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Case Studies
How Microsoft Visio Uses Experts Exchange Community Support
How Microsoft Visio leverages Experts Exchange to keep on top of customer interactions for fast iterations and even faster fixes.
Experts Exchange
October 19, 2021
In 2022 - we're doing what we should have done a long time ago: recommitting to the community.
In 1996, the same year that the first free web-based email service was launched, technology professionals began to gather on Experts Exchange (EE).
Created by an accountant, a teacher, and a computer science student - "Experts Exchange" was designed to be a simple knowledge-sharing forum. Groups like "accounting" and "bicycle repairs" made up the initial topic areas. But, to the creator's surprise, a community of technology professionals soon made up the overwhelming majority of the members.
The internet was a very different place in 1996; there was no Google, no social media, and email was only a few months old. Information was rarely easy to find. Early IT professionals came to EE with their tech problems because they knew they could find trustworthy people who wanted to help.
These early tech professionals are the people who built the internet that we all use today. It's reasonable to assume that architects of tech giants like Facebook, Google, and others trusted the community on EE for help when they were in a tight spot.
Twenty-five years later, EE is one of the oldest active online communities. Even though the internet bustling with millions of communities of all shapes and sizes, many of those original pioneers are still active members.
EE is different now though. During its peak years in the late 00s, more than a half a million people visited EE every day. Now those daily numbers look more like monthly numbers. It would be easy to blame the emergence of competing platforms for declining membership, but that wouldn't be telling the full story.
The truth is - the EE organization lost touch with the community in the 2010s. We began to promise fast 1-1 assistance and help-desk answers instead of inviting IT professionals to join a unique community of like-minded individuals.
"Years ago, we started moving towards a service model, and the community hasn't felt the same since," said Jim Dettman, an EE member since 1999.
In 2022 - we're doing what we should have done a long time ago: Recommitting to the community that made EE great in the first place. To symbolize this recommitment, we’re updating our identity, product, and mindset to reflect the rich history of collaboration and problem solving on EE since 1996.
It's not a rebrand. It's a rebirth.
In mid-2021, we sat down to take a long look at our organizational direction - and realized that our brand and messaging didn't reflect our true value. We knew it was time to "rebrand," but didn't want a cookie-cutter tech rebrand.
The idea of a "Rebirth" came about soon after. Our goal was to recommit to the EE community - why not go back to the visual identity that was most popular with the community in the first place?
So that's what we're doing. We're going back to the old Experts Exchange logo - the classic X logo.
With our "Rebirth" rebrand - we're setting out to solve 3 specific problems.
Experts Exchange has come to be perceived as an IT help desk or quick solution site similar to competitors like Stack Overflow. This isn't an accident; we spent years advertising quick solutions and 1:1 help with tech issues & professional development.
Our messaging didn't align with the true value and benefit of the platform: the community. We weren't celebrating or showcasing that amazing community in our messaging. In turn, we opted to position ourselves as a service.
Experts Exchange isn't a technology product with a great community. Experts Exchange is a technology community.
We're centering our brand identity around the reason we have a brand in the first place. No longer will it be difficult to describe Experts Exchange - you can just call us "The original technology community™"
As an organization - we've been all over the place with business decisions. We've chased daily unique visitors, created flawed products, implemented fremium models, and offered a wide range of pricing options (just to name a few).
When we lost our way, we started chasing after solutions that didn't align with our true value.
Going forward, we're committing to community. Our singular strategic direction is hyper-focused on celebrating and investing in the original technology community.
We'll embark on all future initiatives and projects with one thing in mind: building a better future for the community members of Experts Exchange.
Paywalled technology solutions became less and less popular as competitors began to offer the same thing for free.
EE is perceived as an overpriced version of Stack Overflow. Instead of differentiating ourselves, we have allowed ourselves to be grouped into the same category. Our community has stayed strong, but our product and platform visibility have fallen behind.
There truly is no other place like Experts Exchange. With a story stretching from web 1.0 roots in the mid-90s, the journey of the EE community is one of perserverence and ultimately triumph.
New members will join EE in the future because their friend or coworker told them the story about the original technology community.
The future of Experts Exchange will be about growing the community through our members. Our goal is to make EE a place that our members want to share with their friends and coworkers.
Like in 1996, EE is a place where tech professionals can find people they trust to help them solve difficult problems. Now, it's time to go tell the world.
