How did AOL Win

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How did AOL Win?

• Alden Hart
• CTO, The Adrenaline Group
• alden_at_adrenaline.com
• This slide deck is available via email

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Introduction

• eCommerce Strategy
• eCommerce Tactics

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Case Study - Duncan YoYo

• Duncan YoYo
• Dime store YoYo

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Case Study - Travel Sites

• Travelocity (Sabre) http//www.travelocity.com/
• Orbitz (ITA Software) http//beta.itasoftware.co
  m/servlet/cvgdispatch/
• Why did you come to the site?
• This is what I mean by a product -
• what gets the job done and is satisfying to use

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More than user interface

• Not just about the User Interface
• The product is the UI and all the tech underneath
  it.

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So lets ask the question again How did AOL Win?

• Not the first to market, nor the most well
  funded, nor the most technically advanced, nor
  even the most heavily marketed
• AOL drove adoption - ruthless focus on adoption
• They built the right Product
• Consumer adoption
• Consumer adoption
• Consumer adoption

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Its all about products

• Better YoYos
• Better search engines
• Better ISP installation connection process
• Better chat rooms

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B2C / B2B / Internal

• Not just B2C, B2B and internal functions as well
• Adoption matters within an organization between
  organizations

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Wallet Example

• Wallet is - Software / system for securely
  handing credit cards, passwords, and other
  sensitive data for the user
• Lessons learned
• Consumer value proposition was the biggest
  challenge
• Convenience always wins over security
• Dont change the user model if you can help it
• Pain / Gain ratio

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IT versus Products
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Who is good that this?

• AOL
• Microsoft
• Oracle
• Napster

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Why are they good at this?

• Intense user focus
• Commercial software product development culture
  and methodology

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Who needs to get good at this?

• All companies are becoming technology companies
• Everybody who uses technology to attract and
  retain customers

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Requires new skills and disciplines

• People
• Cross functional product development teams
• Product manager role - proxy for the user
• All other goals are subservient to user goals
• Sense of mission
• Shipment mentality
• Techniques and processes
• Incremental development
• Product roadmaps
• Rollout
• Local decision making
• Kelly Johnsons Skunkworkshttp//www.astech-engin
  eering.com/systems/avionics/aircraft/skunkworks.ht
  ml

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Back to the travel sites

• Sabre is essentially an IT organization
• Outsourced back office for airline IT systems
• Ticketing is only one business
• Orbitz partnered with ITA Software
• Specifically designed to be a consumer product

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How did AOL Win?

• Ultimately, culture - whats rewarded?