It鈥檚 an all-too-familiar ambiance in the startup and tech world: wine bottles and kegs interspersed between startup demos and conversations about open job opportunities. Pay no mind to the catered food spilled onto business cards.
For , a Boston startup which works to simplify software and web experiences, that environment made up the foundation of one of their annual events: Drunk User Testing.
It鈥檚 a tongue-in-cheek event that gives companies rapid user-testing feedback in a low-stress setting. Simply show up and mix drinks with startups looking for a little extra feedback on their new products. Last year, Hopper, a flight service app, asked for advice on what to name one of their new services. , a video conferencing company, tested out one of their newer products on (sometimes tipsy) people to gauge usability. Nift, a reward system that promotes neighborhood businesses, gave out free gift cards to all attendees.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very easy to market name,鈥 said Laura Powell, the host of the event. 鈥淏ut we took a step back and thought: do we want to be easy to market? Or do we want to be marketable to right people?鈥
However, Appcues has rethought the value of putting the word 鈥渄runk鈥 in the title of their annual event. This year, the event will be renamed to 鈥淯ser Test Fest.鈥 It will be hosted in Boston on December 20, and while there will still be alcohol, Powell said there will also be Polar Seltzer and water. The change also turns the event away from industry stereotypes.
鈥淭ech bro culture is rampant, and it’s rampant in Boston,鈥 said Powell. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 even want to contribute to the perception that we鈥檙e associated with tech bro culture.鈥
Kristen Bryant, the brand marketing & partnerships manager for Soapbox at Wistia, said the change more accurately speaks to the spirit of the event. Bryant says Wistia鈥檚 culture has always been 鈥渟uper laidback鈥 and that previous drunk user testing events were never an issue.
But Bryant said they鈥檙e committed to growing differently, and events like these, that have intentional mindfulness embedded within them, follows their mantra to 鈥.鈥
Notarize, a company that helps thousands of people sign and notarize documents, will also be at the event this year. Part of the appeal comes from the informality, says Teodora Kaltcheva, the company鈥檚 product manager.
鈥淯ser testing can sometimes seem like such a formal process that it’s intimidating to the testers and can skew their reactions so having it in a fun, social environment can help with that,鈥 she said.
However, when Kaltcheva heard about 鈥淒runk User Testing鈥 she was 鈥渁 little uncertain of what to expect.鈥 And while that did not impact her enjoyment of the event, Kaltcheva noted that 鈥渨e’re living in a time where everyone needs to be more conscious of how others might experience things.鈥
Powell also added that the name change has been toiled over for the past few years, but it was the Kavanaugh trials that expedited the process.
鈥淚 just realized we can鈥檛 do this anymore,鈥 Powell said. 鈥淸The Kavanaugh trials] were totally unrelated to startups鈥攂ut something went off in my mind.鈥
So this year, at the event, you鈥檒l get a different vibe. And Laura will be near the Capri Sun.
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