This benchmark studying outlines 10 best practices in applying social technologies to the product innovation process. Case studies come from companies that are ahead of the industry curve in accelerating both time to market and innovation.
Using Social Collaboration in Product Innovation - Updated
1. Crowdsourcing
and
Internal
Innova+on
Social
Innova+on
Benchmark
Study
II
Applica'on
of
Social
Technologies
to
Product
Development
John
Carter
Tammy
L.
Madsen
Jeanne
Bradford
Kumar
Sarangee
Jennifer
L.
Woolley
TCGen,
Inc.
Leavey
School
of
Business
Menlo
Park,
CA
Santa
Clara
University
Santa
Clara,
CA
August
2012
2. Execu+ve
Summary
Par+cipants
• Innova+on
does
not
have
to
be
unbounded
in
+me.
Social
innova'on
allows
teams
to
innovate
quickly
and
repeatedly
compared
to
the
open
ended
tradi+onal
research
approach.
Amway
• Social
innova+on
systems
reduce
the
cost
of
innova'on
by
leveraging
ideas
and
facilita+ng
lean
product
development
with
small
teams
under
five
people
and
low
six
figure
budgets.
Autodesk
• The
quan+ty
of
data
from
a
community
is
not
a
subs+tute
for
quality.
The
selec+on
of
clearly
defined,
closed
communi+es
with
screened
par'cipants
results
in
higher
quality
and
more
Cisco
relevant
input.
• There
is
no
need
for
investment
in
home-‐grown
social
media
tools.
Good
commercial
solu'ons
DuPont
are
available,
and
many
of
these
are
cloud
based
applica+ons
can
be
applied
to
product
crea+on
out
of
the
box.
Farmers
Dupont
• Social
innova'on
tools
can
provide
most
of
the
benefits
of
in-‐person
Voice
of
the
Customer
without
the
expense
of
travel.
This
enables
cost
effec+ve
entry
into
emerging
markets.
Hewle[-‐Packard
• User
Generated
Content
(UGC)
in
the
form
of
photographs
from
a
well
defined
community
of
provided
product
designers
with
a
visual
image
of
the
product
environment
.
IBM
• There
are
five
fundamental
components
that
enable
successful
social
innova'on
–
mastering
them
all
will
lead
to
“success
in
a
box”.
They
include:
Screening
Members,
Providing
Rewards,
NetApp
Coordina+ng
Corporate
Leadership,
Hiring
Qualified
Community
Management,
and
Using
Exis+ng
Tools.
These
are
“table
stakes”.
SAP
• The
best
results
came
from
study
par'cipants
that
mastered
three
elements:
closed
and
+ghtly
managed
communi+es,
+me
bounded
campaigns,
and
quality
user
generated
content.
These
separate
the
“best
from
the
rest”.
SolidWorks
Yellowpages.com
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
2
3. Social
Innova+on
Hub
and
Spoke
Model
Showing
Causes
and
Effects
BETTER
RESULTS
closed
forum
influences
corporate
strategy
BEST
PRACTICES
special
purpose
forums
allow
interac'on
around
a
feature
measurable
impact,
oZen
using
simple
off
the
shelf
tools
photographic
input
is
much
richer
than
a
survey
80%
of
user
driven
priori'es
are
implemented
plaorm
has
mechanisms
of
vo'ng
and
collabora'on
reduce
the
cost
of
product
defini'on
best
communi'es
do
not
allow
anonymous
par'cipa'on
share
data
across
business
units
was
instrumental
80%
of
priori'es
implemented
develop
the
competency
to
screen
par'cipants
0
anonymous
par'cipa'on
Benefits
Of
MORE
IDEAS
campaign
generated
200-‐400
ideas
in
2
weeks
Social
Innova'on
twiFer
survey
of
followers
received
225
responses
in
1
day
virtual
innova'on
center
produced
60
innova'on
projects
per
year
OPTIMUM
ORGANIZATIONS
77
hour
event
created
5
concepts
that
reshaped
the
industry
execu've
leadership
role
(VP
of
Innova'on)
72
hours
100s
of
ideas
can
be
generated
leverage
knowledge
with
hub
and
spoke
model
very
small
organiza'ons
(3-‐7)
that
provides
addi'onal
innova'on
200-‐400
ideas
in
2
weeks
150,000
people
are
members
of
the
top
20
linked
in
innova'on
groups
teams
as
small
as
3
that
support
1000s
a
core
of
a
12
people
support
over
150
SHORTER
TIME
3
that
support
1000s
live
Jam
dura'on
is
typically
1
week
implement
a
vendor’s
tool
out
of
the
box
in
less
than
1
quarter
12
new
products
in
6
months
12
new
products
in
6
months
4. Benchmark
Study
Background
• The
increasing
applica+on
of
Social
Networking
plaborms
outside
of
product
development
caused
us
to
ask
why.
