The Clang compiler recovers from unknown tokens using a spell-checker. Something small can be remarkable and worth spreading.
Being remarkable doesn’t always mean you have to develop something large. Sometimes remarkable is small, as this Clang example seen today on Hacker News demonstrates very nicely.
Clang is an open-source compiler front-end for C, C++ and Objective C. The project builds on the LLVM compiler back-end with the goal of replacing the GCC tool chain. Their worldview accepts that programmers can and do make mistakes. Amazing feats of Clang Error Recovery shows how they’ve woven this worldview into the compiler.
What caught my eye was how Clang recovers from unknown tokens. Instead of unhelpful error messages (like GCC), the Clang team chose to do something remarkable: they added a spell-checker to guess what you mean:
Tablets are increasingly around when customers spread your story, so it’s time to start thinking about tablet-compatible content.
The Apple iPad and other tablets open attractive new channels for storytelling. Increasingly be a tablet will be around when your customer spreads your story.
Unlike notebooks, tablets are easily and naturally shared by passing them back and forth. Ideal for ad-hoc demos in the pub!
Check your website looks good in both portrait and landscape at tablet resolutions (1024×768 for the iPad). Check you’re using supported file formats. The Apple iPad doesn’t support Adobe’s Flash, so you’ll need to re-encode videos in H.264 format.
Because millions of users associate WordPress with free, the VaultPress team wove their paid-only story into their beta sign-up form.
A post about VaultPress on Mike Davidson’s blog reminds us that weaving a story into software can be easy. VaultPress is from the great team behind WordPress and is a real-time backup service for self-hosted WordPress blogs.
Most WordPress products are freemium. VaultPress is paid-only: a high-end product for high-end users. Or: VaultPress is for people whose worldview leads them to expect to pay for backups. That covers me, and I don’t consider myself a high-end user!
WordPress is very visible company with millions of users. Many of these will notice VaultPress and take a look. Because most users associate WordPress with free, the VaultPress team wove their story into their beta sign-up:
Identify returning users as VIPs: those most likely to spread your story. Treating everyone the same is easy, but they deserve better.
Existing users are more likely to recommend you than new one, so don’t treat everyone the same. Existing and new users have different expectations, even though they share a common worldview.
A chainsaw cannot change itself depending on whether a newbie or an experienced lumberjack picks it up. Your software is not a physical product. It’s easy to support multiple expectations from a single code base, just as you do with i18n and L10n.
The German tax system is complex (it’s said 80% of the world’s tax laws are in German). As a result, a large vertical niche of tax return software exists.
Physical products are tactile, but software is intangible, so how do you think your audience expects it should look, feel or even smell?
Your target audience has a story about how they expect your product will make them feel. Marketers and developers must work together and meet this expectation with consistent and genuine stories woven into your software.
Physical products are tactile; you can feel them in your hands, how they move, smell and taste. Software is intangible. Even so, how do you think your audience expects your software to feel? To look? To smell? How should it look on opening the box (installing)?
Software is easier to change than physical products. Good design splits function and presentation; weaving your story into your software will be easy. Or not.
