Specificity in Social Media: Can the Ravelry model work for corporations?

Today’s topic is social media.  More specifically, I’m going to discuss how to create and sustain social media experiences in a way that will hopefully be relevant for some of the many companies seeking to tap into the power of this (relatively) new set of tools.

                When most people think social media, they think about Facebook and Twitter first.  I say those are broad tools in the world of social media – more akin to a hammer.  Good for many tasks, but not very subtle or nuanced.  Go another level deeper into social media and you’ll find more specific-usage platforms such as Foursquare, Pintrest, LinkedIn, and Instragram.  This is one area in which companies can play that has been largely unexplored.  These tools are less hammers, and closer to screwdrivers – built for a specific task or set of tasks, and very effective for those jobs.

                For this post, I’d like to go down one more level – specifically to look at Ravelry.  Ravelry is a social network and pattern database created specifically for people who knit and crochet.  It has forums, a virtual “project notebook” where you can show off what you did with a particular pattern and yarn, and even a way to catalog all the yarn you have on hand and see what others did with it.  What makes Ravelry special is that it is a social network for a very specific group of people.  Everyone on the network, whether or not they are “friends,” already has something in common.  Farhad Manjoo’s 2011 Slate article “A Tight-Knit Community” really addresses this point well.  He explains that since everyone on Ravelry has a common interest, there is more opportunity for users to open up on forums and fewer trolls.    As a knitter myself, I appreciate this “safe space” to discuss everything from TV shows to favorite pattern designers to politics. 

                I also love how the site is designed.  It has evolved from its original incarnation in 2007, but each change is truly made with the users in mind.  The site was developed by a husband-and-wife team where she is a knitter and he is a tech guru.  The combination is powerful – an intuitive site designed for crafters with their needs in mind at all times.

                How can this be applied to a company?  Going back to the Manjoo article, I think he makes a great point in that a social network is far more fun when it is a smaller operation tailored to a specific group rather than an all-encompassing behemoth like Facebook where everyone and anyone is part of the greater network.  I think companies could benefit from supporting the development of more sites along the lines of Ravelry.  Ravelry currently generates revenue through yarn-related advertising and taking a small cut from any pattern sales that are done on the site.  Think about the possibilities for a similar venue for animal enthusiasts, or foodies, or runners.  A handful of firms could band together to create an online space for their consumers.  It would not be free of advertising but the users/consumers would be at the forefront, not the products. 

This all comes back to many of the concepts that Robert Schieffer and Eric Leininger discuss in their 2008 Marketing Management article, “Customers at the Core.”  Some of what makes Ravelry successful is that it is very much driven by a combination of customer insights and customer input, without becoming customer-controlled.  The availability of forums makes it easier for Ravelry to get beyond the input and into the insights.  Ravelry has thus far managed to avoid the pitfalls outlined by Schieffer and Leininger in their article, and any company looking to use the Ravelry model  for customer insights gathering would be smart to keep strategy before tactics, and not fall prey to chasing “the issue of the day.”

Give a specific set of consumers a safe place to network and much could be learned about their likes and dislikes, and most importantly, their needs.  Ravelry has led to the rise of designers that may have never gained ground without the site – the users know what they want and seek it out, allowing those who understand these needs to flourish.  It has also led to the creation of companion products such as a handful of apps that allow users to post photos directly from their phones to Ravelry.  Think of what a company or group of companies could do with the insights gleaned from creating a similar space for their consumers.  While many of these consumers may have scattered resources now – a forum here, a tracking program there – combining all these aspects into one site aimed at a specific subgroup could help take these far-flung pieces of information and bring them home to a space beloved by consumers and companies alike.

One big risk with a corporation attempting the Ravelry model would be that of privacy and information mining.  Facebook has received considerable backlash from their attempts to monetize the information it has access to about each of its users, despite the implicit and explicit contracts Facebook has with its userbase.  Some of what makes Ravelry a wonderful space for knitters is precisely because it has very little commercial agenda – it is a service provided for free to any who want to participate by people who truly care about this community.  I worry that if a corporation were to attempt a similar site, it may come off as an ill-disguised marketing ploy. 

