WEBVTT 00:00:00.686 --> 00:00:03.684 So what I want to try to do is tell a quick story 00:00:03.684 --> 00:00:07.394 about a 404 page and a lesson that was learned as a result of it. 00:00:07.394 --> 00:00:10.113 But to start it probably helps to have an understanding 00:00:10.113 --> 00:00:13.625 of what a 404 page actually is. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:13.625 --> 00:00:16.731 The 404 page is that. 00:00:16.731 --> 00:00:19.071 It's that broken experience on the Web. 00:00:19.071 --> 00:00:21.382 It's effectively the default page 00:00:21.382 --> 00:00:24.958 when you ask a website for something and it can't find it. 00:00:24.958 --> 00:00:27.258 And it serves you the 404 page. 00:00:27.258 --> 00:00:32.083 It's inherently a feeling of being broken when you go through it. 00:00:32.083 --> 00:00:34.708 And I just want you to think a little bit about, remember for yourself, 00:00:34.708 --> 00:00:37.750 it's annoying when you hit this thing. 00:00:37.750 --> 00:00:40.008 Because it's the feeling of a broken relationship. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:40.008 --> 00:00:42.750 And that's where it's actually also interesting to think about, 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:44.625 where does 404 come from? 00:00:44.625 --> 00:00:46.669 It's from a family of errors actually -- 00:00:46.669 --> 00:00:48.779 a whole set of relationship errors, 00:00:48.779 --> 00:00:51.083 which, when I started digging into them, 00:00:51.083 --> 00:00:55.917 it looks almost like a checklist for a sex therapist or a couples counselor. 00:00:55.917 --> 00:00:59.042 You sort of get down there to the bottom and things get really dicey. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:59.042 --> 00:01:01.931 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:01.931 --> 00:01:03.958 Yes. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:03.958 --> 00:01:06.202 But these things are everywhere. 00:01:06.202 --> 00:01:08.898 They're on sites big, they're on sites small. 00:01:08.898 --> 00:01:11.583 This is a global experience. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:11.583 --> 00:01:14.460 What a 404 page tells you 00:01:14.460 --> 00:01:18.617 is that you fell through the cracks. 00:01:18.617 --> 00:01:20.375 And that's not a good experience 00:01:20.375 --> 00:01:22.819 when you're used to experiences like this. 00:01:22.819 --> 00:01:24.092 You can get on your Kinect 00:01:24.092 --> 00:01:26.250 and you can have unicorns dancing 00:01:26.250 --> 00:01:28.887 and rainbows spraying out of your mobile phone. 00:01:28.887 --> 00:01:30.977 A 404 page is not what you're looking for. 00:01:30.977 --> 00:01:34.429 You get that, and it's like a slap in the face. 00:01:34.429 --> 00:01:36.662 Trying to think about how a 404 felt, 00:01:36.662 --> 00:01:38.542 and it would be like if you went to Starbucks 00:01:38.542 --> 00:01:40.292 and there's the guy behind the counter 00:01:40.292 --> 00:01:42.104 and you're over there and there's no skim milk. 00:01:42.104 --> 00:01:44.083 And you say, "Hey, could you bring the skim milk?" 00:01:44.083 --> 00:01:46.248 And they walk out from behind the counter and they've got no pants on. 00:01:46.248 --> 00:01:49.190 And you're like, "Oh, I didn't want to see that." 00:01:49.190 --> 00:01:51.279 That's the 404 feeling. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:51.294 --> 00:01:52.952 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:52.952 --> 00:01:55.208 I mean, I've heard about that. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:55.208 --> 00:01:59.346 So where this comes into play and why this is important 00:01:59.346 --> 00:02:00.677 is I head up a technology incubator, 00:02:00.677 --> 00:02:02.677 and we had eight startups sitting around there. 00:02:02.677 --> 00:02:05.713 And those startups are focused on what they are, not what they're not, 00:02:05.713 --> 00:02:07.509 until one day Athletepath, 00:02:07.509 --> 00:02:11.187 which is a website that focuses on services for extreme athletes, 00:02:11.187 --> 00:02:12.625 found this video. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:12.625 --> 00:02:16.190 (Video) Guy: Joey! NOTE Paragraph 00:02:16.190 --> 00:02:20.994 Crowd: Whoa! NOTE Paragraph 00:02:20.994 --> 00:02:24.375 Renny Gleeson: You just ... no, he's not okay. 00:02:24.375 --> 00:02:28.418 They took that video and they embedded it in their 404 page 00:02:28.418 --> 00:02:31.250 and it was like a light bulb went off for everybody in the place. 00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:33.958 Because finally there was a page 00:02:33.958 --> 00:02:37.159 that actually felt like what it felt like to hit a 404. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:38.685 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:02:38.685 --> 00:02:40.466 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:02:40.466 --> 00:02:42.833 So this turned into a contest. 00:02:42.833 --> 00:02:45.083 Dailypath that offers inspiration 00:02:45.083 --> 00:02:47.579 put inspiration on their 404 page. 00:02:47.579 --> 00:02:51.495 Stayhound, which helps you find pet sitters through your social network, 00:02:51.495 --> 00:02:53.315 commiserated with your pet. 00:02:53.315 --> 00:02:54.708 Each one of them found this. 00:02:54.708 --> 00:02:55.958 It turned into a 24-hour contest. 00:02:55.958 --> 00:02:59.083 At 4:04 the next day, we gave out $404 in cash. 00:02:59.083 --> 00:03:00.500 And what they learned 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:02.884 was that those little things, done right, actually matter, 00:03:02.884 --> 00:03:05.530 and that well-designed moments can build brands. 00:03:05.530 --> 00:03:07.458 So you take a look out in the real world, 00:03:07.458 --> 00:03:09.900 and the fun thing is you can actually hack these yourself. 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:12.831 You can type in an URL and put in a 404 and these will pop. 00:03:12.831 --> 00:03:14.829 This is one that commiserates with you. 00:03:14.829 --> 00:03:16.579 This is one that blames you. 00:03:16.579 --> 00:03:18.417 This is one that I loved. 00:03:18.417 --> 00:03:20.750 This is an error page, 00:03:20.750 --> 00:03:24.796 but what if this error page was also an opportunity? NOTE Paragraph 00:03:24.796 --> 00:03:26.962 So it was a moment in time 00:03:26.962 --> 00:03:29.233 where all of these startups had to sit and think 00:03:29.233 --> 00:03:31.555 and got really excited about what they could be. 00:03:31.555 --> 00:03:34.152 Because back to the whole relationship issue, 00:03:34.152 --> 00:03:36.409 what they figured out through this exercise 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:39.246 was that a simple mistake can tell me what you're not, 00:03:39.246 --> 00:03:42.565 or it can remind me of why I should love you. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:42.565 --> 00:03:44.323 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:44.323 --> 00:03:46.913 (Applause)