We are looking for Mega developers: turn on the idea generator
Remember how the idea is denoted in presentations, infographics, and even office graphics? True, in the form of a burning light bulb. It is no coincidence that when you work on a problem for a long time and suddenly insight arises, it seems as if something is flashing in your head. Any process begins with these instant insights: scientific research, program development, business start-up, creativity.
Developers create a diverse and useful software that receives user feedback: from corporate software to mobile games. Where do ideas come from and how can they be stimulated?
We invited a familiar developer to MEGA and, walking through the shopping center, asked him to reveal the mystery of the birth of ideas, and at the same time suggest to the participants of the MEGA ACCELERATOR project, which you can read about in Megamind , what you can think of to improve the customer experience. He revealed to Habr's readers several secrets and techniques that can be effectively applied by working on almost any project.
Hi, Habr! Hi, blog MEGA!
')
Before generating ideas, let's look around. We see a huge shopping center in front of us, with a pleasant interior, innovative solutions, a wide variety of goods: from cosmetics to home appliances. But the main thing is people, customers, application users and site visitors. This is the very audience with whom we have to work. And the main focus even in the most IT projects, as it seems to me, should be made not on the equipment, but on the person, and not only in the role of the consumer. Technologies, programming, interactive solutions, engineering devices such as sensors and radio tags are those tools that will help you better understand the customer, get closer to him. But they must remain an instrument, and not become an end in themselves.
The same story is in development. How often I came across (yes I think, each of us came across) that the application, mechanism, site, intended for people, work on their own. This lack of testing, eerie design, and terrible usability is a complete set of problems that repels the user. And most often, those developers who work in either the low competitive market (no choice), or, on the contrary, on the mass market (anyway, someone downloads and installs) sin. This is a completely wrong approach. We, developers and engineers, create solutions for ordinary people, sometimes not even geeks, and therefore it is important to know the user, to understand his needs. Believe me, this is almost half the future commercial success of a program or solution.
To understand what can be offered to hundreds of thousands of visitors to the shopping center, let's take a short excursion into human nature. What makes us go back to good things again and again is impressions. They have quite a physiological basis, which is laid literally in every person. How are impressions formed?
Let us turn to the works of the Russian physiologist Ivan Sechenov. He divides the relationship between all objects of the external world into three categories: coexistence, succession and similarity (here lies the continuity and causation) and spatial relationships. As a result of interaction with objects that correspond in one way or another, a person gets an impression that consists of several “layers”. Consider the layers on the example of an abstract application. Let it be to do sheet.
All these stages of impression are connected with those who experience it and with what produced it.
Accordingly, any idea must first of all be impressive - that is, affect emotions, the senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing) and remain in memory (which records the readings of all the senses). All perception is nothing but a product of separate physiological reactions and the idea should be aimed at triggering as many triggers of these reactions as possible. I will give an unhealthy, but very vivid example. We come to a fast food restaurant: music, smell, characteristic noise, people at the tables - and now the active salivation begins, appetite appears. All contributes to the active consumption.
So, finally we got to the most interesting. A habit is formed from a set of impressions. It can be both positive and negative. In our case, we are working on the formation of quite a good habit - to buy goods and services in a convenient shopping center, to receive an exceptionally pleasant shopping experience. In the language of physiology, this sounds like the formation of somatic markers that determine choices and preferences.
It is not necessary to exclude the psychological motives that drive the consumer: fashion, imitation, the desire for chosenness, prestige. These are very powerful motivators that need to be remembered while working on a project to improve customer experience. Summing up the reasoning, I emphasize once again: the idea should be directed not at technology, but at people.
Nothing is forever, ideas are not forever. If an idea has a utilitarian orientation (program, application, device), then, as a rule, its life cycle passes through several phases.
Working with ideas - this is exactly the case where it is useful to get hung up. It remains to find out where to get them and can we somehow stimulate this process?
So back to our man. We need to come up with something (generate ideas) so that he often visits the mall, buys more, returns again and again and, preferably, shares his positive experience with friends and acquaintances. But where to get ideas?
First, it is necessary to form hypotheses — assumptions, guesses about problems or solutions. Hypotheses can be formed both on the basis of one’s own experience and on the basis of ready-made research, monitoring results, competitors ’experience, etc.