My proposed solution to this issue would be for multiple companies to work together to create the site for their users.  Also, perhaps have some influential bloggers or forum participants from other sites around the topic give their input into potential designs.  Keep usability at the forefront and restrict advertising to banners and perhaps particular forum groups/threads.  Ensure that the users know if their information is being collected and how it will be used.  Keep the emphasis on the community – “we want to watch how you use this site in order to make it better for all of us who love this sport/hobby/etc.”

I think if done thoughtfully and with the user needs at the center, the Ravelry model could work for other companies that target specific subgroups of the population – from dog lovers to kayakers to birdwatchers.  We just need someone to take the time to dive in and do it right.

Articles referenced in this post:

Manjoo, Farhad. "A Tight-Knit Community." Slate. July 6, 2011.

<http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/07/a_tightknit_community.html>

Schieffer, Robert, and Eric Leininger. "Customers at the Core." Marketing Management. Vol 17, Issue 1, Jan/Feb 2008. 

Thinking about Creativity

                Today I’m going to discuss creativity.  This subject is very near and dear to me given my pre-business school background – film school for undergrad and four years of work in the entertainment industry.  Both of these periods of my life frequently required me to be creative on command.  While some might think that having a “creative” major or career means life is all fun and games, I have found that generating unique solutions and ideas on demand is a difficult process.

                During my undergrad education, I experienced periods of extreme creativity and also some droughts.  Some days the ideas would be flowing so quickly that I was almost manic, frantically trying to capture them all on paper so I could use them later.  These periods usually featured music or exercise to help inspire me.  I found instrumental music or music that told stories (e.g. concept albums) to be the more effective for my individual creativity. 

                Sometimes, however, I would enter what I often thought of as a creative drought.  I might argue that it corresponded with looming deadlines, but given the sheer number of qualitative assignments requiring that part of my brain, I would argue that the droughts tended to be more random.  Sometimes it felt like I was trying to jam pieces of completely different puzzles together – I had pieces of ideas but nothing fit into a whole.  Other times, anything I could think of seemed trite and already-done-to-death.  To be able to function in my chosen major and career, I had to find ways to jump start my brain during these uncreative periods so I could get back to work.  My classes taught me some helpful techniques such as free-writing, using photos or collages as a starting point, or drawing on your own past to get creative juices flowing in a drought.  I also discovered things that worked for me such as the aforementioned music and exercise (sometimes standing on my head helped too, oddly enough).  We were encouraged to seek inspiration from the world around us, not just films and television programs, as this would help us develop our unique creative voice rather than lead to us creating derivative works over and over.

During my undergrad, group creative work was common, especially as I progressed in my education.  Team brainstorming sessions would often lead to all of us feeling connected and fired up about our current film project.  Group sessions tended to be more consistent, as I get inspired by other people generating ideas, so that was one way to help pull me out of my funk. 

As I moved into the entertainment industry as an audio professional, I began working for organizations that provided creative services.  This was sometimes challenging because we were within a large corporation, and getting a large organization to be creative can be difficult especially when it has not been built that way from the beginning.  So from one standpoint, we were part of a business organization, yet we had to think creatively on a daily basis to provide our client with elements for their entertainment products. 

My department in particular was good about finding ways to foster creativity.  We could bring it items from home or around other parts of the office to create sounds we needed.  Our team was encouraged to see what others in our industry had done, and even take inspiration from music or other media.  If I got stuck on a creative element, I could go to my coworkers and they would help brainstorm solutions with me – always a helpful process.  As contractors, we occasionally had days without client work where we would generate content we thought might be helpful in the future.   We were also encouraged to submit ideas for how the department or our processes could work better, and these were often used to improve how we did things.  While this maybe was not organizational creativity in the Google sense, it was still creativity flourishing within a large organization.

