the app to your Dropbox account, it creates a Notes directory, and then you can quickly create a new note by giving it a name. You get a blank document to fill with information at that point, which is pretty much exactly like the way the default iPhone notes application works.

The great thing about Speed Notes vs. Apple's Notes is that everything is on Dropbox and they are simple text files. This means they are instantly mirrored on every other computer you own. This also means you can make changes and additions to those text files from any other computer, and the information will be reflected on your iPhone.

I've found that in the last month or two of using Speed Notes I'm frequently starting notes and to-do lists as new items in the app while I'm out, and when I get back to my desktop computer, I end up modifying and fleshing out the files there, and I'm often looking back over the notes days later on my phone when I need them.

It's useful for grocery lists, to-do lists, travel information you need for a trip, etc. You can even share your notes directory with others to let them make modifications to the files too.

Overall, a great little app I didn't know I needed until I had it, and it's only $1.99. Totally worth every penny if you're a Dropbox user and fan.

Some great videos on marriage equality and freedom

2011-11-30T14:38:18-08:00

If you have some decent friends on facebook and twitter, chances are you've seen either/both of these before, but if not, they are both worth a watch:

Both make up some of the strongest arguments in favor of letting people marry the person they love.

The best camera product demo ever

2011-11-30T10:23:56-08:00

Canon has a new whiz-bang $20,000 camera coming out that is designed to change the film industry (much like the $20,000 camera by Red), and typically whenever a new camera (especially one with stellar video capabilities) comes out, there is a demo reel done by a famous director showing off what the camera can do.

This video does what every other camera demo video does, but then goes way further by making it entertaining and downright hilarious. It's extra funny if you've seen lots of demo videos or know people in the film industry, but even without any insider knowledge, the jokes come through.

It's awesome that Canon let this happen and it makes me want the camera so much more for having seen it.

Downton Abbey promo idea

2011-11-22T13:14:53-08:00

Now that Downton Abbey will see a third season, before it goes live next year, I'd like to see the studio behind the series record a promotional video for the show, and this is my idea: The full cast on show locations, in full costume, performing a lip dub of George Harrison's 80s song "Got My Mind Set On You".

Bonus points if it features all the cast members paired up that tend to get paired up on screen, Matthew & Mary, Mr. Bates & Anna, Maggie Smith & Matthew's mom, Thomas & Sarah, Mrs. Patmore & Daisy, etc.

It'd be cheap to make, simple to do (probably a one-day shoot), and would almost certainly go viral, bringing the show to millions of potential viewers.

Two year tumor update/Good bye to mom

2011-11-12T22:49:54-08:00

Today marks the two year anniversary since I had the whole tumor scare. I'm feeling great and almost back to full health but the anniversary is bittersweet since by some strange coincidence, today also marked the date of my mother's funeral, which I've talked about a bit on Twitter, but I don't think I've mentioned here.

My Mom

(Flagstaff, Arizona xmas time 1986 (I think). My brother, me, mom, and dad)

Back in July/August, my mom had a mammogram and they discovered a growth that was deemed stage 1, highly treatable breast cancer. In late August they operated and the surgeons were surprised to find extended growth of the cancer into her lymph nodes, but removed it all and gave a good bill of health. Chemotherapy was set to begin soon after but further tests showed complications with her liver (also showing cancer) and ultimately it seemed her cancer was stage 4 and beyond, and her liver functions soon started to break down. By October she was having trouble walking, eating, and talking, ending up in the hosptial in the last week of that month. Last Wednesday November 9th around 8:35am, she passed away with me, my brother, and my aunt by her bedside. Today's funeral was attended by about 60 people and I got to hear lots of great stories about her from friends and family.

At the funeral I shared some memories of my mom working very hard her whole life, never really knowing how or when to relax. I meant to tell a great story of a vacation we once took as a family. It was done in our typical style of waking up one weekend at around 4am, piling in a car in half-sleep while my dad drove hours and hours north towards our destination. We'd arrive in late morning and start hitting museums, state parks, zoos, one after the other until it was quickly dinner time. I recall running into some family friends that also vacationed in a coastal town we visited and my mom asking them how their day had gone. They said they just plopped down on the beach sand and relaxed all day, doing nothing.

I remember my mom was livid back in the car. She couldn't believe this family of friends simply sat around all day instead of doing all the activities we did. She thought they wasted their vacation but after feeling exhausted by the breakneck pace of our trip I wished we had a bit more downtime like that other family got to enjoy.

I spent a lot of time with my mom over the last three months (thanks JetBlue Bluepass for all those flights to Long Beach) and I finally got her to accept a ticket to fly up to Oregon and spend some time with my family. We saw the coast, we saw the falls, we ate like kings at all the finest restaurants. I took her out to see Moneyball in a theater which she enjoyed (she was a huge baseball fan) and afterwards she admitted the last movie she saw in a theater was Dances With Wolves. I like to think despite her failing health I taught her how to relax the last few months of her life and enjoy some quiet time to herself.