A simple example. We have a hypothesis that shopping for men is not always to their liking and they prefer to wait for active shopping. It seems that it is even an axiom. But still check it out. For example, we will observe the number of men waiting in cars, sitting on a food court and occupying most of the rest places in the galleries of MEGA. Our hypothesis is confirmed. Now you need to put the problem: men are bored while their halves make purchases. This formulation does not suit us, let us try again: it is necessary to find a way to entertain men, so that they do not resist a trip to MEGA, and even better, to generate income. Another thing.
At the stage of preparing for the generation of ideas, we need:
Next comes the stage of generating ideas. There are many ways to collect ideas and choose the best. One of them is brainstorming, when you are in a company or alone, throwing in a variety of sentences, and then choosing the most relevant one. The main rule of brainstorming - no criticism during the search of options - a pure stream of consciousness: from nonsense to insight. Do not be afraid to offer something extravagant - in the process of discussion it may lead to the right thought, but in the end it will also lift everyone's mood.
On the problem of bored men, the list of ideas might look like this: arrange men's days with discounts on certain groups of goods, hold a sports marathon, organize a beer festival, arrange off-road races around the district, ride segways, hang monitors with movies, issue tablets with movies or games , arrange a tournament on WoT and so on.
After forming the list, you need to highlight the limiting factors and proceed to the choice of ideas. Constraints are actually descriptions of the tasks that the ideas must solve. With reference to our case:
A good idea is to hire a segway. Men can ride them through the wide spaces between the galleries. However, there may also be limitations for a particular idea: safety measures, relationships with the distributor, etc. must be provided. Only by matching all the threats and benefits, you can accept the idea and start implementation. At this stage, we are actually conducting a SWOT analysis.
However, brainstorming is not the only way to generate an idea. I will list a few more correct ways to get insight.
Combining elements in new combinations - the usual data, the source materials are collected in unusual solutions and designs. Connect the boutique shopping and computer game. For example, the buyer plays for himself and with the help of a smartphone collects signals from radio beacons (such as iBeacon, NFC) installed at the entrance to stores. The more shops - the more coins that can be exchanged for a discount, treat or pay a taxi home. You can provide options for the accumulation of virtual coins for several visits in a given period of time. In this case, the buyer will know exactly what visit he will be provided with a taxi and already purchased "to the fullest", since there is free transport to the house.
Accentuation - we put the main emphasis on one thing, we highlight it. For example, we collect all the discounts in one application and constantly update them - before going to the store, the buyer knows exactly where to get the benefit. Focus on saving motivation.
Typification (generalization) - we collect in the uniform idea one-type or disconnected entities. For example, you can arrange a single sports space MEGI, including in it stores of goods for sports, sportswear, sports nutrition, as well as departments of sports goods and sports equipment in hypermarkets. Thus, the buyer will know exactly where things are related to the subject of sports. When he needs skates or a hat for the pool, he will remember the “sports world” and come to MEGA. Of course, this will lead to other spontaneous purchases.
Action from the reverse. Here the principle works: you do not know how to improve, think up how to worsen. If there is a deterioration option, then the idea should be aimed at avoiding it. This can also include the transfer of the problem. For example, where should stand vending machines with water? Not only at the entrance (for those who have just arrived and want to drink from the road). We argue: thirst causes dry mouth, difficulty in speaking and occurs during physical activity. So, in the area of ​​the playground area and entertainment area should also be automatic. But since not every parent buys a child a soda, it is necessary to provide for the presence of non-cooled water in the machine.
Use your own experience. Surely you have been to MEGA or another large shopping center. Think what you did not have? For example, I previously lacked an interactive map of a shopping center with discounts, my location and surrounding stores. Now there is an application for iPhone and Android, conveniently and with interesting features.
Of course, in the generation of ideas there are factors of ingenuity, talent and luck. However, customization of thinking with the help of such templates helps to generate ideas even in the most critical and desperate situations, in the conditions of a narrow time frame. Reflect, try, dare, submit applications for participation in MEGA ACCELERATOR - it promises to be very interesting.
Of course, everyone thinks in his own way and each of us has his own sources of inspiration. But it is necessary to allocate a group of sources with the maximum concentration of useful information.
A loner can possess a set of knowledge and competencies, or a team in which each participant knows a little about the project as a whole and deeply has its own field of knowledge. This is the synergy effect. Around us are solid clues for new ideas. One has only to see them and the generator will work without interruption. Well, in the intervals of the ideological crisis, you can develop, test, adapt and implement - to give life to ideas.