This summer, between my first and second years of business school, I had the opportunity to work for a large management consulting firm.  While one might think this a vast departure from my previous work, having a creative background was a great asset.  Through my schooling and past experience, I have honed my creative problem-solving skills in a way that others may have not.  Management consulting is all about problem-solving and advocacy, both of which require creativity in order to succeed and not stagnate.  Each client is unique and so out-of-the-box ideas can help lead to the ultimate solution we recommend.  After having discounted my background during my first months of business school, I came to realize that my abilities to attack problems from a different angle led to creative ideas that may not have developed if I hadn’t been part of the team.  This summer, I found swimming laps each morning helped me solve some business problems I had been wrestling with the night before, and I also found working collaboratively with my teammates a great jump-starter for ideas.

As an individual, I think I can be creative by myself, and so can many other people.  The challenge comes from the widespread concept that creativity is an innate talent rather than a skill (as discussed in Jonah Lehrer’s work among others).  If someone believes creativity is innate and that it is not something they possess, then they will have trouble being creative alone without the assistance of others to help get the idea generation started.  From my experience, it seems those who think they are not creative do better in a group than alone since it is safer to generate ideas with others.

Groups can be a great way to come up with creative ideas.  I think that a group within an organization is capable of being creative, so long as they have freedom to do so from their organization.  They also need to be careful to avoid groupthink.  It can be easy for a group generating ideas to end up just validating each other to the point where a half-baked idea gets farther than it should before being scrutinized further.  But with these factors kept in mind, a group can use the talents and experience of each individual within the group to come up with ideas that no member could have generated individually.

I found Jonah Lehrer’s Wall Street Journal article, “How to Be Creative,” very helpful.  It put into words many elements of creativity that I have found from my own personal experiences but was never really able to put into words.  Different types of problems definitely merit different approaches to creative idea generation.  I attack a challenging logic puzzle differently than I would brainstorm ideas for a short film.  I think with some practice, most people instinctively know what they need to spark creativity.  I can feel whether I needed a solitary walk outside or a visit to my coworker’s office to get to the next level with a project.  I think the key here is being in tune with yourself and what you want.  If you are exhausted, do something relaxing because pushing your brain will just make things more difficult.  If you are feeling social or in need of energy, talk things over with a coworker or friend and the session will hopefully generate excitement and a positive boost.  A little training or guidance could help those who have trouble being introspective and instead focus on external stimuli.  It’s a bit like learning how to drive a stick shift – it’s about how each need feels, and once you know, it is crystal clear which you need at each time.  Sometimes the same project needs a little of each.  With some practice, you’ll know which you need at each key point.  

User-Oriented Design in Entertainment: Could It Revolutionize the Industry?

For my Customer Insights course we need to create a current topic report exploring a customer insights subject in depth.  For my paper, I would like to cover design thinking in entertainment.  As a media enthusiast and former member of the entertainment industry, I have been thinking a lot about how many of the elements of design thinking have their origins in creative industries such as entertainment.  However, I find that in the past decade or so, entertainment has drifted more and more toward the “better bets” that are derivative of other popular works (i.e. sequels, adaptations of works in other areas).  Market testing is done frequently and any negative feedback perceived as having a box office impact results in re-edits, rewrites, and drastic changes in branding for a movie or television show.

            What I would like to explore in this paper is how bringing design thinking to entertainment, specifically film and television, can change the direction the studio-oriented industry as a whole is heading toward.  My hope would be that by injecting some insights based around what consumers want and need from entertainment, not only will movies and shows track better with audiences but they might also contribute more to our culture.  Like many others today, I am concerned about the “sequel machine” and the need for “a sure hit” crumbling our creative culture into mainly derivative works with original, fresh concepts few and far between.  How can we support creative ideas that better reflect what the public actually wants to see and prevent pouring resources into concepts that sound like past successes but end up being faint shadows of that which they are trying to imitate?

