Viral Product Adoption ... Build a Pipe, Not a Funnel

September 02, 2012 / Rick Chin

We all want wildly successful products like Facebook and Instagram. Products whose viral nature allows them to experience astounding exponential growth. How do you create a situation where an existing customer exposes your product to their friends, and who in turn adopt it to become customers themselves? And do it in such a way that the process is sustainable and just continues to feed on itself. This is Viral Product Adoption. So how do we achieve this?

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Strategic Retreats ... Transforming Technology into Product

September 18, 2011 / Rick Chin

Let’s start by assuming that your goal is to come up with products that your customers are compelled to buy and use to extract some important value to them.

In general, the best way to pursue this is to:

Identify your target customer
Identify an important need or frustration that they have
Find, invent, or tweak technology to craft an effective product for these customers

The Problem – Starting with a specific technology overly influences the product we deliver

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tags / Brainstorm, Customer Interview, Frustration

Brainstorming ... Fast & Fun

April 11, 2011 / Rick Chin

How many times have you come out of a brainstorming session feeling unsatisfied with the results? The team never felt like it got into a rhythm. The idea flow felt like a drizzle versus a storm. None of the ideas that the team spent much time on seemed especially good (BTW, you should never spend a lot of time on any one idea in a brainstorming session). There was one or two people that insisted on dominating the conversation and ended up speaking way too much. This to the frustration of the rest of the group. The good news is that there are just a handful of things you need to do to run a productive and fun brainstorming session.

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tags / Brainstorm, Ideas, Mind Map

Developing an "Eye for Innovation"

March 22, 2011 / Rick Chin

Some people have a great eye for photography. Through years of practice, they develop an instinct or reflex that recognizes when an awesome photographic moment presents itself. It could be the lighting, composition, colors, people, their facial expressions, and a host of other qualities in a scene that will make a good photographer take notice. And long before you can explain what it is that he sees, he already has his camera out and has taken a few snap shots.

Now the question is, can you develop a similar "eye for innovation"? I believe the answer is yes.

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tags / Biomimicry, Brainstorm, Frustration, Ideas, Innovation, Mind Map, Strategy

Uncork Your Brain with Mind Maps

March 14, 2011 / Rick Chin

That great idea you are looking for is already somewhere in your mind or in the collective mind of your team. The real effort in coming up with a great idea, is all about getting out of your own way so that your great idea can reveal itself. I want to refer to this as the “idea release” process, rather than the idea generation process.

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tags / Brainstorm, Ideas, Innovation, Mind Map, Organize, Strategy

Frustration ... Not All Pain Is Created Equal

March 06, 2011 / Rick Chin

An Actionable Definition for “Frustration”

Frustration is when ...

Someone has a very important goal that needs to be achieved, or task that needs to be accomplished. But there is one or more barrier(s) to them achieving their goal which they feel is out of their control. This results in a combination of helplessness and anger, which we recognize as frustration.

So how do you act on this? You should set out to understand your customers’ specific goals. You also want to find out what they see as barriers to achieving those goals. Eventually, you want to provide a solution that eliminates any feelings of helplessness and instead makes them feel empowered.

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tags / Customer Interview, Elevator Pitch, Frustration, Innovation, Strategy

Why are there so few “glorious” products?

March 01, 2011 / Rick Chin

Several years ago, I finally pursued a long time ambition to own and ride a motorcycle. So I signed up for a motorcycle safety course. On the first day of class, the instructor began by telling us stories of her favorite riding experiences. This included her description of a “glorious” day of riding. It was a cool and sunny day with a bright blue sky. As they left the more congested areas of Massachusetts, it seemed that they had become the exclusive owners of the roads that they were on. With no one in their way to slow down their brisk pace. This allowed them to fully enjoy all the twists and turns that the roads had to offer. After a wonderfully exhausting day of riding, they made their way to a favorite greasy spoon, for some of the best comfort food around.

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tags / Brainstorm, Emotions, Frustration, Ideas, Innovation