CrapHammer

I am not an influencer and we are not friends (try 2)

 

I would think that writing an article titled "F*ck Influencers..." would have halted some of the SPAM PR email I receive every day, but alas, just last week I received yet another in a steady stream of such emails.  This one stood out as it actually referenced the "F*ck Influencers..." post. 

All of these emails tend to follow a very simple format.

Dear Mr. Howard,

[Introduction on how they love and follow my blog.]  [Crafty little segue into their new product and service they are launching.]

[Calling out a post they liked by its title] [Some reference about how their service may be of interest to me (call to action)]

[One or more paragraphs on their service/offering that appears to be cut and pasted from a press release.]

Signed,

Name, Phone, Email, etc.

The email I received last week actually appeared to be written by hand and not by a PR firm.  I can only assume this individual had been told "how" to email blog owners, had paid someone to do this on his behalf, or is perfectly harmless and just stepped into a hornets nest.  So in an effort to help this individual out...

I AM NOT AN "INFLUENCER" AND WE ARE NOT FRIENDS.

That's not to say I don't have influence.  And that's not to say we couldn't one day be friends.  It simply means I am not a vehicle sitting around idly waiting to SPAM my friends no matter how "awesome" this piece of PR news is. 

Let's talk about what influence I have and how to get me to one day care enough about your service to potentially share it within my circles of influence.

It's amazingly simple.

1. Have a conversation with me.

Don't call me and don't email me.  So where can you have a conversation with me?  Well, here's a crazy idea, how about on the very blog that brought me to your attention?

2. Have a conversation with ME about what matters to ME. 

Every article on my blog has a wonderful little comment feature.  Here's an "out of the box" thought.  What about leaving a comment on the very post you were about to say your really liked in the spam email?

But there's a catch, you have bring some value to the conversation or I'm going to assume you are a spammer and press "mark as spam."

But that's a lot of comments you have to leave and monitor.  What is a PR lackey tasked to incent and measure massive viral reach via SPAM emails to do??? 

Die, hopefully.

3. Create a Relationship

Relationships are two way streets. They are touch and go.  They take lots of time and enormous amounts of effort. Which may be why everyone, including PR firms and agencies who should know better, spam everyone by email.

But it's only when we have a relationship that you are then able to leverage my influence. It's only when we have a relationship that we are able to determine what is of value to each other.  The relationships that bring value to each of us as well as our extended circles of influence become stronger and open up new opportunities.

4. Relationships are complex

Here is the good news about relationships: they are not an on/off switch.  There are more contexts for relationships than I think can be defined or addressed.  I may think you are cute.  You may think I'm nice but too big for my boots.  I may disagree with everything you say but admire your transparency and openness. We might see the world the same way or from radically different perspectives.

Or we may only have a relationship built around a topic or area of interest.  Something I'm interested in and you are able to provide insight or access to.

I am 100% in the Herd camp.  Influencers don't exist, only influence.  Step 1 is to have a relationship.  I'd go so far as to say that the person with the most relationships wins.

[Image Source: Xurble ]

The Latent Truths

I recently found myself re-reading two of Ellen Diresta's wonderful posts from 2008 on uncovering explicit and tacit motivations in the context of product and service innovation.

After attending Adaptive Paths' MX conference, I posted a framework for consumer research that defined three areas to Ellen's two.  I've updated the descriptions below.

• Explicit:  What someone is willing (and able) to tell us.
• Tacit:  What they can't say directly, but we can infer.
• Latent:  What could manifest in the future but is unavailable to them (unknowable.)

I highly recommend a read of Ellen's posts for uncovering the explicit and the tacit motivations driving consumer behavior/needs.  They are dead on.  But it strikes me once again that there is a soft line that potentially divides the Tacit into that which can be known or imagined (by the user) and that which is unknowable to them in their current state of mind and social existence (unimaginable.)

The realm of product/service/business disruption seems a fecund playground for latent motivations - behaviors, needs and desires that can't exist in the current environment and that require a world the user lacks the ability (or skills) to bring themselves to imagine or conceive.

I will play off of Ellen's example of the personal computer.  But rather than speak of innovations to the personal computer, I will speak of the shift from Mainframe to personal computers.  I believe it would have been very difficult to understand unmet future needs when speaking to mainframe adopters or laggards. The first forays from mainframe computing to personal computing would slowly disrupt and revolutionize the industry over a period of a few years. 

Most of us have read or heard of Ken Olsen's statement (then head of DEC), "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." This is a quotation taken out of context of that era's milieu.  What Ken appears to have been trying to convey was that there was no reason to have a computer that controlled your home, turned on and off your lights, managed your heating and even regulated your refrigerator and meals.

