My favorite app is going away - 5 reasons why it was so great

I knew this day was coming, but for quite some time I was able to delude myself into pretending it might not actually ever come to pass. But in the 'all good things must come to an end' department, I sadly share the news that news and discovery app Zite is shutting down, finally becoming completely absorbed into its acquirer, the similar-but-nowhere-near-as-good app Flipboard.

For those who never knew Zite, it was simply the best, most interesting, most engaging of all the 'magazine-style' apps that seemed to emerge from everywhere in the last few years. In Zite, you would follow topics like 'Technology', 'Business' or 'Human Resources', and Zite would serve up relevant articles from a wide variety of sources - big mainstream sites, blogs, even really obscure blogs like this one. You could 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' an article and over time Zite would learn about your content preferences and show you more of the things you tended to like and fewer of the things you tended to dislike. Was its learning algorithm perfect? No. But was it pretty good? You bet. So much so that in the four or so years I have used Zite it is almost always the first app I look at every day to try and catch up on the topics that I am most interested in.

While I pour one out in memory of my beloved Zite, let me share 5 reasons why the app was so great - lessons that I think are relevant not just for the narrow category of news apps, but for all kinds of workplace and consumer technology.

Here goes...

1. It was an app used by millions, but it seemed like it was built just for me

Zite never 'made' me see anything it wanted me to see before I could get to the content I was interested in. It never made me follow a topic that I was not explicitily interested in. It never created some kind of 'sponsorsed' layer on top of the content I was looking for. It felt like a blank slate more or less, that I could build upon over time to get it to work like I wanted it to. I would guess that the 25 or so topics I was following in Zite were likely unique across millions of users. I mean, I was following 'Human Resources', 'Graphic Design', and 'Barbecue', among lots of other things. It just felt so personal.

2. It was remarkably easy to use

No effort, no training, no heavy lifting to get Zite to begin to add value. See an article you like? Tap 'thumbs up' and you will see more like that one. See a topic you like? Tap the tag for the topic and it is added to your list of topics you are following. And those two interactions are about all you needed to know to use Zite and get plenty of value in return. The folks at Zite seemed to show remarkable restraint in building and enhancing the app in order to keep it so easy to use. Great technology is sometimes defined by what capability is left out, just as much as what features are built in. 

3. It got better the more I used it

Over time, and 'learning' from the many, many times I tapped 'thumbs up' and 'thumbs down' on individual articles, Zite simply got better at presenting content that I was likely to be interested in viewing. It definitely evolved over the years to become really smart about the things I liked, what I did not like, and by the end of its life I found I was tapping 'thumbs down' very little. I never got sick of using it because it seemed to continue to get incrementally more valuable, despite not making many visible changes. 

4. You could 'explore' and were challenged to discover new things

The other app I use the most on my phone is my feed reader, Feedly. Feedly is a pretty awesome tool for consuming content, but it pales next to an app like Zite in one important way - Feedly only shows me content that I have explicitly asked it to show me when I subscribed to a specific RSS feed.  So it is great at giving me what I asked for, but not so great at turning me on to something new, something different, or at least a different take on a topic that it should know that I like. All of the things that Zite was really good at. The combination of Feedly and Zite gave me some overlap in terms of content, but together they worked well to bring me a great mix of viewpoints on subjects I was interested in. And many, many times Zite served up great content I would have never came across on my own. Literally all the time.

5. Finally, you could jump in at any time without feeling like you have missed everything

Feed readers, blogs, social networks that rely on the 'newsfeed' principle are all great, but all have one big shortcoming: if you have not checked them for awhile you fall impossibly behind. And it is really frustrating trying to get 'caught up'. Even Twitter recognized that by introducing the 'While you were away' updates in your timeline, (which I have found to be really useful, in case anyone cares). But with Zite, since it never operated on the 'timeline' paradigm, you could jump back in to the app, or a given topic in the app, and see what is new and interesting without the real or imagined pressure to get caught up. And in this age of information overload, who need another app or technology reminding us that WE ARE MISSING SOMETHING.