            This topic is fascinating to me because I have always been intrigued by how ideas are generated, especially for creative works.  Creative ideas often seem so personal and taking them to a large studio or network often means that the idea gets shifted and adjusted for better mass consumption.  When I was going to film school in my undergraduate years, there was a sense of hope and optimism about how our work could change “the studio machine” and have a real impact on our culture and our world.  As someone who is interested in optimizing systems, I feel that concepts from our course such as not condescending to your consumer could make a huge difference in changing the current studio or television network systems into something closer to what my colleagues and I envisioned back in school.  Perhaps this is because I’ve been pursuing a career in management consulting upon coming back to school and that’s made me more aware of the flaws that can lurk in large systems such as that of a movie studio.  I’d like to combine my interests in change management, customer insights, and entertainment to explore how truly consumer-based design could be a revolutionary movement in the film and television industry.

            When thinking about entertainment from a design perspective, it becomes clear that entertainment has the power to impact consumers on each level covered by the Strategic Experience Module.  From sensory appeal to emotional resonance and inspiring action to provoking thought and connecting us to our world and even our higher selves, entertainment when done well moves us.  A great movie or television show can not only transport us but transform us.  The current systems use research in a way that tends to be superficial, mass-oriented, and money-driven.  I want to use the research techniques, specific persona creation, and concept of compassion for the consumer that we have learned about in this class to chart a course for user-centered movies and television. 

            In the early stages of my research for this paper, I have found a couple of sources I think will be helpful.  The first is a paper from the journal Innovation: Management Policy & Practice from Fall 2012, “Innovation in cultural industries: The role of university links” by Elena Zukauskaite.  This paper discusses applying R&D techniques similar to what we’ve been discussing in class to “cultural industries” such as entertainment.  While design thinking and other innovation-oriented techniques can be used in any company, Zukauskaite makes the point that R&D companies tend to be the only ones who utilitze this resource.  She also discusses universities as an important place where innovation can occur and has a case study of several media companies and how they use innovation.  Relationships with universities have a correlation to how innovative a company is across many different arenas such as products, processes, and strategy.

            Another source I have found is a blog entry from Innovation Architecture by Doug Collins from May of 2012, “Reimagining Media Through Collaborative Innovation.”  I found this post interesting because it talks about how Kickstarter and Twitter have turned the viewers into authors and creators.  He also discusses how Quirky could be used to crowdsource concepts for new movies, webisodes, or shows.  The digital nature of our world is changing and eroding the barrier between user and product.  This changes the relationship between the user and the studios and networks as well, as the users become collaborators instead of mere consumers.  While this is not necessarily a direction that would work for a large established studio, I would like to use this post as a jumping off point for ideas as to what form user-oriented design in entertainment might take.

            The questions I would like to answer in this paper are:

• ·         How can design thinking techniques be applied to entertainment, specifically film and television?
• ·         What would a user-oriented film production company look like?  What would a user-oriented television production company look like?  This section would also explore how a company such as this could generate enough revenue to make a profit.
• ·         How can a movie studio or television company today start moving toward user-oriented design?  What steps can be taken and what might the costs be?
• ·         Is Kickstarter or Quirky the way of the future in terms of entertainment or will it remain a way to fund a subsection of the industry?

Trying Out Generative Research for Myself

Today we have three exercises that are examples of generative research.  These are sample techniques that can be used to help generate insightful information about consumers.

1. Close to You

This exercise required me to place pictures of things that are important to me into two categories: What I Can't Live Without and What I Care About.
Some highlights:

• I can't live without pets.  Growing up I had two dogs and two cats.  My husband and I currently have three cats and I can't imagine life without them.  They add enjoyable chaos and extra love to our home.
• I also can't live without fun.  I think laughter is essential to daily life and enjoy finding the humor in everyday situations.
• Besides the more obvious "can't live without" factors such as my husband, my family, and my friends, I also can't live without knitting.  I have been knitting avidly for five years and I love it.  Knitting helps keep me patient and I love having a hobby that creates usable works of art.  If I don't have time to knit, I don't sleep as well and I'm definitely grouchier.
• I care about giving back to my community.  I am a huge animal lover and so most of my giving back is through nonprofits like Austin Pets Alive!  Currently, I walk dogs and write cat biographies for their website.  The photo is of one of my favorite dogs from the shelter who is now happily placed in a forever home.
• I also care about stories. I love to read and also enjoy a good story from a friend about something that happened in their lives.  I am a story fanatic and can't get enough of interesting and creative tales.  This goes along with my passion for movies and television as well (represented separately by a picture of a movie theater marquee).