– How
are
social
networking
plaborms
are
used
in
product
development?
– Who
is
leading
the
charge
and
what
have
they
learned?
• Joined
by
Santa
Clara
University
Professors
(Madsen,
Sarangee,
Woolley)
who
shared
our
interest
and
passion,
we
performed
this
mul+-‐client
benchmark
study,
and
simultaneously
launched
research
on
this
emerging
topic.
– Formulated
hypotheses
for
our
study,
like
does
the
use
of
social
innova+on
tools
cause
firms
to
be
more
innova+ve?
– Created
an
interview
guide
&
iden+fied
target
companies
– Conducted
face-‐to-‐face
or
telephone
interviews
ranging
from
1-‐4
hours
each
with
2-‐3
researchers
and
company
experts
– Summarized
our
interviews
and
had
the
companies
review
our
conclusions
• We
supplemented
benchmarking
with
best
prac+ces
from
the
literature
review
• This
report
summarizes
the
results
of
two
sets
of
interviews
between
2010-‐2012.
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
4
5. IBM
Jams
–
Time
Bounded
Innova+on
Community
Ac'on
Report
Project
Jam
prepara'on:
marke'ng,
Post-‐Jam
Analysis
Ini'a'on
training/recruitment,
site
prepara'on
Live
Event
and
Implementa'on
Prac+ce:
The
IBM
Jam
accelerates
innova+on
&
consensus
by
combining
an
op+mized
process
for
innova+on
with
technology
to
help
with
communica+on,
filtering,
and
idea
enhancement
• The
live
Jam
dura'on
is
typically
one
week
but
can
be
as
short
as
72
hours.
• Real
+me
data
analysis
tools
scan
forum
comments
to
iden+fy
hot
topics
and
emerging
themes.
• Lack
of
anonymity
ensures
that
feedback
remains
construc+ve,
even
if
cri+cal.
Goal:
Increase
the
front
end
of
the
innova+on
process
by
reaching
out
to
relevant
community
voices
-‐
and
do
it
quickly
• Transcend
culture,
genera+on,
language,
and
geographic
challenges
to
harness
collec+ve
brainpower
for
a
given
problem
or
challenge.
• Use
online,
virtual
collabora'on
to
drive
increased
real
world
collabora'on
across
the
enterprise.
Result:
Quickly
harnessed
innova+on
on
new
problems
with
large,
distributed
organiza+ons
• Within
seventy
two
hours
hundreds
of
ideas
can
be
generated.
• Technology
provided
the
ability
to
draw
upon
experts
repeatedly
because
the
responses
are
traceable.
• The
Jam
process
yielded
priori+zed
and
manageable
solu+ons
with
a
direct
line
of
sight
from
idea
to
execu+on.
Social
Media
isn’t
limited
to
ongoing
communi2es.
Well
defined
sessions
&
qualified
par2cipants
can
be
leveraged
effec2vely
as
a
2me
bounded,
high
impact
ini2a2ve
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
For
more
informa+on
see:
h[ps://www.collabora+onjam.com/
5
6. Microcenter
of
Excellence
Prac+ce:
Companies
are
understanding
the
importance
of
leveraging
technology
for
innova+on.