Can you tell how bummed I am about Zite going away? It was an almost perfect app.

The folks at Flipboard say that all the cool things and capabilities of Zite have not been fully incorporated in Flipboard, so I suppose I will give them the benefit of the doubt and try it out. But I am not optimistic.

I am going to miss Zite, but hopefully what was great about Zite will find its way into more and more applications for work and for outside of work as well. By focusing on personalization, discovery, simplicity, usability, and productivity Zite in many ways created the blueprint for what great technology can do.

And you know a technology was great when you are genuinely bummed to see it go.

RIP Zite.

HRE Column: Thinking about HR Tech User Experience

Here is my semi-frequent reminder and pointer for blog readers that I also write a monthly column at Human Resource Executive Online called Inside HR Tech and that archives of which can be found here.

As usual, the Inside HR Tech column is about, well, HR Tech, (sort of like I used to write about all the time on this blog), and it was inspired by the several vendor events I have recently attended, (Achievers, iCIMS, Kronos, Oracle). At each of these events, and I am pretty sure every other event I attended in 2015, HR technology companies talk A LOT about User Experience or UX.  Since the subject of UX comes up so often these days, on the latest Inside HR Tech column I offer some suggestions for HR leaders and pros on the right things to think about and questions to ask when assessing your HR technology provider's approach to and ability to deliver great User Experiences.

I once again kind of liked this month's column, (I suppose I like all of them, after all I wrote them), but felt like sharing this one on the blog because it touches upon what has been in the past a pretty popular topic with HR leaders today - how to understand UX and how to evaluate UX to make the most of their HR technology investments.

Here is an excerpt from the HRE column, 'Getting Your Arms Around the Experience':

In almost every demonstration, someone from the provider organization talks about being focused on something called the "user experience" (aka "UX"). This term almost always follows the descriptor "great," so what I hear all the time from providers -- and you've probably heard it, as well, during a recent HR- software demo -- is, "We are focused on creating a great user experience." Literally every vendor says this exact same thing.

The reason they all say this is that UX is actually really important. You probably realize this -- even if you are among those who have never heard the actual term before -- because you are making decisions and choices around technology at least partially based on UX. The apps you like to use on your phone, including those for email, weather, sports scores, shopping, listening to podcasts, etc. -- were likely chosen for two main reasons: One is based on the actual functionality of the app (aka, the "what"); and the second is based on the input methods, characteristics, work flow, design, look and interaction style of the app (aka, the "how").

That how is the most significant part of the concept of UX.

It is important to note, as well, that user experience is more than just colors, fonts and buttons. It encompasses a wide range of aspects and elements that define how users feel about the technology.

So now that we have an idea of what the user experience consists of -- and that it is key when evaluating technology -- what are some of the questions that you should ask your current or prospective HR-technology solution providers when evaluating the UX of their solutions?

Here are a few ideas. First, some questions about the organization itself:

What does UX mean to your organization?

This is mostly about getting solution providers to talk about UX generally and share their philosophies of the importance of UX to their organizations. It's also about trying to get a sense of their approaches in building their solutions. When they talk about their products and future road maps, how much time is spent on UX topics compared to basic functionality and capability? Essentially, you are trying to get an overall feel for, and comfort level with, the provider's commitment to UX.

What is the title of the most-senior person in the organization who is dedicated to UX? How many staffers are on the UX team? Has that part of the development organization grown in the last two years?

These questions are meant to help you dig a little deeper to see if the solution provider is backing up its stated commitment to UX with the proper investments and resources.

Read the rest over at HRE Online...

Good stuff, right? Humor me...

If you liked the piece you can sign up over at HRE to get the Inside HR Tech Column emailed to you each month. There is no cost to subscribe, in fact, I may even come over and rake your leaves or dig your car out of the snow  for you if you do sign up for the monthly email.

