Piers Jones

Crowdsourcing UKtrain delays on Twitter

I first found out about the UK trains updates service when I saw this tweet by @subutcher when stuck in the #uksnow.

The service which was put together by Ben Smith aggregates travel alerts for each train line from the BBC backstage travel feeds and other sources.

Users can then follow the twitter account that corresponds with the trainline that they usually use and can be updated to any travel issues. So for example I follow the account for National Express East Anglia.

A recent feature allows users to get delays retweeted by that account by using a '*' in their tweet.

I think that this is a fascinating project in 'real time' crowdsourcing. I've been comparing the unofficial feed provided by UK trains with the 'official' version from national rail and have found the unofficial feed to be much more up to date and helpful.

I'll be really interested to see how this service evolves over the coming months. At the moment there is a time lag between someone posting an update and the tweet arriving and hopefully that can be made quicker.

You can find a list of all the UK train twitter accounts to follow on the homepage. So if you are a regular train commuter like me or just interested in crowdsourcing projects its worth a look.

Essential strategies for creating a successful web product from Dion Hinchcliffe

There is some excellent advice from Dion Hinchcliffe in this article outlining '50 essential strategies for creating a successful web 2.0 product'

Although web 2.0 is mentioned in the title I think these ideas could apply to most online products, especially "start by solving a simple problem".

I have a feeling that this is one of those reference articles that I may have to come back to from time to time. Its a great checklist.

Tim O'Reilly's response to Andrew Keen and 'the cult of the amateur'

Great video from adders from the web 2.0 expo in Berlin of Tim O'Reilly's response to the question 'what do you make of Andrew Keen'

Tim O'Reilly on Andrew Keen from Adam Tinworth on Vimeo.

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

A really excellent and fun video on the ethnography of YouTube
from Michael Wesh who apparently is Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University.

His original machine is using us video:

From: Johnnie Moore's blog

Book review: Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

I have just finished reading 'Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations' by Clay Shirkyand I enjoyed it so much I thought that I would jot down a few thoughts here. I'm not quite sure how I came across the book, I hadn't heard of Clay Shirky before but he clearly has a deep understanding on how the internet has had an impact on society and how groups behave.

Every once in a while it's good to take a break from the day to day immersion in the here and now and reflect on some of the changes that have happened. I found this book to be a very valuable way of looking at those changes now that the use of collaborative tools are available to anyone that can get online or receive an email.

Here are my favourite thoughts and insights from the book:

• Some very succinct explanations of concepts like the Coasean floor, the tragedy of the commons and power law distribution which added a great deal to my understanding of why social tools have had an impact.
• A good debate around the changing nature of journalism and how this is now an activity as well as a job. Also a nice explanation of why 'User Generated Content' has value.
• Some good high level thinking about how the obstacles to collective action have been removed by the internet's new tools and more importantly how they might be used in the future to change the way we live.

If you like all this type of stuff I thoroughly recommend it as a good read.

If you dont have time for the book, here is the author's presentation to the TED conference from 2005 which covers the same themes in around 20 minutes.

U.A.Tea

my own tea pot and cup, originally uploaded by perago89.

We introduced a new user testing session on our jobs service this sprint called U.A.Tea, it's just like U.A.T (User Acceptance Testing) but with tea and cake.

The tea and cake bit definitely worked to get more people along. We received some really helpful input prior to release of the product and it helps the team catch changes early in the process, or at least before we release the product to live.

The history of digital community

I really enjoyed this video (via Kristine Lowe) of Ethan Zuckerman presenting the history of digital community in less than 7 minutes. Well worth a watch.

Signposting your direction with a product roadmap

Directions mosaic, originally uploaded by robynejay.

I have just spent the past few days producing a visual product roadmap for the web service that I am a Product Manager for. There is some debate as to whether you need a roadmap at all but I find them very valuable for the following reasons:

1) They build consensus. Agile development is team based and it helps if all the members of that team are headed in roughly the same direction. A roadmap is a reference point for all the team.

2) They are visual. My roadmaps start with the current situation in the left hand corner and the stated vision for the product in the top right hand corner. Each new feature is then plotted onto the roadmap showing progression against a given theme eg. improved search. Dates are not included as they are bound to change, it's the direction towards a stated aim that is important here.

3) They are iterative and allow for change. A good roadmap is flexible and achievable in small steps.

4) They communicate the long term / strategic vision for a product. Its very easy to get stuck in the day to day and forget to focus on the overall direction, as new ideas emerge you can then plot whether they fit with the overall plan and then decide whether its the plan that needs to change or the request for the new feature.

Our roadmap is now pinned to the team planning board and I hope will be a reference and discussion point as we move forward.

UPDATE: A really clear case argued here by Tyner Blain on why you need a smart product roadmap 

 

Using facebook for business

I noticed that there are 134 company groups in London alone on Facebook today and 123 London groups for the purpose of employment and work.

What's the bet that if I check back tomorrow the number will have increased significantly?