I'm totally bailing on you

Well, not exactly. I'm now blogging over at FreshMR as one of the contributors, so I suspect my need for this site has gone away.

http://www.freshmr.com/

However, if I find a juicy topic on which I simply must blog, but about which I cannot blog on my official corporate site, I am totally yours.

Much love,
e.

The new focus groups?

The New York Times published a piece last week about “new” approaches to qual research including collaging and journaling: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/media/30focus.html?_r=4&hp=&pagewanted=all

I have a couple of issues with the piece. First, these approaches aren’t new—I personally have been employing them since the mid-90s, and they've likely been in practice longer. I'm pretty sure that I wrote an internal white paper about this very same topic—up-and-coming qual approaches such as collaging and participatory design—in 1997.

Second, the “here’s why focus groups are bad” example that they cite is the New Coke launch from 1985.

It's disheartning that such an outdated piece is coming from The Times. And I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with all of the "focus groups are bad" griping. Yes, there are downsides to focus groups. And they can sometimes be a useful tool.

Rather than bash existing research tools to make our "new" tools look better by comparison, can't we just explore the new tool's strengths, weaknesses, and promise? If in your explanation of a new research approach, you use focus groups as a comparative foil, you have turned me off.

You lost me at "better than the New Coke focus groups"...

Social shopping enters the big leagues

Google Offers launched in Portland today, and of course I signed up right away. I'm not really a coupon gal, but there's something appealing about these online "coupon" services such as Groupon and LivingSocial. Maybe it's the fact that they seem to be appealing to slightly younger and hip-er clientele than typical coupon users. Maybe its because they're hooked into the online social media. If it's cool to use Facebook, it must be cool to use Groupon and then tell all of your Facebook friens about it, right?

For me, the proof shall be in the pudding: Which one will send me better deals -- deeper discounts on things that are actually of interest to me?

Part of me is rooting for the underdog(s). Google dominates in several categories now. I'd like to see the category-creators continue to do well, at least for the time being.

Now...where's my daily Google offer email?!

SXSWi pics

I finally downloaded some pics from my phone, including pictures from SXSWi. Here's a link in case you're interested in seeing my journey.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157626570898560/

Terminology for game-related online/social interaction

We were having a lively debate at work last week about how to talk about these new "game" activities related to social media. Talking about "game theory" is clearly wrong, as there's something totally different related to game theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory.

We talked about "game layer" which was used at SXSW and TED by Seth Priebatsch. He also uses "Gamification" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification -- which I think trivializes the topic. The wikipedia definition for this seems close to what I'm after:

Gamification is the use of game play mechanics^[1] for non-game applications
(also known as "funware"),^[2] particularly consumer-oriented web and mobile sites, in order to encourage people to adopt the applications.

We hadn't talked "funware" and it seems even more trivial in its connotation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funware. The definition sounds close to what I'm thinking about:

Funware, a term coined by Gabe Zicherman,^{[1] [2] [3]} is the use of game mechanics in
non-game contexts to encourage desired user actions and generate customer loyalty. Funware typically employs game mechanics such as points, leaderboards, badges,
challenges and levels.

The functional term I've been using in my mind when thinking about this topic is use of "game mechanics" within the realm of social media. I think I'll stick with this for now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_mechanics

Game layer

Heading into a meeting today to pitch an idea for a white paper of sorts on the game layer -- what it means for technology companies, what it might mean for tech-focused research firms. Sorting through some ideas in my head now. I'll report back as to my plans soon...

SXSWi Day 3 - that's a wrap

Due to some scheduled focus groups on Monday, I had to depart SXSWi this afternoon. Before doing so, I caught a couple of sessions and had a chance to see Paul Reubens one more time. :-)

I'll be thinking about my experiences at "South by" for weeks to come. As I depart today, I'm thinking about...

social

gaming

tweeting

checking in

points

up leveling

badges

hero's quest

Star Wars

4sq

Ustream

Nick Jr.

Cartoon Network

Pee Wee

NYT

content developers

aggregators

BBQ brisket

Killer sushi

Glennztees

Hotel San Jose

The Continental

frog design

The Jiddler

#SXSWi

#MRX
#SXSW4japan

I hope I get a chance to head to SXSWi next year or some future year. Thanks Austin -- looking forward to seeing you again soon.