Avvo Gets a New Suit
Back in my associate days, I would often reach a point with a suit (this is when lawyers wore suits . . . everyday . . . to the office) where it was simply time for a replacement. Maybe styles had changed a bit; maybe it was losing its shape; maybe I slept in it one too many times. Whatever the case, I would simply look at my aging suit and think, “Time for a new one.”
Now, buying a new suit was not a venture I undertook lightly (especially when I was working for the federal government). Buying a suit cost time and money. So I would make sure to do some consumer testing beforehand – especially with female friends – asking, “Should I retire this suit?” If anyone even hesitated, a new suit was on its way.
When I found the right new suit (with solid tailoring to go with it), oh it was the best. I would put on my new threads and just strut all the way to work – or at least to the subway where I would wedge-in with my fifty closest friends (which reduces strutting). Still, that new suit made me feel great. It allowed me in some weird way to be more effective. It’s the old “confidence breeds success” I guess.
Well today, Avvo got a new suit; and yes we are strutting a bit.
Come take a look, just so we can give you the model-quality turn at the end of the catwalk. What’s great about Avvo’s new look and feel is that it is the product of the tried and true “should I retire this suit” consumer testing. Over the past couple of months, we’ve been asking our loyal users (both consumers and lawyers) whether it was time for new design or features. And, rather than hesitating, our users dove right in and gave us all sorts of tailoring tips.
Even though we tinkered with Avvo’s look and feel, it is largely the same old Avvo under the hood – the same well-oiled machine. But our users did lead us to some interesting product enhancements. At the top of my list is our improved search functionality. Both through our homepage and deeper-page navigation, it is now easier to find what you are looking for, including filtering lawyers by neighborhood. Do a search for a divorce lawyer in South Boston, for example. Pretty neat stuff for someone who needs a lawyer close by.
We have also expanded the Avvo Legal Guide template to allow lawyers to free-form a bit more and add video. Actually the video legal guides are really cool and potential clients love them.
See this video about trademark infringement. Thanks to our new partnership with the folks at TheLaw.TV, we already have hundreds of videos in our database covering a range of legal topics. Upload your video legal guide today!
I should also mention our new “Claim by Phone” functionality. Previously, lawyers could only claim their profile by requesting a claim key via email or by inputting a credit card. Now lawyers, can claim their profile with an easy three-step process where a computer calls you (it’s really slick) and asks you to input a claim key.
Thank you to the Avvo product team who built our new “threads.” Thank you also to everyone who helped us with ideas and suggestions – we couldn’t have done it without you.
Mark
April 6th, 2010 at 9:45 am
Love the “new suit”!
April 7th, 2010 at 9:45 am
I mostly like the new suit, but I hope you can forgive some constructive criticism? I used to be able to go to http://www.avvo.com/search/answer_search?q=&loc=Maryland and see all the questions in all categories for Maryland, in chronological order, and then decide which ones to answer. I don’t see a way of doing that now. I can click on answer questions to see five questions, not in chronological order, but that’s hardly an equivalent. Is there a way of accessing the old functionality?
April 12th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
[...] attorney profiles prospective clients can use to find the best representation, bought itself “a new suit.” Avvo CEO Mark Britton said the change was necessary, just like when he would periodically [...]
April 29th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Thank you Stephanie!