Today's funeral helps close a chapter in my life but also reminded me of all the good times I had with my mom, and sets the stage for moving on in my life without forgetting her. So long mom, I'll miss you greatly.

Tumors

In tumor news, there isn't much to tell. My tumor stabilized nearly a year ago to about 1/3 of the original size. My medications have been reduced (but not yet eliminated) and all my vital signs and energy levels are back to near normal. I can't believe it's only been two years since the diagnosis, I feel like I've lived another ten years since and it helped me re-evaluate many things in my life. I feel like the tumor scare has taught me to appreciate all the people, experiences, and things in my life and I've done my best to live a fuller life while I can. In 2012 I'm going to be doing a lot of things I've always wanted to do, and they will mostly involve travel to places all over the world (planning on Hawaii, New Zealand, Belgium, Yosemite, Italy, all in the first six months). A tumor taught me that life can be brutal and short and to relish our time here. Dreams are good to have but even better to live up to and there's no reason to put them off any longer.

How to port your AT&T iPhone number to a new Verizon iPhone quickly

2011-10-15T09:48:16-07:00

I'm going to write up all the steps to move off a AT&T phone onto a new Verizon phone because I had to assemble all this info from disparate sources and figure others might save time if they knew about all the steps to do it yourself.

Before you call you will need a lot of info that might take some digging. It requires:

Your AT&T account number (mine was 12 digits, all numbers)
Your AT&T account secret PIN (mine was all numbers, 6 digits)
The last 4 digits of either your Social Security number for a personal account or the business EIN for a business account
Your new (temporary) Verizon phone number
Your old AT&T number you'd like to port over.

Once you have all that written down, follow these steps.

Take out your new iPhone, sync it to your iTunes, probably restore from your other phone's backup
call Verizon's number porting system at 866-465-5415 (probably on a home phone, with speaker phone so you can enter lots of digits)
Enter the old AT&T phone number, get an error, press 2 to proceed, then press 3 to replace a number with an old one, enter current temp Verizon number, then they will ask for your last four digits of your Social Security Number or EIN business number.
Go through the menus, eventually you will need to give the old AT&T phone number again and then your AT&T account number and your PIN on your account.
You will get a "port request began" success message at the end.
Hang up and go to verizonwireless.com/port to check the status. It should say that porting is in progress. They say this will take 3-24hrs, but I would suggest waiting about 10-15 minutes before going to the next step.
Start your new iPhone, dial *228 and follow the prompts to activate your new phone and it should say your new phone is activated.
Let your phone sit after hanging up. You will be kicked off the Verizon network and then join back on about a minute later, with your AT&T number.
If your phone still has the temp Verizon number, wait another 5-10min and then call *228 and activate your phone again, when it comes back onto the Verizon network, chances are your old number will be attached to it.
Wipe/restore your old AT&T phone and sell it to someone else

The number porting process says you will get a text message at some point when it is all complete, but that never happened for me, and if you have all this information handy and you follow these steps, you can get your number ported in about ten minutes without any need for human intervention. Good Luck!

Shading with CSS text shadows [del.icio.us]

2011-10-04T22:48:04-07:00

Nice CSS hack with custom fonts.

Don Ville Shoes [del.icio.us]

2011-09-26T23:00:06-07:00

oh man, someday, hand made perfectly fitting shoes made by hand in LA, last a lifetime.

SEO for Non-dicks - Matt Legend Gemmell [del.icio.us]

2011-09-21T10:22:16-07:00

Great set of obvious tips for setting up your site without abusing the web and search engines with nonsense.

Cultural Faux Pas: What are some cultural faux pas in New York? - Quora [del.icio.us]

2011-09-21T07:30:10-07:00

Covers everything I've ever said that immediately had a NYer tell me I was doing/saying something wrong.

CEGO Custom Shirtmaker September 2011 [del.icio.us]

2011-09-11T19:29:26-07:00

Another one for the NYC shopping wishlist

An Uptown Dandy: The Shop Around The Corner: J.J. Hatters [del.icio.us]

2011-09-11T19:29:20-07:00

For the "place to shop someday when I'm in NYC" pile.

Dangerous Minds | CAPTCHAs to keep idiots out of comment threads [del.icio.us]

2011-08-07T19:15:15-07:00

Hilarious

Special Projects | Square Inch Design Blog [del.icio.us]

2011-07-30T19:21:14-07:00

Nice childhood favorites getting the minimalist movie poster treatment.

inrng : criterium season [del.icio.us]

2011-07-26T09:37:41-07:00

I'd heard about post-Tour races where riders get huge appearance fees, but I had no idea it was as staged as pro wrestling. Odd.

Don Norman: Google doesn’t get people, it sells them — Tech News and Analysis [del.icio.us]

I've never heard it put so succinctly: Google's core problem might be their aspergers-like approach to how they treat users.