To
do
this
effec+vely,
they
have
small
dedicated
teams
manage
social
technology-‐assisted
innova+on
• One
par+cipant
put
in
place
an
execu've
leadership
role
(VP
of
Innova'on)
to
ensure
that
social
technologies
are
leveraged
by
the
organiza+on
efficiently
and
in
a
common
way.
• Dedicated
resources
(either
centralized
or
distributed)
apply
common
tools
and
customizable
frameworks
that
enable
sharing
of
data
from
different
sources.
In
cases
where
it
is
not
centralized,
community
managers
provide
this
func+on.
• The
VP
of
Innova+on
guides
these
resources
and
works
with
key
func+ons
like
Legal
and
Marke+ng
to
help
the
project
teams
be
successful.
Goal:
Develop
an
efficient
methodology
for
implemen+ng
several
social
media-‐based
ini+a+ves
widely
and
rapidly
within
a
large
organiza+on
• Develop
&
u+lize
social
media
and
innova+on
experts
within
a
company
to
provide
focus
and
learning
that
can
be
re-‐created
and
shared
and
leverage
knowledge
with
hub
and
spoke
model.
• Provide
an
economy
of
scale
when
adding
new
social
media
campaigns.
This
allows
teams
to
easily
customize
and
avoids
“re-‐inven+ng
the
wheel”.
• Increase
social
media
“literacy”
within
the
organiza+on
to
op+mize
the
value
of
customer
feedback.
Results:
Centers
of
Excellence
and/or
dedicated
resources
provided
high
impact
contribu+ons
throughout
the
product
development
process
• Several
par+cipants
have
teams
as
small
as
3
that
support
thousands
of
employees.
• Dedicated
execu+ve
leadership
legi+mized
the
process
and
ensured
alignment
with
corporate
objec+ves.
• Centers
of
excellence
(distributed
or
centralized)
resulted
in
faster
implementa+on
of
social
media
campaigns,
avoided
duplica+on
of
effort,
and
created
a
plaborm
to
share
data
from
mul+ple
sources.
Developing
core
exper2se
in
the
organiza2on
allows
for
accelerated
implementa2on
and
focus
on
best
prac2ces
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
6
7. Op+mizing
the
Crowd:
Managing
the
Talent
Pool
Prac+ce:
The
best
ideas
come
from
the
best
people.
Quality
trumps
quan+ty.
The
best
systems
start
with
qualified
par+cipants
and
then
track
the
par+cipa+on
and
quality
of
ideas
• The
best
communi'es
do
not
allow
anonymous
par'cipa'on.
Community
members
are
qualified
and
invited
to
join
based
on
a
their
ability
to
provide
valuable
contribu+ons
• Tools
allow
communi+es
to
iden+fy
subject
ma[er
experts
––
both
internal
and
external
to
the
company.
The
simplicity
of
the
tool
(email
based)
drives
faster
decision
making
by
providing
a
quick
view
of
the
idea
and
a
key
set
of
ques+ons
to
answer.
• The
more
you
use
the
tool,
the
more
valuable
it
becomes
to
the
community.
By
tapping
previously
recognized
experts,
you
can
generate
credible
ideas
faster.
Goal:
Maximize
the
quality
of
data
generated
by
a
community
to
drive
decision
making
&
execu+on
• Develop
the
competency
to
screen
par'cipants
for
true
idea
generators.
• Iden+fy
subject
ma[er
experts
to
drive
decision
making,
and
establish
a
talent
pool
to
tap
subsequent
innova+on
sessions
(or
to
build
on
the
current
session)
in
an
efficient
and
rapid
manner.
Results:
Qualified
par+cipants
yield
a
much
higher
quality
of
data.
Addi+onally,
with
the
use
of
subject
ma[er
experts,
learning
curves
for
subsequent
campaigns
are
shortened.
Below
are
two
examples
from
IBM
• OESA
Jam:
Original
Equipment
Supplier
Associa+on
(OESA)
and
auto
industry
thought
leaders
redefine
supplier
OEM
rela+onships
• First
ever
industry-‐wide
Jam
was
driven
by
the
economic
pressures
that
required
be[er
collabora+on
in
the
supply
chain.