2. Digital Ecosystem

This exercise shows the main places where I get my information digitally.  A single line means I use this source, and a double line means I use it often.

The two main places I get my news are Slate and The Skimm.  Slate is an online-only news magazine that covers national and international topics.  I subscribe to their "Daily Slatest" email digest and often browse the stories on their site to stay informed about everything from current events to entertainment.

The Skimm is an email newsletter that provides brief summaries of current events in everything from politics to sports in a fun and easy-to-read-quickly manner.  I love it because I can get up-to-date on current happenings in just a few minutes each morning.  The newsletter is female-oriented as well and makes a point of explaining typically "masculine" topics in a smart and accessible way.



 3. Typical Weekday

This exercise had me draw up my typical weekday and then draw lines for the types of information I might receive or access at that point in the day.  I used color coding to make it easier to see the differences in each time period.  I chose a Tuesday because as a student, my weekdays can vary rather wildly!

The time when I get the most information oddly enough is at the gym in the morning.  This is mainly because I watch CNN while I run on the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes so that covers many major categories in a short period of time.

I found it interesting that my two at home/doing homework time periods come out looking rather different as I'm more concerned about weather and traffic in the morning when I will head to class in a bit and more focused on my schoolwork in the afternoon.

Since I have three classes back-to-back on Tuesdays, I don't get a very wide variety of information during that time period.  It's mostly profession- or business-related with some checking of my calendar or lists of school events.

From dinnertime onward is when I like to relax with my husband and that's when I get to read more about entertainment and hobbies (such as knitting-related websites and forums).  While this divide between relaxing and homework may be a little less delineated than how I represent it here (sometimes I take a short break to peruse non-school-related information!), I tried to focus on the primary types of information I pursue or receive in each part of my day.

Creating Characters: Persona Design

Marketers often use personas to help focus product development and design in a user-focused way.  A persona is a very specific profile of a person that explains habits, likes/dislikes, personality and other important concepts that flesh out the character.  Not all persona information will be directly linked to the product being designed, but each piece of information helps create a bigger picture that allows a designer or company to better empathize with this person even if the persona is very different from them.

Here is my first stab at creating a persona around someone I know that I created with the help of “The Empathy Map” from a very user-friendly book called Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.

                     

Alan is a 42-year-old professional.  He works in the city and lives in the suburbs with his wife and two daughters (ages 13 and 15).  He is the director of IT for a large office, having earned that position when he joined the company seven years ago.  He used to be the Chief Technology Officer at a food and beverage start-up, but when that venture failed to take off after years of dedication, he left that position for his current company in order to find more stability and a better work-life balance for his family.

During the workday, Alan spends most of his time in his office or around the IT department.  He primarily oversees his own department and ensures they have the necessary resources but he will occasionally take on a particularly difficult IT issue himself.  A few times a month, he meets with his bosses and other executives within his company.  Alan’s bosses often comment that his management skills seem to carry over well to his home life – any man living with three ladies needs to know how to empathize and negotiate.  The company is a supportive place to work, and Alan’s bosses and colleagues frequently ask him how his weekend was or how his daughters’ latest swim meet went.  Alan is similar to his coworkers and doesn’t go a day without asking “how’s it going?” at least 12 times and genuinely listening to the answers.  Alan is well-liked at his company, and projects a professional but laid-back vibe when he walks around the office.  He is a manager who treats his employees with respect and gives them plenty of autonomy.  His employees consider Alan a guru of both IT and dealing with difficult people.  Alan likes to hire self-starters who can run with tasks once assigned as his management style leans toward empowering his employees and removing obstacles for them.