Yet this is exactly what computers are now doing in an ever increasing number of homes.  From home security systems to turning on your coffee pot and even "intelligent" refrigerators. In fact, personal computers even help manage our entertainment or media consumption (AppleTV and Window Media Center.)  I realize I've taken a bit of a leap from mainframes to embedded micro-controllers and the like, but not when you consider the exponentially increasing pace of technological change.

The speed of technological advancement and subsequent breakthroughs continues to increase and this is inversely impacting time to disruption.  When placed in the context of changes that occurred from the industrial and pre-industrial age, the timeframes can be quite stunning.  Today we see a number of relatively recent entrants already showing their ability to severely disrupt the incumbents.

• VOIP vs. Analog Telephony
• Open Source Movement vs. Proprietary Software
• High speed CMOS vs. Film

And here is where I believe that prototypes combined with structured play give us the opportunity to shift the Latent into the realm of the Tacit or even the Explicit. Even as the developers of a disruptive offering, we can't clearly see the disruption we are looking to bring to the table or predict it's implications or potential adoption.

Prototypes give a glimpse of something different but alone fall short of the social, emotional and environmental triggers that would create the paradigm shift required.  Play provides a structure within which suspension of disbelief can be engaged and environmental factors can be transferred to the participant via the "rules" of the game.

Combined these two forces can allow us to shortcut the significant defenses against imagining an alien reality.

“…the real value of a model or simulation may stem less from
its ability to test a hypothesis than from its power to generate
useful surprise.”, Michael Schrage, Serious Play (h/t portigal)

My experience tells me it is far more likely that we succeed in shifting latent needs and motivations into the realm of the tacit versus the explicit. Thus we should be careful of taking consumers at their "word." Ellen says it beautifully, "Since you're trying to create something that does not yet exist, you cannot take the consumers' suggestions at face value.  The translation between what they say and the criteria you need to develop for a successful new product may take several iterations."

Image Source: Bright Tal (Political)

Play More: Embedded Futures

This is an experiment to enable more play in my life.  I've come to realize that - for me - to play is to create, to dream and to imagine. So I will begin with a possibility that arose when I first interacted with a Flip Video Camera.

A year ago I came across my first Flip Video Camera.  The amazement of flicking a switch and seeing a USB connector pop out amazed me so much that I went around the office demonstrating this feature over and over to the immense enjoyment of my co-workers.  Click.  Click.  Click. See!  Full frame video and audio for less than $100 and no cable!  Click.  Click.  Click. 

A neat solution to something few in the industry addressed as a problem - not having a cable on hand.  But this was not the real innovation as I saw it.  What floored me was that there was no software to install (aside from a driver issue).  Rather, the software to edit and upload your movies existed on the camera in PC and Mac formats.  Plugging in the camera caused it to appear as a drive and double clicking the software on the camera would cause it to run on your computer. 

This idea of software delivered "embedded" in a device is what got me excited.

I'm going to take a very broad and liberal view of "embedded software".  The industry views embedded software as something extremely specialized and included on a chip to better enable the hardware to interact with the real world.  But what if software came embedded on devices the way the Flip software for editing videos comes "embedded" on the Flip Video camera?

Questions for Playing

What are the human behaviors?  The unmet needs?

Devices that require software to be installed SEVERELY limit their ability to be used collaboratively with others who don't have the software installed.  As we move into a participatory culture and world, should devices that require software not come with the needed software on them?  I buy apps on my iPhone that require me to install software on my PC or Mac.  But updating my iPhone software doesn't update the computer software.  And further, to use these apps with another computer I have to find and download the software required.  Why?

What trends/changes show a shift away from software delivered via CD-ROM?

Networked computing/storage is exploding.  Google Docs, anyone?  How many people are shifting to buying and downloading software?  What if media was intelligent and DRM was less about who could use it and where it was being used from?  Networking standards have come a very long way.  I can connect my Mac and PCs to the same networks with less and less issues.

What if in the future we upgrade our "computers" by purchasing other physical devices that enable new features or capabilities in our devices?

Scenarios / Play Time!

The Car as Catalyst

Kat was late for work.  Again.  She grabbed her purse, coat and keys and shoved them under one arm, freeing up her hands to initiate a call to her assistant on her iphone.  Her car - sensing the approaching keys with an RFID signature - turned on the lights, started the engine and unlocked the doors.  Tossing everything haphazardly into the car and speaking into the bluetooth earpiece, "Jana, can you move my 8am?  I'm not gonna make it."

