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Idea Markets

August 13, 2009 in digital, internet, mashup by Stephen | No comments

Interesting software / concept that couples an online suggestion box for ideas, with a virtual stock market. Users can buy ’shares’ in an idea, driving up its value…nice for encouraging a bit of competition into the mix I reckon. And for companies that are interested in embedding innovation at the heart of their business, this could provide a catalyst towards a more creative culture…


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Google's Friend Connect

May 13, 2008 in Community, Social web, User experience, Web 2.0, digital, internet by Stephen | No comments

So now Google jumps into the fray with their Friend Connect, a universal profile that will allow people to maintain one single profile across a number of different social sites. This concept has been talked about for ages now, and I guess it’s good that we’re seeing it come into fruition, with a number of other high profile sites such as Facebook and Myspace making similar plays.

It’s all about data portability, and that has to be a Good Thing, but I really do wonder how each of these sites intend to capture those ‘first use’ users that haven’t stepped into the social web world? Surely the valuations of all the major social players are based on the numbers of people registering with them, their data, and the friends that they bring with them – and as such, are we going to see a shift in how we measure their success on the back of this?

Via: Mashable

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Brands becoming porous

May 1, 2008 in Business 2.0, Social web, User experience, Web 2.0, business, customer experience, digital, internet by Stephen | No comments

Hot on the heels of my post about My Starbucks Idea, I thought I’d share a couple of pieces of Brand 2.0 love that I’ve come across recently:

  • The church of co-creation and community, Communities Dominate Brands: go here for some deep insight into how some companies are recognising the (well-documented) need to get closer to their customers, and embed them into their processes.
  • Understanding what co-creation actually means: by Corante.

I’m starting to think of brands as being porous – for the reason that the word ‘porous’ implies a flow into something, but in a gradual, slow-but-sure way. It’s not like most large businesses move (to use Tom Peters’ phrase) at the speed of light, and yet they’re waking up to the fact that they have to constantly shift and adapt to the changing needs of their customers. So…porous.

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My Starbucks Idea

May 1, 2008 in Community2.0, Social web, User experience, customer experience, digital, internet by Stephen | 3 comments

This is fabulous example of a global company reaching out to its customer base and giving them the opportunity to share their ideas on how to reinvigorate its customer experience. Of course, the idea is only as good as Starbucks’ willing to adopt any of the suggestions that are made – and from what I’ve seen, they’re taking steps to do just that.

I’d like to see more companies taking this kind of approach – and it ties into some thinking I’ve been doing recently around brands and how they become more porous… 

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Multimap honoured

April 10, 2008 in Mapping, User experience, Web 2.0, digital by Stephen | No comments

My colleague Warren Hutchinson posts about an honourable mention at the Webbys for the work that LBi did in helping Multimap redesign their site. I’ll leave it to him to big the team up, but just wanted to add my ‘well done all’ to the mix!

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My statistical addiction

March 14, 2008 in Social web, User experience, Web 2.0, digital, flickr, internet by Stephen | No comments

Stats

Stats

Stats

I had the sudden realisation, the other day, that my current daily routine takes in a number of different statistical feeds – and this set me to thinking that *this* is part of the reason that creating your own content is fun. It’s the sense of audience that gives you more of a perspective on the stuff that you put out there.

So, I check out my Flickr stats on a regular basis, then I check my blog stats, and finally, less frequently, I check out LastFM stats for Inaura, one of the bands I used to play with.

It’s this stuff that is ’sticky’ for me – and I’m not normally obsessed by stuff like this…

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Complexifying the Tipping Point

March 12, 2008 in Business 2.0, complexity, digital, internet by Stephen | 3 comments

“It sort of sounds cool,” Watts says, tucking into his salad. “But it’s wonderfully persuasive only for as long as you don’t think about it.” 

Duncan Watt’s provides a counterpoint to Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point theory, in which ideas are spread by super-influencers. Watt has spent years looking at social dynamics, and is convinced that Gladwell’s ideas are too simplistic, and should be placed in a more complex, and likely more unmanageable context.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Yahoo backs OpenID

January 22, 2008 in Social web, User experience, Web 2.0, digital, internet by Stephen | 2 comments

OK this isn’t ‘new’ news, being as it was announced last week, but I was jetlagged then, OK??! This is hugely important in the move for portability of data across different networks. OpenID is an open source initiative aimed at creating one online identity that can operate across multiple social networks. It acknowledges that there is an ecology of different networks that people like to belong to, and we’re getting fed up maintaining different profiles and logins. Now that Yahoo have moved this way, I’ll be able to log into Flickr, Wordpress and other sites using the same ID…

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What is local?

January 18, 2008 in Business 2.0, Community, Local search, Mapping, User experience, Web 2.0, business, digital, internet, mashup by Stephen | 8 comments

“Different things to different people at different times.”

Robert Hardie, Content Strategy Director for  Northcliffe Media, talking about his definition of the variables one has to play with when considering developing local services. I attended Mashup’s local event last night, and broadly speaking founded it entertaining but not hugely useful in terms of real insight. Read the rest of this entry »

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Exhaust data

December 12, 2007 in Community, Social web, User experience, Web 2.0, digital, twitter by Stephen | 1 comment

This is an interesting and thought-provoking piece on the nature of the communication that flows between people using so-called ‘micro-blogging’ tools. Interesting because of the number of times I’ve heard people criticise the kind of “banal, pointless chatter” that goes on through channels like Twitter or Facebook. Am I really interested in the minutiae of my friends and colleagues’ lives?   Read the rest of this entry »

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