Alan’s office is small and functional, but his desk and bookshelves show his personality, intellectual curiosity, and love for pop culture, especially Spider-Man and Stanley Kubrick movies.  He surrounds himself with photos of family and unique gifts from friends or colleagues (like the didgeridoo an old friend brought him from Australia), making his office a great place to learn more about his life outside work if one is observant and asks questions.  Alan finds his office a great place for reflection, and considers his ability to have some quiet time during the day to think a good measure of how far he has come in his career.  Alan hopes that he might move up another step or two on the career ladder before retiring, but is frustrated that his promotion has been on a slower track than he’d like.  He was hoping to have made a senior director after 7 years with his company, and worries that his time at the start-up may have slowed his current career trajectory as his company seems to value traditional experience more than his more unusual background.

As he is a parent of two teens, most of Alan’s friends are other parents in the suburbs where he lives.  He is also close with some of his colleagues, although he mostly socializes outside work with colleagues from previous positions he has held throughout his career. He spends the weekends playing basketball, attending his kids’ swim meets, and chatting with friends at potlucks or barbeques.  Alan’s friends like to remind him that he is lucky to have a job he likes that allows him time with his family, especially his friends from his time with the start-up.  His less-sporty friends like to joke with him about his love for playing basketball despite the increased strain on his knees, saying he’ll eventually be “the oldest guy on the court!”  Alan hopes to be able to continue playing for at least ten to fifteen more years, so he is also health-and-fitness conscious.  He fears that maintaining this lifestyle will get more difficult as he gets older.

Alan values the time he gets in the evenings and on weekends to relax with his family.  These are the times when he reflects that trading the start-up lifestyle for a better work-life balance was a great decision and the time he weighs the most when measuring his success.  His wife, Elena, is his most trusted confidante and he values her opinion highly.  She is a key influence on his decision-making.  She will offer her input whenever Alan discusses a decision with her, and also whenever she can tell he’s grappling with a choice internally (after years of experience, she’s good at spotting this!).  Elena is good at helping Alan discuss why he is feeling conflicted, helping to tease out the answer.  As Alan and Elena have been married for 17 years, they have gotten into a groove when it comes to making purchasing decisions and they know how to make Alan’s low-six-figure salary cover their family’s needs and wants well.  Alan’s teen daughters frequently ask him for the latest trendy clothing or gadgets, and Alan does his best to accommodate some, but not all, of these requests.  Alan worries that if he gives the girls everything they want, they will become spoiled and not know how to get by with less than the maximum available, not to mention the fact Alan is not one of the few fathers who could afford everything a teenager might want!

Speaking of what teenagers want, Alan rarely watches television for himself.  Other than during basketball season, most of the shows he watches are chosen by his wife or daughters.  Unless an ad is televised during a game or on a rare occasion the show the ladies have chosen is not prerecorded on the DVR, Alan sees ads mainly online, either at home or at the office.  As is typical of someone who works with computers and technology, he is nearly immune to the pop-up ads and banners that crowd his browser window when he surfs the web.  The market tends to offer him upgrades for all his gadgets so he can be cutting edge, products that appeal to his love for pop culture such as statues or DVD box sets, and elaborate vacations to create “quality family moments” by spending large amounts of money to maximize his limited time off.  Alan focuses on getting product recommendations from his friends and colleagues rather than from ads.  His purchases are mainly influenced through targeted emails from his favorite sites, and also from product reviews online.  Alan has learned from experience that reliable reviews save him time and frustration.  As a technology-oriented person, Alan is easily frustrated by cheap shortcuts on products, especially gadgets.  He doesn’t want to spend his free time finding a workaround for a faulty purchase. 

Alan’s dream is to be promoted to a more senior position, which would allow him an even more flexible work schedule.  He’d love to be able to work from home one or two days a week so he could see his daughters off to school and when they first come home.  Since Elena runs a web-design business from the house, Alan would also see her more if he could work from home some.  Alan’s dream life also includes more ways for him to enjoy his time with family and friends.  Alan is already looking ahead to when his girls will go off to college, and hopes he can spend enough time with them before they leave.

                     

Persona creation is definitely something I want to work on.  In my career as a consultant, this will be a valuable tool to help my clients better understand subsegments of their customer base.  Also I think this would a good exercise for me to do in order to better empathize with people when I have conflicts with them.  Putting myself in the persona’s shoes will help me better understand others and prevent me from getting overly self-centered especially in a situation where there is conflict.