community engineering:the economy of participation

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/madelynnmartiniere Twitter: @mmartiniere Email: madelynn@fictiv.com

why engineer community?● Scalable system to create engagement vs.

promotional marketing● Building ecosystem is a defensible advantage● Leverage the wisdom of the crowd to build

products that are better than closed competitors

“Our communities exist because our

products are hard to use.”

Chris Anderson, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution

4 elements to communityIDENTITY

Establish the who in your community

● What are they passionate about?● What groups do they affiliate with?● Who are the people they look up to, and why?● What content do they read, when, and on what platform?● What events do they attend, when, and it what format?● What participation tools do they use? ● What do they want to learn?

4 elements to communityPURPOSE

Establish the why for your community

● Answer the question - what is the long term vision of the community?● What is the eventual outcome we can strive for, together? ● What problem is the community solving?

4 elements to communityTOOLS

Establish how the community connects to help accomplish the aforementioned mission

● How can the community gain the necessary knowledge?● How can they connect with others in the network?● How can they gain support and guidance if needed?

4 elements to communityINCENTIVES

Establish the what for your community

● How are community members rewarded for participation?● How do they achieve the next level of participation?● How do you attract sustained involvement?

rules of engagement

1. Tell your story.

2. Embrace transparency and openness

3. Create an architecture of participation

4. Empower catalysts

5. Measure, monitor, and adapt

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood, and dont’s assign them tasks and

work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

Antoine de Saint-Expury

tell your story

● Make your vision and mission digestible and actionable● Show a vision for the future to inspire imagination, create intrigue, and suspend disbelief.

embrace transparency● Decide at the onset what can and should be open● Communicate what is/is not open clearly, early, and often.

create an architecture of participation 1

Tim O’Reilly, “The Architecture of Participation” http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/articles/architecture_of_participation.html

Develop a roadmap for potential community members to get involvedBuild a cumulation of knowledge, not objectsAlways seek to solve problems, not create them

create an architecture of participation

● Make a roadmap for potential community members to get involved

● Build a cumulation of knowledge, not objects● Always seek to solve problems, not create them

1

Tim O’Reilly, “The Architecture of Participation” http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/articles/architecture_of_participation.html

Discover

EngageParticipate

stages of community

DISCOVER

● Developing knowledge● Introduction to your community, a call to action● Lowest level of permission required, users can

passively observe and assess the values of engaging in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Discover

EngageParticipate

stages of community

ENGAGE

● Building trust● Requires some level of collaboration, though there

are no strings attached. ● Introduction of a two-way dialogue.

Discover

EngageParticipate

stages of community

PARTICIPATE

● Providing ownership● Requires the most permission and collaboration

out of any other levels● Users at this stage have the maximum amount of

impact.

Discover

EngageParticipate

stages of community

PARTICIPATE

● Providing ownership● Requires the most permission and collaboration

out of any other levels● Users at this stage have the maximum amount of

impact.

Discover

EngageParticipateBEWARE!

● The highest value community members are also the most volatile.

● You can’t take away control that you’ve already given without repercussions.

channelsCONTENT

● Requires the least amount of permission● Potential to reach the largest audience● Objective of content is to build out a knowledge base that builds community confidence to engage

further

channelsEVENTS

● Events should be grouped around initiatives - always around solving a certain problem in the community

● The longer the event, the more permission needed● The more the event costs, the more permission needed

channelsPLATFORM

● Allow individuals to participate in the building and improving of the product● The more permission granted, the less control you have, and the increased likelihood of variability

channelsPARTNERSHIPS

● Partnerships create credibility in shared mission● Can be an individual influencer, or an organization● Build out an ecosystem of catalysts to drive community adoption

empower catalysts

● Catalysts are people or organizations that are community facilitators, avid cheerleaders, and extreme connectors

● Can be an individual influencer, or an organization● Build out an ecosystem of catalysts to drive community adoption

3 ROLES OF A CATALYST:

● Build trust● Inspire action● Provide education

measure, monitor, adapt

● Community is not an exact science● Be experiment driven● Find your hooks to extract meaningful data:

a. Statistics and automated datab. Surveys and structured feedbackc. Observational tests

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/madelynnmartiniere Twitter: @mmartiniere Email: madelynn@fictiv.com