This
77
hour
event
created
5
change
concepts
that
reshaped
how
the
industry
approached
collabora'on,
focused
on
innova+on,
and
improved
the
value
proposi+on
for
both
suppliers
&
OEMs
• 2010
Global
Security
Jam:
Re-‐thinking
Modern
Global
Security
• European
Union
sponsored
Jam
included
4,000
thought
leaders
from
20
interna+onal
agencies.
This
5-‐day
brainstorming
session
resulted
in
10
recommenda+ons
that
were
both
innova+ve
and
pragma+c
There
is
only
wisdom
of
the
crowd
if
there
is
a
focus
area
and
the
par2cipants
are
qualified
to
contribute
in
this
focus
area
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
7
8. BrightIdea:
Rapid
Idea
Genera+on
&
Dedicated
Team
Prac+ce:
Use
out-‐of-‐box
plaborms
to
quickly
harness
innova+on
on
new
problems
within
large,
distributed
organiza+ons
• BrightIdea
allowed
this
study
par+cipant
to
quickly
construct
campaigns
and
helped
them
to
gather
ideas
from
employees.
• The
plaorm
has
mechanisms
of
vo'ng
and
collabora'on,
so
par+cipants
can
put
concepts
out
there
and
employees
can
contribute
to
them,
and
then
re-‐vote
on
the
enhanced
ideas.
Goal:
There
is
an
urgent
need
for
larger
companies
to
innovate,
but
their
size
oren
makes
it
more
difficult.
This
study
par+cipant
formed
a
small
group
to
serve
as
an
innova+on
management
team.
They
work
with
all
the
various
sorware
and
solu+ons
business
units
on
their
specific
innova+on
plans
and
objec+ves
• This
team
is
a
central
group
that
helps
put
tools
in
place,
create
templates,
and
guide
the
teams.
• An
implementa+on
strategy
that
allows
the
flexibility
to
customize
the
plaborm
and
to
share
data
across
business
units
was
instrumental
to
the
success
of
this
organiza+on.
Results:
The
team,
formed
to
drive
innova+on,
was
widely
tapped
to
help
many
of
the
opera+ng
businesses
achieve
their
innova+on
goals
• Campaigns
ramped
up
and
were
running
in
less
than
a
week,
and
typical
campaigns
take
5-‐6
weeks
to
organize.
• In
one
case,
a
campaign
generated
200-‐400
ideas
in
2
weeks.
• Response
tracking
within
the
plaborm
gave
teams
the
ability
to
draw
upon
experts
repeatedly.
• These
plaborms
are
easy
to
extend
and
reuse
–
did
not
require
the
central
team
to
acquire
detailed
technical
exper+se.
• Features
of
the
sorware
includes
aspects
of
filtering,
vo+ng,
priori+za+on
and
idea
management.
• This
plaborm
is
being
used
by
divisions
with
upwards
of
several
thousand
people.
Typically
innova2on
programs
require
a
long
2me
to
get
up
and
running
even
if
leveraged
by
technology
–
but
there
are
rapid
deployment
solu2ons
available
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
8
9. Voice
of
the
Customer
from
Emerging
Markets
Prac+ce:
Community
driven
product
development
for
Emerging
Markets.
Two
companies
included
in
the
survey
demonstrated
this
best
prac+ce.
One
of
those
served
158
countries
• Two
organiza+ons
did
this
with
measurable
impact,
oZen
using
simple
off
the
shelf
blogging/forum
sorware.
• The
scope
of
impact
included
iden+fying
needs
and
valida+ng
product
requirements.
This
is
especially
important
because
the
emerging
markets
want
many
of
the
core
features,
but
can’t
afford
a
fully
featured
product.
Goal:
Capture
the
voice
of
the
customer
without
incurring
extensive
costs
for
travel
or
high
touch
market
research.
Give
these
markets
cost
reduced
products
from
exis+ng
markets,
or
unique
products
if
indicated
• The
primary
goal
is
to
segregate
social
media
by
region
so
discussions
can
be
localized
and
focused
on
specific
niche
needs
and
regional
cost
constraints.