Have ideas already appeared? Or maybe you have been thinking about something for a long time, but you could not find the point of application of your idea? Leave your ideas directly in the comments to this post and we will contact the authors of the best ideas to invite to our MEGA ACCELERATOR. To implement the best idea, the entire space of MEGI and 3.5 million rubles will be allocated.
If you have a ready-made team of 2 to 4 people and a great idea - just leave a request here .
PS: if you were inspired by any of these ideas and want to use it - use it for health, these are educational examples and they have not been implemented anywhere.
Developers create a diverse and useful software that receives user feedback: from corporate software to mobile games. Where do ideas come from and how can they be stimulated?
We invited a familiar developer to MEGA and, walking through the shopping center, asked him to reveal the mystery of the birth of ideas, and at the same time suggest to the participants of the MEGA ACCELERATOR project, which you can read about in Megamind , what you can think of to improve the customer experience. He revealed to Habr's readers several secrets and techniques that can be effectively applied by working on almost any project.
Hi, Habr! Hi, blog MEGA!
')
Before generating ideas, let's look around. We see a huge shopping center in front of us, with a pleasant interior, innovative solutions, a wide variety of goods: from cosmetics to home appliances. But the main thing is people, customers, application users and site visitors. This is the very audience with whom we have to work. And the main focus even in the most IT projects, as it seems to me, should be made not on the equipment, but on the person, and not only in the role of the consumer. Technologies, programming, interactive solutions, engineering devices such as sensors and radio tags are those tools that will help you better understand the customer, get closer to him. But they must remain an instrument, and not become an end in themselves.
The same story is in development. How often I came across (yes I think, each of us came across) that the application, mechanism, site, intended for people, work on their own. This lack of testing, eerie design, and terrible usability is a complete set of problems that repels the user. And most often, those developers who work in either the low competitive market (no choice), or, on the contrary, on the mass market (anyway, someone downloads and installs) sin. This is a completely wrong approach. We, developers and engineers, create solutions for ordinary people, sometimes not even geeks, and therefore it is important to know the user, to understand his needs. Believe me, this is almost half the future commercial success of a program or solution.
Nothing human is alien
To understand what can be offered to hundreds of thousands of visitors to the shopping center, let's take a short excursion into human nature. What makes us go back to good things again and again is impressions. They have quite a physiological basis, which is laid literally in every person. How are impressions formed?
Let us turn to the works of the Russian physiologist Ivan Sechenov. He divides the relationship between all objects of the external world into three categories: coexistence, succession and similarity (here lies the continuity and causation) and spatial relationships. As a result of interaction with objects that correspond in one way or another, a person gets an impression that consists of several “layers”. Consider the layers on the example of an abstract application. Let it be to do sheet.
- What precedes the impression is accumulated experience, emotions, needs. Someone led a notebook, someone put up stickers, someone created lists in the phone - that is, the user has an idea of ​​the minimum that he expects from the software.
- What accompanies the impression is current experience, new emotions. And on the smartphone appears a new application with a list of cases. The user discovers new features, convenient solutions, types of lists.
- What follows impression is delight / pleasure / disappointment. Already a more conscious perception of what caused the impression. It is at this stage that the wow-effect (the one that prompts to leave reviews and share the find with friends) or negative can occur.
- What impression in whole or in part is similar. Remember how often manufacturers use analogies in product model names: Velvet, Desire, Envy, etc. The user associates the set to do list with his memory and without it, as without hands? So, the application is destined to live in the market.
All these stages of impression are connected with those who experience it and with what produced it.
Accordingly, any idea must first of all be impressive - that is, affect emotions, the senses (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing) and remain in memory (which records the readings of all the senses). All perception is nothing but a product of separate physiological reactions and the idea should be aimed at triggering as many triggers of these reactions as possible. I will give an unhealthy, but very vivid example. We come to a fast food restaurant: music, smell, characteristic noise, people at the tables - and now the active salivation begins, appetite appears. All contributes to the active consumption.So, finally we got to the most interesting. A habit is formed from a set of impressions. It can be both positive and negative. In our case, we are working on the formation of quite a good habit - to buy goods and services in a convenient shopping center, to receive an exceptionally pleasant shopping experience. In the language of physiology, this sounds like the formation of somatic markers that determine choices and preferences.
It is not necessary to exclude the psychological motives that drive the consumer: fashion, imitation, the desire for chosenness, prestige. These are very powerful motivators that need to be remembered while working on a project to improve customer experience. Summing up the reasoning, I emphasize once again: the idea should be directed not at technology, but at people.
