In this series, we've been talking a lot about what's going on behind the scenes

here at Evernote.

Sort of looking behind the curtain, if you will.

Today, we're going to do something different.

We're going to try and bring you actually on stage with us; talk to you about how

you can be a part of building the software that we're building together to make a

better Evernote.

To do that, I'm here with Jenn, who drives our beta program.

Jenn, tell us a little bit about the beta program and why it's important.

- Sure.

Absolutely.

So the beta program is one of the ways that we bring users behind the curtain and

involve them in helping us create software that many benefit from.

And we do this in a number of different stages.

So we have previews, and previews are very early versions of our software.

They have a rough shape, but they are far from complete.

And during that preview stage, we're looking for early feedback and to see

indicators that we're generally on the right path.

The earlier we get feedback, the more likely we are to be on target.

- Makes a lot of sense.

If we get some feedback it's cheaper to change direction the earlier we change

direction.

- Exactly

- What about betas?

- So betas for us are when things are really stable and much further along.

We're ready to share new features or capabilities with larger numbers of users,

but before it's available to the general public.

And during that beta stage, we're looking to ensure that what we've built meets

users' needs.

- You talked about previews and you talked about the beta program.

What kind of scale do these run at?

- So the scale can vary quite a bit depending on what stage we're in.

So for example, a new version of Windows was put into preview in February.

We essentially rebuilt the application from the ground up and we knew there were

key features that were missing, issues that needed to be resolved, but we started

a preview with a hundred users.

- It really was almost a skeleton of Evernote.

It wasn't in any way fully featured, but we wanted to see are we on a path that is

going to be promising--

- Exactly.

- In such a small test group.

- Exactly.

- So as you move to the other end to betas, how big does the scale get?

- So those can get pretty large.

So our new note editor is currently in beta and we've already put that in front

of a hundred thousand users.

- That's really big.

So let's talk a little bit about what makes for good feedback in this sort of

process.

What's useful to us?

And what's little harder for us to work with?

- Less useful feedback is nonspecific.

So, for example, when users tell us 'I don't like it' that's good for us to know

but we unfortunately can't do much with that.

- What's an example of some good feedback some actionable feedback that

we've be able to get?

- What's good feedback is very specific and provides examples or use

cases.

- And so really good feedback isn't 'nice' feedback, good feedback is feedback

that is actionable to us.

- Exactly.

- So what we really want is feedback we can do something with.

Okay.

So who who pays attention to all this feedback?

I mean, I know I spend time in the forums and I sometimes engage with users and all

the rest, but it's more than just me.

- A lot of people from various functions within the company.

So we have product managers and engineers and marketers and customer success folks,

and at the end of the day we're focused on creating software that delights our users.

And we need to listen to our users to be able to accomplish that, so we take it

very seriously.

- So as we beta these things will it all be in the web client?

I know a lot of what we've been showing has been web client focused in the- in the

behind-the-scenes videos, but are we going beyond that?

- You'll still continue to see betas and new features in the web client because

we can move so quickly on that front and especially we can react quickly.

However, we are getting close to the point where we're going to start beta-ing new

features in our desktop clients as well as our mobile clients.

- That's good.

So if we are doing betas on things like our Mac platform or our Windows platform

are people going to be able to look at those betas without removing their current

environment, or do they have to sort of go all in and get rid of their current

environment?

- As much as possible and where we can, we do allow people to install

side-by-side.

And so for example on the Windows or Mac versions, you will be able to have both

the client you've been using and the beta client as well.

- That makes sense.

So even for instance on the web editor, we've always given people the ability to

go back to the old editor if there's something they don't like about the new

editor they're beta-ing.

- Exactly.

- You talked about the Mac and Windows beta so do you have any idea about when

those might be?

- That's kind of a trick question.

I know you yourself have avoided answering that question.

But if this video is any indicator, we are nearing that point.

- That sounds pretty good.

So if people are really interested in what we've been talking about, how do they get

involved?

- It's very easy to get involved.

So users can go to evernote.com/betaprogram, answer a few

simple questions, and then we'll be in touch in the upcoming months to tell them

more about the betas they can participate in.

- Cool.

So if this was an infomercial, I'd look at the camera and say, 'that's

https://evernote.com/beta program'.

Will there be steak knives?

- Possibly?

We shall see.

- We shall see.

It's very exciting.

But seriously, beta programs are incredibly important to us because we're

really really focused on creating software that works for you, and you need to be a

part of that process.

So if you've been interested in what we've been talking about, please sign up.

We'd really appreciate it.

Jenn, thanks for showing us everything about the beta program.

That's been great, and we hope to see you next time behind the scenes at Evernote.