musings of a social architect

» Quantitative vs. Qualitative The Experience is the Product | Better product management and products

It’s tempting to try and turn as many questions as possible into quantitative ones, because those are easier to measure through unobtrusive means – web analytics, looking for data patterns, surveys – and give clear numerical answers.

However, it’s the messy, hard-to-collect and harder-to-interpret data that will lead you to breakthrough insights – not the percentiles and bar graphs.  Talk to people!

via www.cindyalvarez.com

Escapin' through the lily fields I came across an empty space

History tells us that markets get flushed, always and often. It doesn't matter what we call them - holes, ecosystems or whatever - but things change, business landscapes alter their foundations, and companies themselves are often the catalyst for those changes. But each time good execution survives, and more opportunities are created than those that are filled. It always happens this way.

via blog.aweissman.com

Lessons Learned: Learning is better than optimization (the local maximum problem)

Even if a startup is doing user-centered design, or optimizing their product through split-testing, or conducting tons of surveys and usability tests, that’s no substitute for also doing customer development. It’s the difference between asking “how should we best solve this problem for these customers?” and “what problem should we be solving? and for which customer?” These two activities have to happen in parallel, forming a company-wide feedback loop. We call such companies built to learn. Their speed should be measured in validated learning about customers, not milestones, features, revenue, or even beautiful design. Again, not because those things aren’t important, but because their role in a startup is subservient to the company’s fundamental purpose: piercing the veil of extreme uncertainty that accompanies any disruptive innovation.

via www.startuplessonslearned.com

Why You Should NEVER Listen to Your Customers « blog maverick

Your customers can tell you the things that are broken and how they want to be made happen. Listen to them. Make them happy. But they won’t create the future roadmap for your product or service. That’s your job.

via blogmaverick.com

Help spread the word: GREAT house in Half Moon Bay for rent

We're spending the year in Santa Monica - and renting out our 5-bed 3-bath house near Half Moon Bay. This is a GREAT situation for a startup, family or roomates who want to live in a BEAUTIFUL setting near the beach and hiking trails -- yet only 1/2 hour (or less) from San Francisco, San Mateo, and Palo Alto. Details below. Great place to enjoy nature - ideal for home office/startup or family. 

The market is S...L...O...W  right now, and we'd appreciate ANY help in spreading the word. Here's what you can do:

* Send a message to anyone you know who's looking for a place to live on the Coast

* Post a message to any mailing lists (alumni, interest groups, etc.) you belong to where folks might be interested

* Update your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn status with the message below.

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Spacious house for rent ($3300/mo) near Half Moon Bay. 5-bed 3-bath, ocean views, fenced yard, easy walk to beach & hiking trails, pets  welcome. 1/2 hour (or less) from San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto. Great situation for startup/families/dog lovers. 

http://bit.ly/Hcesf

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We very much appreciate any help you can offer in spreading the word. Thanks in advance!

A Bootcamp for your Brain

As many gamers know from experience -- and research is now bearing out -- playing certain games can sharpen your mental skills and "re-wire" your reflexes. An "brain-training" industry is evolving around this reality. Over at SmartPlanet, Vince Thompson shared a video about a RL storefront business delivering a customized, social "brain training" experience. Vince also lists a number of companies -- including  Shufflebrain -- building and distributing games that sharpen your brain. 

Photograb Game Widgets are LIVE!

Hey Photograb players - you can now post your favorite Photograb games on your blog, web page, or SNS profile! Just click the Embed button on any game page, and grab the code for the Widget size you want (small, medium, large). If you're a game creator, this is an awesome way to share your creations! Here's what the large-size widget looks like. Check it out - post some games - happy Photograbbing!

A different take on "Putting the Fun in Functional"

Here's a Southwest Airlines employee who just HAD to have a bit of creative fun with his job. Made me smile :-D

GamesBeat is shaping up to be a great conference

I'm excited to be speaking at GamesBeat next week. Our panel is at 2:15.

The Influences of Video Design: How are gaming principles stimulating innovation in the non-gaming world? Moderator: David Edery (Microsoft & co-author of “Changing the Game”) Participants: Bing Gordon (Kleiner Perkins), Rajat Paharia (Bunchball), Amy Jo Kim (Shufflebrain), Gabe Zichermann (rmbr) Promoting human interaction is the key to achieving success in business and in life, and gaming has become the most effective way of encouraging these interactions. We’ll discuss how gaming principles are changing the rules of engagement to the extent where they foster learning, reading, customer acquisition and basic application design.

The entire day looks great -- check out the agenda and speakers. This lineup goes beyond "the usual suspects." I'm looking forward to hearing how these folks see the games industry expanding and changing. Should be an illuminating day.

There's still a few seats left -- you can register here and get 10% off with discount code. I hope to see you there! Please come say hi if you're able to make it. 

Playcrafter: make your own games (very cool tool)