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Our goal is to make a product you enjoy—we believe that if you love using Yammer, you'll keep using Yammer to get work done. And the more work you get done with Yammer, the more your company benefits from its investment in our product.
So, we build features with end users in mind. We talk to our users and brainstorm different ways to solve their problems. Our team of product managers translates the best ideas into a set of features that makes up our product roadmap.
We don’t spend months or years working on a new feature and release it only after we’ve added all the bells and whistles. Instead, we design a plan to build just the core aspects of a feature, so we can deliver it to users in just a few weeks' time. By delivering features in small increments, we can better evaluate their effectiveness, identify any incorrect product assumptions early, and course correct if necessary.
Once our plan is in place, we assemble a small team of engineers, designers, and product managers that works together to build the feature as quickly as they can. When it's ready to go, we don't roll it out to all of our users right away...
Now we perform an experiment to determine whether the feature actually adds value. We launch it to a subset of users, and compare their experience with that of a group of users without the new feature.
This is called A/B testing. Because we have a single, standalone product rather than highly customized solutions, we're able to control all the variables in the test, ensuring that our data is clean and accurate.
Next, we analyze our results. Do users with the new feature get more out of Yammer than those without? We answer this question by looking at core metrics like engagement and retention.
If users in the experiment group show higher rates of engagement and retention, we consider the new feature a winner. Features that don't lift engagement and retention are either scrapped or brought back to the drawing board for a closer look.
We're able to do all of this because Yammer lives in the cloud. Our users get access to new features instantly—there's never a need to upgrade or install anything. (Same goes for the occasional bug fix or security patch!)
We're able to do all of this because Yammer lives in the cloud. Our users get access to new features instantly—there's never a need to upgrade or install anything. (Same goes for the occasional bug fix or security patch!)
When the new feature is proven worthy, we roll it out to everyone. But we're not finished with it yet: we're always considering ways to make it even more effective. We build subtle enhancements incrementally, A/B testing all the way to ensure that each iteration adds value. Compared to the sudden, disruptive product changes delivered by traditional enterprise software, our iterative approach helps users adapt to new features gradually over time.
We're doing this all the time. Because our users' needs are constantly evolving, we are constantly evolving, too. There are always new problems to solve and experiences to improve within Yammer. Our rapid-release cycle of building, testing, analyzing, and iterating allows us to meet those needs as they arise. We keep up with you, so your business can keep up with whatever comes next. We're in this together—isn't it exciting?
