Kevin Hale focuses on fostering relationships with users (Video)

Kevin Hale and his team at Wufoo, an online form builder, approach interactions with new users like dating, and interactions with existing users like a marriage. Wufoo’s software, Hale said at Big Omaha 2012, was constructed so that users can have a relationship with it. “When we knew that we were going to build software,”…

Video by Three Pillars Media of Lincoln. Post-production by Evolve of Des Moines.

View the slides: “Designing for Relationships

Kevin Hale and his team at Wufoo, an online form builder, approach interactions with new users like dating, and interactions with existing users like a marriage.

Wufoo’s software, Hale said at Big Omaha 2012, was constructed so that users can have a relationship with it.

“When we knew that we were going to build software,” Hale said, “we didn’t want to create any kind of software – software that was going to remind you that you were working in a cubicle. We wanted to build software that people wanted to have a relationship with.”

Whether it’s designing the sign-up page or choosing the color of a button, Hale and his team are always conscious of the way in which their users will interact with their software.

On top of software, Hale focuses on building a company that has that mission in mind, as well.

He posed this question: “How do you design a company, a team, an organization so that it is built in a way that it fosters really strong relationships with the users and customers that help you grow?”

That focus on strong relationships, Hale said, is the secret to Wufoo’s rapid success and acquisition by SurveyMonkey in 2011.

At Big Omaha, Hale told his entrepreneurial story – one that starts at South by Southwest Interactive in 2005 – giving a detailed look at how he went about designing software and building a company that puts relationships first. 

Check out the video above, the ninth in the Big Omaha 2012 Video Series presented by Microsoft BizSpark, to hear Hale discuss designing for relationships.

Read our recap: “Kevin Hale: ‘Build software people want to have a relationship with’

About Kevin Hale

Kevin Hale is the co-founder of Infinity Box Inc, a Y Combinator seeded company that built Wufoo, an online form builder that was was ranked by Jakob Nielson as one of the best application UIs of 2008 and later acquired by SurveyMonkey in 2011. He now serves as a Senior Product Manager responsible for safeguarding and enhancing the user experience of SurveyMonkey’s products. He writes about interface design issues at particletree.com.

Find Hale on Twitter: @ilikevests



About Big Omaha & Thinc Iowa, SPN Premier Events

Silicon Prairie News hosts two premier annual events, Big Omaha in May and Thinc Iowa in October. Both events bring together entrepreneurs, innovators, creative individuals, investors and others for a lineup of inspiring speakers, a schedule of unique networking opportunities and a community of support.

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Credits: Photo of Hale by Malone & Company/Big Omaha. Headshot of Hale courtesy of Hale. 


About our sponsor, Microsoft BizSpark

Microsoft BizSpark is a global program that helps software startups succeed by giving them access to Microsoft software development tools, connecting them with key industry players, including investors, and providing marketing visibility to help entrepreneurs starting a business. BizSpark will fast-track the success of your startup with software, support an visibility.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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