Have you ever heard of Easter eggs in software? No, not the chocolate ones that you hide around your garden at Easter time. We're talking about the hidden gems buried deep within your favorite software products. These surprises, often in the form of a game or animation, can be a fun way to increase user engagement and generate buzz around your product.
What are Easter Eggs in Software?
Easter eggs in software are hidden features, messages, or games that are embedded in the software by the developers. These features are not advertised or documented and are often discovered by users through experimentation or by accident. Easter eggs are typically harmless and serve no purpose other than to provide entertainment and enjoyment for the user.
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Increased word-of-mouth | Easter eggs create excitement and encourage users to share their experience with others |
| Enhanced user engagement | Easter eggs add an element of surprise and fun to your product, making it more engaging for users |
| Memorable user experience | Users are more likely to remember and return to your product if they have a positive and memorable experience |
| Differentiation from competitors | Easter eggs can set your product apart from others and make it more unique |
| Boosted brand awareness | When users share their experience with others, it increases brand awareness and can attract new users |
Why are Easter Eggs Important for SaaS?
In today's competitive SaaS landscape, it's more important than ever to provide a memorable user experience. By adding Easter eggs to your product, you can surprise and delight your users, making them more likely to recommend your product to their friends and colleagues. According to a study by Nielsen Norman Group, users are more likely to recommend a product if they have a positive emotional experience while using it.
Example: Asana's Tabby Easter Egg
Asana, the popular project management tool, has a fun Easter egg that users can access by following a simple set of instructions. Here's how you can find it:
- Go to "My Profile Settings" in Asana and enable the "Hacks" section.
- Enable the "Tabby" feature by toggling the switch.
- Go back to the Asana homepage and press "Tab" and "B" at the same time.
Congratulations, you've just discovered Asana's Tabby Easter egg! This hidden feature adds a fun cat animation to your Asana dashboard, providing a little extra entertainment during your workday.
More Examples of SaaS Easter Eggs
If you're looking for more inspiration on how to add Easter eggs to your SaaS product, here are some examples from other companies:
- Slack: If you type "/giphy" followed by a keyword into the chat bar on Slack, a random GIF related to that keyword will be displayed.
- Trello: When you create a new board on Trello and add the label "butler" to it, a new automation will be added to your board that allows you to automatically perform certain actions.
- Google Docs: If you type "Ctrl + Alt + Shift + H" in a Google Doc, a list of all the edits made in the document will be displayed.
- Spotify: If you type "spotify:app:visualizer" into the search bar on the desktop app, a built-in visualizer will be displayed that syncs with the music you're playing.
- Asana: As mentioned earlier, if you enable Tab+B under the "Hacks" section in "My Profile Settings" on Asana, and then go to your homepage and press Tab+B, you'll get a Tab+B (or Tabby) surprise!
These Easter eggs add an element of fun and surprise to these SaaS products, making them more memorable and enjoyable for users. Consider adding similar Easter eggs to your own SaaS product to enhance the user experience and boost engagement.
How to Add Easter Eggs to Your SaaS Product
If you're a marketer looking to add some Easter eggs to your SaaS product, here are some steps you can follow:
- Brainstorm ideas: Get creative and think of fun Easter egg ideas that would be relevant and enjoyable for your users. Consider your brand personality and values, as well as your target audience's interests.
- Get buy-in from your team: Before you start adding Easter eggs to your product, make sure to get buy-in from your team, including your developers and designers. They will need to be involved in the process to ensure that the Easter eggs are implemented smoothly and seamlessly.
- Develop the Easter egg: Work with your developers and designers to develop the Easter egg. Make sure that it's hidden enough to be a surprise, but not so hidden that it's impossible for users to find.
- Test it out: Test the Easter egg thoroughly to make sure that it works as intended and doesn't cause any issues with your product.
- Promote it: Once your Easter egg is ready, promote it on your website and social media channels. Encourage users to find it and share it with their friends.
- Track its success: Use analytics to track the success of your Easter egg. Monitor user engagement and word-of-mouth promotion to see if your Easter egg is having a positive impact on your product.
Easter eggs are a fun and creative way to surprise and delight your SaaS users. By adding these hidden features to your product, you can create a memorable user experience that will keep your users engaged and excited about your product.