• Social
Media
Research
is
not
centralized,
but
the
goal
is
to
provide
hub
and
spoke
model
to
support
best
prac+ces
within
local
market
regions.
A
core
of
a
12
people
support
over
150
social
media
specialists.
Results:
Organiza+ons
are
successful
in
Emerging
Markets
with
much
lower
overhead
• One
organiza+on
is
maturing
from
a
“launch
and
leave”
mentality
to
a
“birth
and
nurture”
approach
to
op+mize
the
posi+ve
results
seen
so
far.
• The
dialog
with
customers
had
lead
to
huge
cultural
shir.
By
leveraging
social
media
for
emerging
markets,
organiza+ons
are
able
to
interact
with
consumers
directly
(not
through
the
channel)
leading
to
greater
in+macy.
Social
solu2ons
in
Emerging
Markets
can
actually
enable
entry
into
nascent
markets
when
not
possible
before
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
9
10. Voice
of
the
Customer
Driving
Design
through
User
Generated
Content
Prac+ce:
In
designing
a
new
cosme+c
line,
the
company
asked
their
target
market
(busy
moms)
to
photograph
and
share
their
empty
purses
to
help
design
the
ideal
“mobile”
cosme+c
solu+on
• This
company
used
a
closed
community
composed
of
the
target
market
where
they
shared
photographs
and
provided
input
on
their
biggest
challenges
with
using
the
product.
• Specifically,
this
rich
input
depicts
various
cosme+cs
carried
by
moms,
and
the
size
and
space
where
those
items
need
to
fit,
and
other
items
(non-‐cosme+c)
that
might
be
also
be
included
in
the
product.
• Photographic
input
is
much
richer
than
a
survey,
and
is
much
more
accurate
because
it
does
not
rely
on
memory.
• By
sharing
the
photographs
the
moms
can
share
experiences
and
provide
a
more
meaningful
context
for
probing
and
further
explora+on.
Goal:
Increase
number
of
products
simultaneously
delivered
and
significantly
accelerate
+me-‐to-‐
market
• This
organiza+on
had
a
desire
to
increase
revenue
from
new
products.
• This
technique
was
also
able
to
reduce
the
cost
of
product
defini'on
since
customer
visita+on
was
done
via
the
internet,
not
in
person.
Results:
Set
new
standard
for
produc+on
delivery
• Twelve
new
products
in
six
months,
and
with
lower
development
costs.
• Inclusion
of
the
photographs
from
the
focused
target
market
enhanced
contextual
product
defini+on
and
allowed
the
company
to
realize
that
many
cosme+c
product
could
be
included
in
one
package.
• The
process
‘virtualizes’
customer
visita+on,
a
best
prac+ce
for
product
defini+on.
Capturing
specific
environments
of
use
allows
your
customers
to
make
the
highest
value
contribu2ons
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
10
11. Social
Innova+on
–
Success
In
A
Box
Prac+ce:
Implement
5
fundamental
components
to
ensure
the
highest
efficiency
with
lowest
risk
• Screen
community
members:
Create
strict
criteria
for
who
can
join
the
community
ensures
the
most
qualified
voices.
• Reward
par'cipa'on:
Most
community
member
thrive
on
acknowledgement
before
monetary
compensa+on
(this
should
be
a
criteria).
Acknowledge
a
“Featured
Member”
on
a
weekly
basis
that
models
the
highest
value
community
contribu+on.
• Use
third
party
collabora'on
tools:
Far
superior
to
building
your
own,
or
using
tools
that
are
not
op+mized
for
collabora+on.
These
tools
increase
in
value
over
+me,
and
can
be
customize
for
mul+ple
communi+es
across
the
organiza+on
(Brigh+dea,
Spigit
are
two
good
tools)
• Invest
in
community
management:
Ensuring
your
community
remains
vibrant
is
a
cri+cal
factor
for
a
successful
community,
and
this
is
the
primary
role
of
a
community
manager.
Its
an
emerging
skillset,
and
one
that
will
con+nue
to
increase
in
value
over
+me.
