It’s 2017 and Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are household names. Shouldn’t reviewing regulatory filings be as easy as asking this question?
Though we started with that hypothesis, we recognize the pain points that the asset management industry faces. The volume of regulatory filing data is bursting at the seams. The need to track filing changes is important, but the process by which we can track changes at present is painfully time consuming. How do we leverage technology to create efficiency for our community? How do we help our users meet their data governance obligations as fiduciaries?
We started with discovering, creating and maintaining a product fit for our target market: How can investors integrate filings data into their ongoing portfolio monitoring, portfolio deep dives and benchmark analysis? How can managers leverage filings data to analyze peers and get a pulse on the industry?
Product possibilities were endless. We had so many ideas, which came from users, prospects, the tech team, the business team, competitive intel, etc. It goes without saying, that we think some of these ideas are very good.
The key was to invest in the product, based on what the users value, not what the competitors do.
We needed to answer questions such as the following: (a) When is information available to us? (b) When do we make it available to our users? (c) How do we minimize the delay between the two? (d) When do users become desensitized to information?
As we pondered solutions to these questions and geared towards an outcome, we share our journey in getting the product in our users hands:
- Update the website: We added a section called “Data Corner”, included a live ticker on daily updates, and gave clients meaningful options to consider.
- Enhance the platform: We gave users configuration controls to consume the data in a way that was suitable to their needs. Our goal: allow users to analyze data lightning fast in seconds (what used to take countless hours).
- Audience & delivery: Like it or not, our industry uses email as a primary form of communication, so that was part of a winning product feature. Who was to be invited in the initial round? How would users react to daily emails, in-app interaction, or receiving an excel attachment?
- Designing the emails: Below is a graphic from start to finish. We debated over subtle things: which CTAs (Calls to Action), what subjects, what disclaimers, what social media links as well as Google analytics to add?
- Picking an email service: Should we send emails via our tech? Or should we use a third party service. We chose to go with experts. Since we work in Techstars space, we decided to give one of their portfolio companies SendGrid a chance.
- Time of delivery: What time of day should we send out the email since the product has global application? What day(s) of the week? Guess what we picked? Subscribe to find out
- Pricing strategy: Should we be the cheapest product on the market? Or should we price based on utility to the clients? Pricing is often times the worst differentiator, and this has been a careful consideration.
- Create scale: Automate when possible, so we can minimize human involvement in order to gain operational scale in delivering this product experience consistently day after day.
- Target outcome: : “Wow” our users with delightful design. Offer a seamless experience. Anticipate user feedback and utilize actual user feedback. Never stop improving!
How long did it take us to productize first version? About 2 weeks. As we get ready for the next iteration, we invite you to join the conversation and help us innovate faster.
OK Google, please sign me up for DiligenceVault Data Corner :).
