Adding IFTTT to the Wired In Webhook Settings
over 5 years ago – Wed, Oct 03, 2018 at 01:04:31 AM

What's Going On?

We’ve continued to ship the USB signs in batches. With each iteration we get feedback that helps us improve the process. 

We’re making progress on updates to the software. Thank you so much for the feedback and bug reports. Thanks to your usage and insights the app is continually improving.

Webhook Integrations

The first version of Webhooks in the app only worked with Slack, and it only worked as a way to post to a Slack channel.

In our latest update we added Webhooks for IFTTT. You can set your IFTTT webhook key. We let you select the first value, and the event name. The second value is your status, and the third value is a URL to a picture of the color of your sign. 

You can view the IFTTT documentation here (click "Documentation").

Future Integrations

We’ve had some fun with Webhooks at our office, and created a dedicated “Wired In Status” channel. But, obviously, we know that the optimal solution is to update your Slack profile status.

We’ve just kicked off development of the backend server for the signs. This will be key for online services and integrations with tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. We’re really excited about these integrations, how much they’ll add to the productivity of the signs, and their ability to fit into your daily workstream experience.

Another Hardware Hurdle

One piece of feedback we kept receiving was that the acrylics were tight to get in and out. We actually noticed this in packaging, and it has been a frustrating quality assurance step: we have to make sure every acrylic we ship fits into the base we package it with.

It’s completely untenable to continue this process with every sign we ship. It takes hours for us to ship even 10-20 signs. As we’ve worked through the issue we discovered that the diffusers are each slightly warped, most likely due to the plastic.

Rather than continuing the QA process of trying to fit acrylics into the diffusers, we are working with the factory to rejig the diffusers to repair the warp or replace the part. This will slow us down in shipping in the short run, but will ultimately allow our supply chain to function more efficiently.

Thank You

As always, thank you so much for your understanding and support. We’re still very excited to get Wired In signs in your hands.

Joshua, Andrew and Caleb

USB Signs Have Begun Shipping, and Another Round Is Shipping This Week
over 5 years ago – Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 12:57:20 AM

Two things about Wired In

At this point I hope you’ve learned a couple things about us.

First, we’re 3 years late, and yet we’re still continuing on. We hope you know that we’re not going to stop. We’re not going to give up on this, or on you. We understand your frustration with how long it is taking. We’re sorry.

Second, we hope you know by now that quality is our top priority (for better or worse). A majority of the delays have been caused by our attention to quality. We delayed on so many part redesigns, or manufacturing issues, all based on the lack of quality. If we wanted to ship you a sub-par sign, we could have done it *years* ago. If you get your sign and there are any issues please message us so we can fix it for you.

We’re realizing there is no “Final Hurdle”

We thought the washers would be the "final hurdle"… How naive was that? If you follow Joshua on Twitter, you may have noticed we hit another issue.

After we sent out the first round of about 100 signs, we got a message from one of the backers. His sign was scratched and he wondered if we could replace it. We were very concerned because the signs were handled by our assembly partners (how did it get scratched!?).

It turned out that one of our assembly partners didn’t realize how sensitive acrylic is to being scratched, removed about 200 of the panes from their protective sleeves, and stacked them for ease of packaging. They all were damaged.

Scratched signs are painful, and if you received one of the scratched signs we want to make it better. But worse than scratched signs is that we have to re-engrave 200 acrylics. Which means we have to wait for the engraving partner. Which means we have yet another delay.

Things go wrong

We’re chipping away at packaging and shipping. We’re putting another 75 signs in the mail tomorrow (most of them custom engraving). And just waiting on a bulk order of the standard acrylic engravings for our next shipment.

This is, if you haven’t yet realized, the Kickstarter that will never give up. There will always be hurdles in business. We’re going to take each hurdle, one at a time. And make Wired In a very real company.

One Final Hurdle
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Jun 04, 2018 at 11:23:43 PM

We want to share with you what has happened the last 8 weeks - and why your signs STILL haven't shipped. 