Have a great day and a great long, Thanksgiving weekend in the USA!

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Citi Smarter Worklife Challenge

I had a call last week with some really cool folks from Citigroup, often shortened to just Citi, one of the world's largest banking and financial services organizations. Even for such a large, well-known global brand, the challenges facing Citi are not that different from the ones facing just about every size or type of organization - the need to innovate, to become more agile in a fast-moving and competitive marketplace, and perhaps most importantly, to find, engage with, develop, inspire, and achieve great business performance through people.

Citi describes this last element of improving outcomes with and through people in the context of the 'Employee Journey' - the full life cycle of actions and interactions that people have with the organization, with their colleagues, and crucially, with the many technologies that help shape these experiences along the journey.

And one of the ways Citi has identified that will be of primary importance in improving their employee's journeys is through innovative HR and workplace technologies, which after learning more about what they are working on in that area I was interested and glad to help Citi get the word out about their new initiative called the Citi Smarter Worklife Challenge.

The Citi Global Digital Acceleration team has created the Smarter Worklife Challenge, an open contest to help find and identify innovative human resources technologies designed to improve this Employee Journey. Citi is inviting both startup and established technology solution providers to submit their ideas and concepts, (submissions must be at least advanced, working prototypes), in the areas of recruiting, onboarding, career development, social/collaboration, analytics, executive management, and more, to compete for a prize of $50,000 in cash, and the opportunity to enter into commercial terms with Citi and be incubated and/or accelerated.

For HR technology solution providers interested in applying for consideration for the Smarter Worklife Challenge, a few important dates you need to know: The deadline for submissions is December 4^th, and finalists will be announced December 18^th, and challenge finalists will be invited to demonstrate their solutions to Citi senior leadership in February 2016.

Full details about the challenge, including submission timelines and contest rules can be found on the Smarter Worklife Challenge site. Also, a PDF version of the challenge process, timelines, and guidelines can be downloaded here. 

I think this is a really neat and interesting challenge and thanks to the folks at Citi for bringing it to my attention and for supporting innovation in the HR tech marketplace. Please do share the information about the Smarter Worklife Challenge to any HR technology innovators that you think might be interested in participating.

Disclaimer: I am sharing information about the Smarter Worklife Challenge because I like the idea, I am not being compensated in any way by Citi, and this challenge is not affiliated with the HR Technology Conference.

When HR's 'Do not reply to this email' becomes a security issue

DEAR APPLICANT,

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE AS THIS EMAIL ACCOUNT IS NOT MONITORED.

Sincerely, 

DO_NOT_REPLY_TO_THIS_MESSAGE@BIGCOMPANY.COM

We have all seen these kinds of messages in emails coming from organizations - retailers, mass marketers, maybe even from e-newsletters from big publishers like the New York Times or the Huffington Post.

Mostly, we don't give these messages, and their admonitions to NOT REPLY all that much thought. Who wants or needs to reply to Target's daily e-mail reminder of the TREMENDOUS Black Friday deals that are upcoming anyway?

But there is definitely at least one scenario where these DO NOT REPLY emails are used where they are much more likely to elicit an actual response from the recipient - in the context of job applications when the DO NOT REPLY emails are going out to candidates from an ATS or a recruiter.

It is an extremely plausible scenario that an applicant would want to reply to an auto-generated message from the ATS to ask additional questions, to make sure that all the needed application materials were received, or to simply inquire about the current status of the application itself. And while the argument over whether, especially for large organizations that receive millions of applications each year, should or can be able to respond to every possible candidate email will continue to rage, one thing is for certain - you should NEVER do what it appears Chiplotle (the big restaurant chain) did.

Details below, courtesy of the Krebs on Security blog:

The restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill seems pretty good at churning out huge numbers of huge burritos, but the company may need to revisit some basic corporate cybersecurity concepts. For starters, Chipotle’s human resources department has been replying to new job applicants using the domain “chipotlehr.com” — a Web site name that the company has never owned or controlled.