• Create
a
Steering
CommiFee:
Gaining
support
from
top
management
will
bring
focus
to
the
ini+a+ve,
accelerate
decision
making,
and
op+mize
learning
across
the
organiza+on.
Goal:
Use
a
qualified
group
of
customers
to
accelerate
+me-‐to-‐market
by
genera+ng
new
product
ideas
faster
and
validate
product
features
over
the
lifecycle
• The
most
important
goal
is
to
extract
high
value
product
ideas
from
the
community
• Provide
early
tes'ng
on
implemented
features
by
using
virtual
focus
groups
drawn
from
a
subset
of
the
ini+al
community
Results:
This
social
solu+on
created
mul+ple
opportuni+es
for
customers
to
contribute
across
the
new
product
value
stream
• Time
sensi+ve
product
launch
was
tested
with
the
community
–
feedback
resulted
in
improvements
in
content,
design
and
recommenda+ons
for
missing
high
value
features
(which
the
team
was
able
to
implement
before
launch).
• Development
team
behavior
shiZed
from
a
“pull”
to
a
“push”
of
early
features
to
the
community
for
valida+on.
• Community
input
increased
product
usability
(single
sign
on
&
sharing),
increasing
ease
of
use
of
other
company
products,
and
sharing
within
their
own
social
networks.
Execu2ng
5
key
elements
will
drive
successful
social
innova2ons
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
11
12. Lower
Costs
of
Innova+on
Prac+ce:
Use
social
innova+on
systems
(tools
and
organiza+ons)
to
supplement
exis+ng
R&D
organiza+ons
to
capture
and
integrate
ideas
and
inject
them
into
product
development
teams.
Two
study
par+cipants
formed
central
innova+on
organiza+ons
leveraged
by
social
technology,
and
were
able
to
generate
up
to
20-‐60
new
innova+on
programs
a
year
• Two
studied
companies
were
able
to
create
very
small
organiza'ons
(3-‐7)
that
provides
addi'onal
innova'on
streams.
• Key
for
these
organiza+on
was
to
provide
a
knowledge
brokering
mechanism
to
access,
consolidate,
and
ini+ate
new
product
ini+a+ves.
• Besides
directed
innova+on,
one
organiza+on
had
an
Open
Idea
Forum
to
s+mulate
blue
sky
idea+on.
Goal:
To
provide
new
ways
to
uncover
and
catalyze
new
product
ideas
by
leveraging
small
central
organiza+ons
that
leverage
social
technology
• The
charter
was
to
combine
projects
from
different
parts
of
the
organiza+on
(and
academic
organiza+ons)
and
launch
them
into
the
normal
development
process.
• One
organiza+on
had
a
goal
to
implement
a
vendor’s
tool
out
of
the
box
in
less
than
a
quarter,
and
they
achieved
it
in
spite
of
demands
for
single
sign
on.
Results:
The
teams,
formed
to
drive
innova+on,
was
widely
tapped
to
help
many
of
the
opera+ng
businesses
achieve
their
innova+on
goals
• New
internal
products
and
efficiency
changes
were
generated
in
the
first
year
–
on
the
order
of
10-‐20%
savings
in
key
business
process
that
involves
7,000
employees.
This
was
achieved
by
connec+ng
mul+ple
ideas
and
puwng
them
into
play.
• The
ideas
tended
to
be
incremental,
but
large
number
of
them
15-‐20
were
worth
puwng
into
prac+ce.
• An
other
company
had
a
virtual
innova'on
center
that
produced
60
innova'on
projects
per
year.
• This
organiza+on
also
offered
an
innova+on
exchange
so
developers
can
exchange
code
with
corpora+on,
resolving
some
problems
in
under
15
minutes.
• Both
organiza+ons
found
increased
employee
engagement
from
those
who
par+cipate
in
the
programs.
Very
low
cost
innova2on
centers
can
supplement
exis2ng
systems,
leverage
ideas
already
present
in
the
collec2ve
mind
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
12
13. Customers
Driven
Strategy
&
Tac+cs
Prac+ce:
Community
driven
corporate
product
strategy
–
with
80%
of
the
priori+es
aligned
with
external
input
• The
‘Brainstorm’
site
has
ranked
development
priori+es
(Top
10),
with
the
list
published
at
the
annual
user
conference.
