I read about TripIt in some column somewhere….it was rated as an amazing travel app. I’d love to write a full review of it, but the dang software was so simple that I almost don’t know how it works. Let me explain a bit…
First of all, it is really cool. For me, the key benefit is that it takes all the info for a trip and puts it in one place…accessible from a browser or from my Android phone. That’s what got me to download it to my phone and sign up for an account.
When I signed up, I noticed the ability to forward emails to TripIt. You just email your confirmations to plans@tripit.com. As I poked around more, I saw I could sign in with my Gmail sign-in. One more click, and I found (what I think) is the coolest part of TripIt. You can let TripIt read your email inbox and automatically import confirmations from airlines, hotels, and rental cars. I set it up (and forgot about it).
When I booked a trip the next week, I got the confirmation. A couple of minutes later, I got an email from TripIt. TripIt read the email and created my trip. I grabbed my Incredible and saw the trip already created. My hotel info got sucked in with no problem.
TripIt really nailed the initial user experience. I literally have spent about 10 minutes on the site (signing up, creating a single trip, and then allowing it to read my email), but those 10 minutes showed me the product would help me.
I work in software, and software people spend a ton of time working on all the cool features in a product. I bet TripIt has a ton of cool features, but I probably never would have found them out without that awesome, beneficial, easy first experience. No one has time anymore, so things just need to work right away. We want (and expect) value right away.
The next time I talk to someone on the phone or work with them in a sale, I am going to try to add some value to their experience and make it worthwhile. Imagine how valuable you would be if you could offer someone value for a simple 10-minute investment….
