#45 Never underestimate the importance of having fun

Lessons from Jeff, understanding pricing psychology and dreams

I was on a work related trip for most part of the last week. It was a totally ‘new’ experience. New company, new team members, new way of doing things and most of all the ‘new normal’. It was a refreshing trip and helped discover a lot about the folks I work with. 

We missed a lot of these ‘team connects’ in the last couple of years. It will be important to get back to some of these social aspects of work faster. Remote is great for flexibility, but we have not done a great job in solving for the personal and team connection.

No other thoughts, so let’s jump straight to today’s post. 

1. 

Pricing Psychology is a great primer on pricing techniques. It covers the psychology behind each approach in an easy to understand manner. I did not know half the techniques they covered. But those examples and style of explanation is good enough to learn a bit about them.

2.

Onboarding flows are the first moment of truth for a user. They prepare your users to experience your core product and brand promise. The user may not have any strong connection with your brand yet. So it's critical to provide her something that keeps her excited enough to give you the time to deliver. 

Work on their most important anxieties and you're more likely to keep that person for a bit longer. 

This short post by the Booking.com team covers their learnings from revamping onboarding experiences at Booking.com. 

A few critical problems, lot of smart observations and then simple solutions - that's the magic trick.

3.

Curious Expeditions shared a great post - Lessons from the CEO who Jeff Bezos called "His Teacher" - on Jeff Wilke (JAW). 

Who is JAW? He is a pillar of what we see as Amazon today. In the last 22 years, he built the foundation of the supply chain that made the Amazon promise happen. At the time of his retirement, he was the CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer Business.  

As the title of the post suggests he is someone worth listening to. The post is a summary of a couple podcasts that JAW has participated in. It's a good short read and contains lots of wisdom on building long lasting businesses & teams. His message is simple and connects at the core. Give it a read.

ps: I tried finding the "Amazon Easter Egg" in amazon.com. Very well executed!

4. 

I love infographics. I have featured some good ones in this newsletter from time to time (#4, #12, #14, #23, #31).

A good infographic tells a story and helps explain a complex topic. As a reader, I find myself much more engaged and entertained. It catches attention and raises curiosity. I have discovered many interesting topics & studies through them. I would have ignored most of these if they came in any other format like blog or video.

dailyinfographic.com is a repository of infographics of all kinds. Click on your category or just enjoy the daily recommendation.

Credit: dailyinfographic.com

Most common dreams across the world is a very popular post. I liked origin of languages, should I go out tonight? and crime and punishment through history as well.

Which is your favourite?

5. 

Some random goodness from the internet:

1. Instagram: @tinyassprops by Robbie Jones makes tiny ass stuff from pop culture (mainly film and tv props). His tiny watches are super detailed. Here’s the backstory on why & how he does it.

2. Twitter: Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) shared a thread with the world's 50 most beautiful sports venues. Breathtaking spaces - some of them. It features one venue from India as well. Any guesses?

3. Web: All the geeky, crazy stuff - The moving sofa problem (like your living room, but with lots of mathematics sprinkled), Perpetual energy wasting machine (science meets philosophy, I guess), 200ft long railway to nowhere (creative solution built on loopholes in some archaic laws) 

4. Web: Cute stuff - The Leaked Recipes Cookbook by Demetria Glace is a collection of over 50 recipes found in the world's biggest email leaks and the stories behind them. 

5. Games: Almost pong is a lightweight game that you can play in your browser.

6. Newsletter: This section, today, is almost exclusively taken from Curious Corner by Joost & Kees. It’s a monthly newsletter bringing goodness from a vast variety of sources and topics. I’ve always found something interesting in their posts.

Before we sign off, here's one message to self (might be useful for you as well).

That's all for this week, folks!

If you enjoyed this post, show your love by commenting and liking it. I write this newsletter to share what I learnt from others. If you learnt something from this today, why not share it with a couple of your friends to continue this chain?