For the purpose of this discussion, put down your Google conspiracy theories for two minutes- the trust we’re talking about today is on a different level than global domination.
On Wednesday of this week, Google announced that it will not continue development of Wave as a standalone product. Last year, Wave was one of the most hyped services to come around with tons of interest from the general public, despite few fully understanding its use or potential. Google has built a culture of innovation and trust (again, see line 1) in the online world, and the simple fact that they hyped the service themselves meant that others were pumped about it as well. They were pushing on a new technology so hard that the public simply assumed it would become a useful part of the online community. All of this explanation is simply to differentiate between Wave and Buzz, which is a totally different concept. Besides, most businesses will never have the pull that Google has to garner interest in a product.
So, what’s my point? My point is that Google had enough interest to continue developing a fairly successful product, but they let it die so they can make better use of the technology somewhere else. They utilized the fact that they know their services better than their customers, but they’re also going to great lengths not to inconvenience the users who bought in. I want to break down their blog post and explain how Google communicates effectively with their users and create trust- something any business can learn from. The quotes are directly from Google’s Blog.
1. Transparency
But despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked.
They’re honest. Obviously they had high hopes, but it wasn’t the right package of features and they recognize that. Even better, they directly recognize the ‘wins’ and the ‘fans’, communicating that they have humble appreciation for those that developed it and adopted it. Even if they don’t actually have humble appreciation, it seems that way because of how they speak.
2. Explanation
We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects.
They let the users know exactly what’s going on. They didn’t just shut down the site and put up a 404 error. In one sentence, we know exactly the fate Wave will face and are given the hope that whatever features we did like in Wave will be used in the future. Again, they don’t explicit say all of that, but their clear language, context, and tone will make most assume positive things.
3. Invitation
The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began.
Google is leaving the ‘legacy’, so to speak, of Wave to its users by openly admitting that “customers and partners” can build on Wave without paying for it. They’re not locking away the secrets in a vault or charging some odd premium to buy the code package. They also don’t dampen the spirits of those who wish to develop this type of software or condemn Wave-style programming to some sort of watery Internet grave. Google is always a great example of inviting others to be a part of the innovation of their company (see: Summer of Code).
4. Continued Support
In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.
There may or may not have been riots in the streets if Google shut the whole thing down with no access to content, but they make it clear that they’re going to help make the transition smooth. Not only does this help Jimmy’s grandmother who hopped on once and typed “I DON’T UNDERSTAND”, but it recognizes some of the pioneers who actually used this technology for business or fun. Not only did they not make a knee-jerk decision, but they’re willing to go the extra mile to maintain user loyalty.
So, Google ends a service with mostly happy users ready for the next launch of another service. Don’t overexert yourself or your business, but go the extra mile whenever possible to allow yourself to prune the dead weight and move on to bigger and better things when the time is right (did that just get personal?). Besides, you can never be sure when you’ll end up needing that extra customer loyalty- Google probably will.