We assembled them all and put them in envelopes

After our "Assembly Party" update, we spent the following 2 weeks putting together hundreds of Wired In bases. 

We were so excited to ship them, and Joshua hand delivered a couple batches. We wanted feedback as quickly as possible, and we wanted to make sure some teams would be able to start using them. 

We packaged the signs up, and had stacks of signs in envelopes ready to take to the post office. As most of you noticed, Joshua even purchased the shipping labels for a couple hundred packages - you likely saw a tracking number. We thought we were going to ship them the next day.

Yet another hardware hurdle

Then we got some messages from one of the backers that had their signs hand-delivered. The diffusers had broken when they tried to insert the acrylic. 

We unwrapped a few signs, and tried ourselves, and discovered the problem. The factory had used the wrong screw size, so it would pop through the holes of the diffuser. 

I won't bore you with the technicality of the screw sizes. The one with the significantly larger head is the one we specified in our design. But, our manufacturer changed screws on us, and no one realized the consequences until it was too late. The smaller head led to a weaker assembly. 

What to do?

So, we had to make a decision. Should we ship them as they are? Most of you may not have even noticed the issue. Or should un-package, un-assemble, re-assemble and re-package every sign. Well... After a few years of delay, what is a few more weeks of re-assembly. 

Andrew found a fastener supply shop that carried the correct screw size. But then, after testing we realized it was even threaded incorrectly. So we had to find another solution. 

Last week we finally had a solution and purchased 7,000 tiny washers that fit 2mm screws. We tested a sign with the washers and it was a success.

That would have easily busted the diffuser without the washers.

We're currently un-packaging and re-assembling hundreds of bases. 

Thank you for your patience. No one wishes that we had shipped 6 weeks ago more than we do. We really want you to have a good experience when you first plug your sign in and connect your acrylic. 

These shipping labels are just begging to be slapped on some packaged signs. Watch for updates to your tracking number very soon. 

Assembly Party has Begun!
about 6 years ago – Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 03:10:58 PM

Thanks for sticking with us. We're so close. We have had quite the last few weeks, but we promise, these signs really are shipping!

Assembly Party!

Our team is programming signs and assembling all the parts and putting them in boxes for shipping. This. Is. Not. A. Drill.

First we program the board.

Then we tape the LEDs to the diffusers.

Then we assemble the sign with 11 teeny tiny screws.

Custom Acrylics

We got all of the custom acrylic designs exported and sent on to our laser engraver. He took the layouts and approved sample etchings. 

The biggest delay has been the engravings, we had our laser engraver break down a couple days after we finalized our surveys. The machine is finally fixed, and we're hoping to get the custom engravings completed soon.

Windows Application

We hired a Windows developer. He has been amazing. Our team is made of Mac developers, so having a professional Windows developer has been key in building out the software to support our Windows users.

Very excited to support both platforms.

T-Shirts!

We had all the tees printed and stickers die cut. We're excited to share them with you. 

Today's the Last Day to Submit Your Survey for a USB Sign
about 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 12:28:44 PM

We’re preparing files and sending the orders off to be etched into the acrylic signs this weekend. Please make sure to fill out your survey by end of today (February 16th) to make sure your sign is included in our first etching run.

Another important reminder: If you didn’t receive a survey email, you can recover your survey at this link: https://wired-in.backerkit.com/

So, what’s next?

We have stickers on their way, they should be delivered today. We have a shirt printer ready to print shirts (for those of you getting shirts). We’re just waiting on sizes from the surveys.

We made a small adjustment to the shirt design, we hope you like it. If you didn't order one, you still can at our pre-order store.

We think it does a better job celebrating our launch and the work we put into the creation of the hardware.

Thank You!

We’re so excited to be reaching this point. We hope you’re excited too. Let us know if you have any questions and get those surveys answered so we can get your acrylics etched.

- Joshua, Caleb, Andrew