Her iphone beeped in her ear.  It had connected to the car and found local software standing by to run.  She began to dig through the debris on the seat beside her to find her phone while listening to Jana complain about how full her day already was.  "Aha!" she pronounced as she came up with the phone, much to Jana's surprise.  "It's cool, Jana, just reschedule Marketing to next week.  I'll call him later today."

She pressed "Proceed" on her phone, allowing it to launch the apps found in the car and quickly bypassed the signature check.  The dashboard application came to life - allowing her iPhone to take over the entertainment functions for the vehicle.  She smiled and turned to put her hands on the wheel, knowing that her favorite programming would begin as soon as this call ended. If it ended. Jana continued to ramble on about some trip the Chairman wanted her to take.  She put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway, making a mental note to download some new audiobooks on time management to her phone.

The Printer as Enabler

Jeremy ran the office for a small not-for-profit that helped to develop sustainable building projects in the core of Toronto.  He felt good about his job but his role could be quite challenging. He was constantly tasked to accomplish the impossible on budgets that were always insufficient.  His latest task was to replace the aging office equipment as well as upgrade everyone's software in the office with a budget that was more appropriate to throwing a pizza party.

So when Jeremy decided he needed a new printer for the office, he became very interested in the new lines of multi-use printer/copier/fax/scanner/counterfeiting units.  There were so many to choose from. It was a bit daunting and he had already wasted an afternoon at one of the stores with some kid who was just reading to him from the boxes.  One model did stand out in his mind, however, and it was the new Xerox model.

He didn't really care the technology the printers used to print but he did like their story about less waste.  What really amazed him about this particular unit was that it came with a full copy of Photoshop SmallOffice - they called it "Smart Software".  He wasn't quite sure what "Smart Software" was but figured it was worth a risk.  He had 24 hours to return it with no questions asked. 

When he unpacked the printer, he was a bit surprised that there were no CD-ROMs or software to install.  The quick-start guide walked him through how to plug the printer in and how to get it on the network. Jeremy walked through the setup instructions while eating a bagel and as he pressed the last button, he had to jump back.  Like magic, a network drive began to appear on every computer in the office - Macs and PCs.

He sat down at his computer, thinking this was beyond cool.  There was a folder for drivers and another folder for software.  He clicked on the software folder and there was a Mac and a PC executable for Photoshop as well as ScanSoft.  He double clicked Photoshop and sure enough, a full copy of Photoshop SmallOffice launched.  A screen came up and said he was the only user and 2 more copies could be run at any time by any other computer on his network.  It also warned him not to copy the software to his computer as it would only run when launched from the printer.

Was this cool?  Sure, but Jeremy wasn't sure how this would be adopted.  Over the next few weeks he became a believer.  His office saw a constant flux of people as they used a lot of part-time and even seasonal staff.  Suddenly it was ridiculously easy to get people connected to the printer.  And if they needed to scan something, the software was right there for them.  No more installing of CD's and the like.  Furthermore, his graphic artist on staff was beyond happy as they had been using a copy of Photoshop that was 5 years old.  If anything, Jeremy was interested in buying more concurrent licenses for the applications...

Electronics as Enhancement

"Is that the new Samsung 3000+ Entertainment console?", Josh asked in a reverent and disbelieving tone.  Greg grinned and nodded.  Josh gulped visibly and a look of envy flashed across his face before he regained his composure.  "That's the one that turns on 5D sound in World of Warcraft 7?"  His question died at the end as he noticed the shit-eating grin on Greg's face.

Greg had to laugh as he pulled his laptop from under the coffee table and presented it to Josh.  "Here.  Try it."  Josh had been reading the reviews and his hand trembled as he went to launch World of Warcraft from the Start menu only to have Greg bat his mouse hand away.  "Dude.  Please.  You have to run the special version off the console."

Josh looked like a geek who had been shown up by a small child.  Greg grinned and double clicked the network drive for his sound console and launched the icon located there under games.  It quickly searched his hard drive for the other needed game components and then launched the advanced version that took advantage of the unique capabilities of the house-shaking sound system that the packaging promised "came close to bending time and space."

Play with Me, It's Fun!

This is about playing, not predicting.  It's about unlearning and exploring without the normal boundaries in place.  What emerges and what other ideas come up are totally a bonus.  So wade on in.

P.S.  Come on Alan, you can't let that last title "get off" so easily.  ;)

Creating Experiences that Bring About Change - Part 1

When Experiences Must Do Something

I feel it is important to start with a simple hypothesis - that what we are able to think of is constrained directly by what we are able to imagine.  So if we can't imagine different futures beyond the present situation, then we can't effectively explore new ideas, cover new ground or innovate.

Now imagine we are on a project with a large team and our role as a planner or as a UX person is to help the group frame the challenges and opportunities facing the client/organization. Some would say this is our only role.  Here I turn to a much needed conversation going on between Matthew Milan and Adrian about the overlap and state of affairs within planning and UX.