Translation: Until last week, anyone could have read email destined for the company’s HR department just by registering the domain “chipotlehr.com”. Worse, Chipotle itself has inadvertently been pointing this out for months in emails to everyone who’s applied for a job via the company’s Web site.

(Michael) Kohlman said after submitting his resume and application, he received an email fromChipotle Careers that bore the return address @chipotlehr.com. The Minnesota native said he became curious about the source of the Chipotle HR email when a reply sent to that address generated an error or “bounce” message saying his missive was undeliverable.

“The canned response was very odd,” Kohlman said. “Rather than indicating the email didn’t exist, [the bounced message] just came back and said it could not resolve the DNS settings.”

A quick search for ownership records on the domain showed that it had never before been registered. So, Kohlman said, on a whim he plunked down $30 to purchase it.

The welcome message that one receives upon successfully submitting an application for a job at Chipotle discourages users from replying to the message. But Kohlman said a brief look at the incoming email associated with that domain revealed a steady stream of wayward emails to chipotlehr.com — mainly from job seekers and people seeking password assistance to the Chipotle HR portal.

“In nutshell, everything that goes in email to this HR system could be grabbed, so the potential for someone to abuse this is huge,” said Kohlman. “As someone who has made a big chunk of their career defending against cyber-attackers, I’d rather see Chipotle and others learn from their mistakes rather than cause any real damage.”

There is more to the story over at the Krebs site, including the official response from a Chipotle spokesperson claiming that the company did not see this as a problem at all, the the web domain www.chipotlehr.com was not a functional address and never has been. At least until Kohlman registered it recently. If you go to www.chipotlehr.com right now all you see is a blank page containing one sentence - "This is NOT the Chipotle Human Resources Page".

Kind of a silly, sort of ridiculous story all around I think, but one that should make HR and Recruiting folks at least take a look at the specifics of the auto-generated messages they are sending out to candidates and applicants.

I am not at all telling you that you shouldn't use 'DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE' emails in your process, but if you do, just make sure you are not potentially exposing your applicant's data to unintended audiences.

Maybe take 5 minutes today to have a quick call with your Admins or IT team about this. It is worth it for the peace of mind. 

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 225 - Kronos and Workforce Management

HR Happy Hour #225 - Kronos and Workforce Management

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guests: Jim Kizielewicz, Chief Marketing Office, Kronos

Recorded Monday November 16, 2015

LISTEN HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show while Trish was off keynoting an HR conference in Dubai (fun!), Steve attended Kronos Works 2015, the annual customer and user conference for Kronos, a leading provider of workforce management technologies.

Chances are pretty good that at some time in your career you have interacted with Kronos' workforce management technologies - as their solutions for time and attendance, workforce scheduling, absence management and more have been implemented by tens of thousands of organizations worldwide.

At Kronos Works, Steve sat down with Kronos' CMO, Jim Kizielewicz (who also has about 7 other big jobs at Kronos, you can listen for more details), about some of the most important topics affecting workforce management today. Kronos, since it touches thousands of organizations and millions of employees (most of them hourly workers), each day is in a unique position to help shape the dynamic and conversation around the workforce and the increasingly importance of scheduling to employee engagement and organizational performance. We also talked about the continued move to the cloud and how it benefits HR organizations and leaders.

You can listen to the show on the show page HERE, or using the widget player below, (email and RSS subscribers click through).

This was a really interesting and fun event. Thanks to Kronos for having meut at the event, and also thanks to Jim for taking the time to be a part of the HR Happy Hour Show.

And don't forget the HR Happy Hour Show is available on iTunes, and on all the major podcast player apps for iOS and Android - just search for 'HR Happy Hour' to find and subscribe to the show and you will never miss a new episode. Finally, many thanks to our show sponsor, Equifax Workforce Solutions, the leader in HR solutions for compliance, ACA, analytics and more.