A key TIP on Developing Investor Software
The "Dinner for Schmucks" rule
When you develop software, or at least for me, I always ask myself am I wasting my time? My money? My sanity?
One way that I have found to know if what you are working on makes sense is to have a schmuck test it inspired by a forgettable film with Paul Rudd and the boss from the Office.
What I mean is that it not only has to work, but make sense. It has to be intuitive. No one is going to want to dig deep on something that has never been beta tested. And my software is aimed for a general audience that is sophisticated to try new things but want a simple to use application aimed for immediate use.
So it was pleasing to see that my friend who hasn’t seen a computer he couldn’t mess up have the light bulbs go on when sharing the beta with him to review.
He wrote out a few things where I knew that first version is getting closer but not close yet.
Essentially he focused on the data that proves that the Headline software works from performance of the stock to performance and sourcing of headlines.
He looked at the data that shows the success of the interpretation while already thinking how he can leverage AI.
Here is what he wrote:
“I’m looking at the site as a new customer and I have a few questions.
Where it says “what you did for the month (6 months, etc.) what does the % refer to? How does that differ from “accumulated profit for the month”?
“Show Impact” seems to be a great tool. I went back 70 days for Apple and counted 40 green vs. 30 red. If one purchased the stock and sold it on a daily basis it would have had a minimal impact to the green, however if 10X options were used with just a 5% stop loss I believe the profits might have been dramatically higher. I’m not 100% sure of this since I haven’t actually tried it.
Question about the headlines and percentages. How is it updated? How often? Just once daily or continuously throughout the day? Are the headlines surveyed from the previous 24 hours before the opening or are they from just a few hours leading up to the opening? What if for example it was a 75% buy suggestion at the opening but at 11am some big news came out and it was not a 95% sell probability? Will the system update to reflect the change?
What are the sources of the headlines? Are they all from the internet? Is the Wall Street Journal considered? The New York Times, etc.?
For crypto, it’s very volatile. Do people typically day trade BTC? What is meant by the opening and the closing since crypto doesn’t actually close or open?”
So my goal now is to not just answer him but also by making the interface easier to use as opposed to just talking him through it.
It’s been truly a joy developing it and share with you the progress.
Make it a great Thursday,
Eric
PS. Lately a few other wonderful writers, or maybe I’m just noticing it more, are also picking up on the influence of headlines and how out of touch some of these journalists are.
If you have anything you noticed, let us know in the comments.
If you have to explain every button, the product probably isn’t ready yet.