As for IM and other modes . . .

In our research we’ve found that many people don’t like the pressure of IM — too busy, too demanding. I know this is hard for some to believe, but many people want a calm experience, without the pressure of someone waiting for a response. So we’ve designed YackPack to give this convenience and simplicity.

–BJ

Simplicity and convenience are big deals for most people out there. But you may be different: As a tech enthusiast, you may find little need for simplicity, so other services may suit you better. But you should give YackPack a try. We find the more people use it, the more they see the value of convenient voice messaging for groups.

I don’t defend our musical choice for the demo video. I think the music is fine, and others like it. Certainly no musical style will appeal to everyone.

my quick thoughts . . .

BJ

Since we started rolling out the service a week ago, we’ve learned a lot. We’ve added to our long list of improvements needed. That said, our rollout is showing that people are using and liking YackPack as is.

Personally, I can’t wait to make YackPack better. Our engineering team has been releasing at least one major upgrade each week, so we’re in process.

You talk about lack of control over the sound files. Yep, you’re right. You can’t edit or download them (yet). We’ll get there . . . . Also, I think the controls for audio playback need to be better.

As a team we are constantly discussing the tradeoff between simplicity and functionality. For example, in a pilot version we had a “Back 8″ button that would let you jump back in the audio 8 seconds. We found that people didn’t use Back 8 much, so we removed it in the name of radical simplicity. Yes, we removed a feature that was already built.

We wanted to launch with the simplest service that still gives value.

Now we’re in feedback mode. We are listening to users to guide our next steps. In fact, we’re doing more than listening . . . we’ve created a customer advisory board, a YackPack group that works directly with me (new advisors welcome).

So after one week of running the YackPack beta service, we’ve had no big disasters (whew). But it’s getting harder to balance competing priorities. On Monday we’re having a big meeting to focus our work on what matters most.