"As a planner I saw my job as creating new possibilities. I wanted to always be on the side of providing an opening for my brands and my colleagues to explore and play within a completely different and unexpected context."  Adrian

I agree and feel quite strongly that we have to "change" the audience so that they have the ability to "see" different realities in a world where few people spend time imagining things differently.  How we accomplish this is the "black art" of our field.  Do we draw a picture, create a powerpoint or tell a story?I

I propose that we must do what they are asking us to do - create an experience that has the potential to involve the viewer and enable the change to occur.

A Model For Creating Change
Hillis spoke some time back (2004) at the Long Now Foundation about the "Progress on the 10,000-year Clock".  Hillis is attempting the impossible by many accounts.  He is looking to change how we see the world, the future and - by extension - what is possible.

37 minutes into his presentation, he stops presenting what has been built to date and begins talking about how the clock is more than a thing - how it is an experience designed to change the viewer/visitor. 

He presents a model for the stages of an experience that can change the participant. (I was surprised to find out that he had spent time at Disney focused on creating experiences.)

• Picture:  we require a picture in our mind of what it is we are going to accomplish. 
• Commit:  the moment where we choose to engage - to commit.
• Glimpse:  a glimpse of something that pulls us forward - the "weenie in front of the dog."
• Trial:  a period of confusion where we leave behind our old ways of thinking - where we are unsure and even frightened enough to look for something different or new.
• Arrive:  we achieve what we set out to accomplish.
• Payoff:  the "high". A moment of reflection.
• Secrete Payoff: secret and personal payoff that only the people who have the experience can realize.
• Return:  start over at the beginning.

((Rituals appear to share many of these.  Future article?))

7 simple stages to think about in crafting an experience (or series of experiences) with a loop back to the beginning.  For this article, I want to call our attention to the very first step.  To have a picture.  A step so very often overlooked and yet so critically important.

It seems simple enough.  We paint a "picture" of what the experience is going to be like and use our media people to get this picture in front of everyone that matters.  If only it was that simple.  Going back to the opening hypothesis, our audience has to believe something is possible and be able to imagine it before they can even have a hope of "seeing it" let alone believing it.  So what do we do when we are trying to invent something "out of the box" or "new/different"?

Role of Comics
I've spoken about comics a few times now and I've been using them as a prototyping tool in a variety of situations.  This has been great, but it is becoming clear that comics are applicable for far more than just prototyping. 

They excel at the first step in the Hillis model.  They not only present a picture, they give the user the tools to imagine a different world and slowly change their perception to the point they can consider an idea.

There's been some high profile and really amazing uses of comics recently in just this context.

Google Chrome: Google wanted to introduce a new browser into the market that redefined a whole slew of protocols, technologies and methods used to build a browser.  They needed to generate awareness and buy-in on the concepts and why a new browser is needed - topics generally beyond most people's interest or ability to comprehend.   Yet critical if one were to imagine a new standard for browsers.  Their initial launch idea?  A brilliant comic by Scott McCloud.

Akoha: Akoha is attempting to bring "pay it forward" into a social networking environment.  This requires that people be engaged in learning what "pay it forward" is and then to be interested and willing to explore how Akoha works.  A lot of work when the goal is to create sign-ups and growth in the usage of the site.

 

I'm interested in what others in the field have to say about experiences that can bring about change, the Hillis model and/or the role of comics in this context.  Join in!

Exercise: Users, Objects and Goals

Overview of Users, Objects and Goals Exercise:
Most organizations are able to provide some level of detail on the organizational goals for a project, but rarely are the value for and needs of the target audience well defined. This exercise gives me insight into the different requirements of internal and external stakeholders/users and actually creates a checklist at a very detailed level for a feature review/requirements assessment.  All from the point of view of the end audience.

Continue reading...

I've been using this process as a kickoff for a number of digital engagements of late and thought I would share it.  The link above presents my approach, guidelines on how to implement it yourself and links to the templates I use to present the outcomes and learnings from the session.

The Role of Serious Play in the Boardroom

I recently penned an article on my consulting blog that I thought might be of interest to readers here.

I remember my first real experimentation with play to solve a serious business problem and it occurred way back in 2001.  I was a Senior Strategist with ICE and we were working on the second largest e-commerce initiative in Canada for a packaged travel company (packaged vacations).  We had recently wrapped up a 2 months planning phase that culminated in a dangerously heavy set of bound documentation.

continue reading

I look at one of the first times I used a "Serious Play" exercise in a boardroom with "suits" and how it led to a major insight on the project.