Piqued for Yep

The easiest video chat for anyone and everyone on any device.

It's the Spring semester of your senior year in college, and you spent it abroad.

You met the love of your life, and she owns.. get this…

…an Android! 😱

You're a week away from traveling back home, and you're discussing how often you'll be in touch:

1. 💬 Texts every day

2. 📞 Calls on the way to work

3. 📧 Emails during the working hours

4. 🤳🏻 Video…

Wait, how will we do FaceTime if you have an Android?!?

You start to run through the options:

• Facetime: nope, she has an Android remember?

• Android Duo: noppeee doesn't have compatible hardware.

• Zoom: limited on time for the free version, and we're broke college students

• gMeet: uhh I don't want a calendar invite to see my girlfriend

🤔

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Meet, Bryan. 👋🏻

Bryan is the entrepreneur and founder behind Yep.

Yep was born to create accessibility for spontaneous and device-agnostic video engagements.

• 🔗 Easy access to a secure link

• 📱 Hardware agnostic

• ☁️ No extra fluffy features

• 🔐 No re-authentification required

When you talk to Bryan, you'll learn that the most challenging part wasn't saying "no" to all the features like emojis, filters, and chat. It was getting two people on a video instantly and seamlessly.

But he did it!

I've personally used Yep, and I can attest to the agnostic power and easy accessibility.

1. Yep shared within Slack for a quick debug. Typically, I'd schedule a gMeet or go to gSuite and grab the gMeet. Grabbing the Yep link was one-two step shorter than both of those.

2. Yep shared with friends to talk about side project. I was on my phone, and my friends were on their computers. It was easy to copy and paste the link without going into another platform and messing with IDs or invites—just easy access.

Bravo, Bryan!

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When writing Piqued, I aim to provide insights, value, and potential actionable improvements for each software service. This newsletter portion intends to provoke thoughtful conversations that help founders and businesses improve their product offerings.

I'll break down my thoughts by:

1. Challenges I see

2. My Impression on Website Marketing to Product Offering Comparison

3. My UX Feedback on Software / Website

Challenges I See:

1. 📈 Growth/Stickiness. Yep works for off-the-cuff discussions but is not within my standard workflows. How does Yep stay relevant to become my go-to video software? Is it a chrome extension? Is it email marketing? Is it team adoption? What will be the it-factor that keeps Yep top of mind for consumers that keeps them coming back?

2. 💰 Monetization: I imagine Bryan has some tricks up his sleeve for this, but the challenge with monetization and complete easy access to video is that users will need accounts. Creating accounts > logging in > payment management. This creates more steps for the user so how do you monetize and KISS?

My Impression on Website Marketing to Product Offering Comparison:

1. Bryan wasn't lying when he said video in its purest form. This website is PURE. As pure as you can get. And I greatly appreciate that!

2. The product and website are 1:1. It's probably the best I've ever seen, to be honest. The website is so darn simple that it focuses on your one action item >> VIDEO. And the Video is so darn simple that it focuses on one thing >> VIDEO.

My UX Feedback on Software:

1. Screenshare is the only available feature outside of muting/pausing. When a user stops sharing the video does not automatically unpause.

   1. When a user stops sharing, the video should automatically unpause to resume video chat.

      Note: This feedback was given 2 weeks ago, and Bryan has already implemented the change. Who doesn't love an agile team?! 👏🏻

2. The video frame format forces the view based on the width of the screen.

   1. In other video software, the frame keeps a consistent ratio of 16:9 (or other). By doing this, the frame per user stays consistent. I’d suggest following this best practice so the user's frame doesn’t continually change based on the number of people on the chat or if pinned at the top.

My UX Feedback on Website:

1. The website is pure and simple, as mentioned above. However, I didn't notice until today that there was an arrow at the bottom of the screen that led to more content.

   1. I’d suggest editing the arrow graphic to be responsive so all users will see any critical content available on the main page.

2. The typography used in the copy loses impact because it lacks hierarchy and differentiation.

   1. All the copy on this page seems important so I’d adjust the weights, sizes, and colors of the fonts to appeal to the most important pieces or buzz words.

3. The content is using stock imagery within the product.

   1. People trust people. In order to build brand trust, I’d update the image of Yep on a computer to be real users. I’d even argue that this should be the primary image/background of the home page + the buttons.

   

4. Chat Now & Chat Later. The term "chat" alludes to text-type communication vs. video.

   1. Considering the primary content above the fold doesn’t show the product, I’d consider playing with other words that imply video communication more clearly.

Have any thoughts on the feedback? Use the comment section and let’s dive into it!

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More on Bryan Lord:

Bryan Lord is a serial software and technology entrepreneur. He has raised tens of millions of dollars for his ventures, Teesnap.com, heyyep.com, and yepcal.com. He's an expert in the intersection of product, marketing, and sales - in all things startups. Bryan lives in Truckee, CA (Lake Tahoe) with his wife and 4 kids. In his spare time he loves the outdoors - mountain biking, hiking, fly fishing, golfing, and skiing.

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