2012 SXSW Interactive Photos

Photos from SXSW have been posted!

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Gary Vaynerchuk talks about the "Interest Graph" and the growth of Pinterest

A great video where Gary flexes his predictive ability, and talks about the "Interest Graph" - the network of interests and hobbies that has died off with MySpace (yes, you did read that correctly). Check out the video, and check me out on Pintrest - maybe we have a few interests in common.

Twitter vs. LinkedIn: Connecting Desktop & Mobile Usage

Trying to get your users to adopt your mobile app and take you with them when they're not in front of the computer? As Twitter's usage is increasing exponentially they are trying to get as many users on their mobile platforms.

• From Mar 2010 to Feb 2011, Twitter has seen a 280% increase in the number of average tweets per day.
• From Jan 2010 to Jan 2011, Twitter's mobile users have increase 182% - to 26 million.
• On average, there are 460,000 new accounts created on Twitter every day.

They have been running this screen upon logout on their website:

This screen shows all of the mobile platforms that they support and lets you select your device to download the app. If you selected Android, this is screen you see:

Each screen offers a few easy ways to connect the user from desktop to the mobile device.  A spot for you to input your email address so they can send you a link to download from your mobile device.  But, I think my favorite feature of this page is the usage of the QR Code. This is probably the one application of a QR Code 'on-the-screen' that makes sense to me. The users scan the QR Code right from the desktop and they're taken right to the download option on their device.

LinkedIn has a very similar strategy, but they don't use the QR Code and they insert an extra screen which creates an extra step for users. 

I love the copy on this first screen though: "Going Places? Take LinkedIn with you."  It's clever and works on two levels.

On the second page, they then show you the devices...with continued reference to the "going places" line.

The download page is rather simple and connects directly to the android store and offers instructions for manual downloading of the app.  

Both strategies are clean and simple - but I prefer Twitter's fewer screens and usage of QR Codes.

How To Crowdsource Your Big Idea

You have a big idea.  It could be the next best thing - and you want to keep it a secret so no one jumps on it.  Wrong.  Basically, your gambling that your idea - or some aspect of it - is the best it could be and no input could possibly improve it.  And, if your idea is really great the chance that someone is going to steal it is probably pretty low.  People have a hard enough time executing their own ideas at all - let along stealing yours and doing it well.  


There are a few resources that let you get the opinions of others - I have pulled out just a few that might help get the ball rolling, or actually help someone else crowdsource their idea:

1. Quirky - This website can possibly help you get your new product idea off the ground.  Submit new product ideas and weigh in on other submissions.  Whats also cool is you can buy products designed by people just like you and me through the site.
2. Innocentive  - Are you good at talking through other people's ideas and helping them solve issues?  This site maybe for you then.  Geared maybe towards perhaps the more technically inclined (one of the challenges asks for Nuclear Test Monitoring and Verification Methods) Innocentive offers substantial cash rewards when you help solve a problem.  For solution seekers the website also hosts a set of resources including FAQs and White Papers.
3. LinkedIn Groups - While there are many crowdsourcing resources online, LinkedIn Groups is a potential goldmine of industry experts (and fools goldmine of hacks).  Be careful, and treat the advise as you would any other, but by tapping into the right groups you just might make a connection to help your idea take shape.  Try searching for start-up groups in your area.  While today we can collaborate across the world today, meeting someone face-to-face might be more effective.
4. Your Existing Network - Try discussing your idea with friends and family.  This is a very easy way to take a sample and gather feedback.  It's also a great way to hold yourself accountable.  Once you tell others about your idea, you'll be more likely to put the wheels in motion!

Do you have some other social product development or crowdsourcing resources?  Please comment and share them!

Here's a great article from BusinessWeek about social product development with some examples from Netflix, General Electric, and L'Oreal.  It also offers some quick guidelines when crowdsourcing your idea.

And, finally, product dev firm PTC runs the Social Product Development blog where it discusses many product development issues including Quality and Reliability in Social Product Development.

Don't just spin the wheel with your idea - take it to the people!