• Feedback
and
acknowledgement
is
given
to
those
who
have
submi[ed
sugges+ons
that
were
adopted.
• This
closed
community
creates
a
forum
for
peer
review
&
discussion
of
ideas
which
this
closed
forum
influences
corporate
strategy.
• Not
only
can
par+cipants
indicate
how
strongly
they
support
a
priority,
but
they
can
indicate
that
a
priority
should
not
be
on
the
list.
Goal:
Allow
users
to
influence
development
direc+on
at
many
levels
–
strategic
and
tac+cal
• Besides
the
strategic
example
above,
users
can
interact
within
the
customer
portal
to
contribute
cuwng
edge
designs
at
a
more
tac+cal
level.
• For
example,
special
purpose
forums
allow
interac'on
around
a
feature
being
considered
by
a
newly
formed
team,
and
many
teams
have
this
ability
at
their
disposal.
• Users
have
also
contributed
in
design
contests
to
submit
best
examples
of
designs
that
highlight
the
use
of
the
sorware.
Results:
The
external
input
that
help
influence
corporate
priori+es
are
very
influencial
• Up
to
80%
of
user
driven
priori'es
are
implemented
• The
company
emphasizes
a
“closed
loop”
communica+on,
reinforcing
that
the
customers’
voice
was
heard.
• This
closed
loop
approach
is
used
in
other
areas
of
social
innova+on.
Allowing
customers
to
set
development
direc2on,
priori2es,
and
feature
defini2ons
via
electronic
means
demonstrates
how
voice
of
the
customer
can
be
obtained
at
many
levels
efficiently
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
13
14. Repurposing
Social
Networks:
Twi[er
and
LinkedIn
in
Corporate
Sewngs
Prac+ce:
Use
of
exis+ng
social
plaborms
for
business
purposes
to
perform
quick
studies.
Because
this
can
be
implemented
on
the
web,
there
requires
no
IT
involvement,
and
oren
no
legal
involvement
• Using
LinkedIn
to
answer
ques'ons
posed
around
sorware
scripts
to
solve
a
technical
design
problem
is
popular.
• LinkedIn
has
over
200
discussion
groups
related
to
innova+on
that
can
be
tapped
when
ques+ons
arise.
• Twi[er
is
being
used
to
generate
product
ideas.
Goal:
Obtain
answers
to
ques+ons
from
sample
popula+ons
in
days
without
formal
studies,
formal
approvals,
or
big
budgets
• More
than
150,000
people
are
members
of
the
Top
20
Innova'on
Groups
in
LinkedIn.
Results:
Using
tools
that
were
thought
to
be
more
personal/family/friend
oriented
are
quickly
migra+ng
to
business
applica+ons
and
in
par+cular,
product
crea+on
• LinkedIn
is
commonly
used
to
answer
ques+ons
posed
around
technical
development
sorware
scripts,
recommenda+ons
for
cloud
services,
etc.
• TwiFer
survey
of
followers
received
225
responses
in
1
day
for
simple
queries
say
of
“random
numbers”
• A
case
study
of
Twi[er
based
innova+on:
“Open
Innova+on:
a
View
from
the
Top”
and
the
Bri+sh
organizer
company,
Psion,
par+cipated
with
three
top
execu+ves
including
its
CEO.
• You
can
search
using
the
Twi[er
keyword
“#psion“
to
see
the
discussion
thread
results.
The
chat
took
place
on
Sept.
2.
This
gave
the
Psion
staff
lots
of
inspira+on
on
what
you
can
actually
do
with
Twi[er
to
promote
your
innova+on
capabili+es
and
interact
with
current
and
future
stakeholders
in
your
ecosystems
Use
of
exis2ng
social
plaOorms
–
LinkedIn,
Facebook,
and
TwiSer
can
have
immediate
impact
and
generate
insight
for
product
development.
www.tcgen.com
August
2012
14