Great ideas life
Nothing is forever, ideas are not forever. If an idea has a utilitarian orientation (program, application, device), then, as a rule, its life cycle passes through several phases.
- The initial stage is the formation of hypotheses , when the developer (designer, creator) finds needs that he would like to satisfy in order to gain profit / get a different result. At this stage, conducted field and desk research, studying the behavior of users.
- Then the main thing happens - the birth (crystallization) of the idea , when the developer understands that this is exactly what is needed to achieve the goal. The idea does not always coincide with the direction of the research, but is most often produced by it.
- The verification of an idea is the stage of painstaking work, which establishes the compliance of an idea with the needs of the target audience and the capabilities of the developer. Sometimes at this stage the most offensive happens - it turns out that "everything is invented before us." Do not despair, sometimes enough to modify the concept a little and beat the competition.
- Prototype creation is a stage familiar to us, where a beta version or a prototype is being created, which is being studied and tested.
- If everything went well, the bugs are fixed, features are screwed up, and usability is honed, the product goes into release (printing, production, mass production, installation). At this stage, the promotion of the product starts.
- The next stage, in my opinion, is the most important. In our world, everything is too quickly becoming obsolete and, having created a game or an application, and even a car, you cannot rest on your laurels - the product needs to be developed and improved, creating new ideas for it. Otherwise, there will be an exit from the cycle, in other words, the death of the product and idea.
Working with ideas - this is exactly the case where it is useful to get hung up. It remains to find out where to get them and can we somehow stimulate this process?
Start the idea generator
So back to our man. We need to come up with something (generate ideas) so that he often visits the mall, buys more, returns again and again and, preferably, shares his positive experience with friends and acquaintances. But where to get ideas?
First, it is necessary to form hypotheses — assumptions, guesses about problems or solutions. Hypotheses can be formed both on the basis of one’s own experience and on the basis of ready-made research, monitoring results, competitors ’experience, etc.
A simple example. We have a hypothesis that shopping for men is not always to their liking and they prefer to wait for active shopping. It seems that it is even an axiom. But still check it out. For example, we will observe the number of men waiting in cars, sitting on a food court and occupying most of the rest places in the galleries of MEGA. Our hypothesis is confirmed. Now you need to put the problem: men are bored while their halves make purchases. This formulation does not suit us, let us try again: it is necessary to find a way to entertain men, so that they do not resist a trip to MEGA, and even better, to generate income. Another thing.
At the stage of preparing for the generation of ideas, we need:
- to form a hypothesis - to suggest what can be improved;
- test hypothesis - conduct a survey or study, find external statistics;
- to put a problem - a well-posed problem already contains half the solution.
Next comes the stage of generating ideas. There are many ways to collect ideas and choose the best. One of them is brainstorming, when you are in a company or alone, throwing in a variety of sentences, and then choosing the most relevant one. The main rule of brainstorming - no criticism during the search of options - a pure stream of consciousness: from nonsense to insight. Do not be afraid to offer something extravagant - in the process of discussion it may lead to the right thought, but in the end it will also lift everyone's mood.
On the problem of bored men, the list of ideas might look like this: arrange men's days with discounts on certain groups of goods, hold a sports marathon, organize a beer festival, arrange off-road races around the district, ride segways, hang monitors with movies, issue tablets with movies or games , arrange a tournament on WoT and so on.
After forming the list, you need to highlight the limiting factors and proceed to the choice of ideas. Constraints are actually descriptions of the tasks that the ideas must solve. With reference to our case:
- men of different ages
- not everyone has a car (and especially an SUV)
- the decision should not cause material damage and be unprofitable
- the decision should not harm health and promote wrong values.
A good idea is to hire a segway. Men can ride them through the wide spaces between the galleries. However, there may also be limitations for a particular idea: safety measures, relationships with the distributor, etc. must be provided. Only by matching all the threats and benefits, you can accept the idea and start implementation. At this stage, we are actually conducting a SWOT analysis.However, brainstorming is not the only way to generate an idea. I will list a few more correct ways to get insight.
Combining elements in new combinations - the usual data, the source materials are collected in unusual solutions and designs. Connect the boutique shopping and computer game. For example, the buyer plays for himself and with the help of a smartphone collects signals from radio beacons (such as iBeacon, NFC) installed at the entrance to stores. The more shops - the more coins that can be exchanged for a discount, treat or pay a taxi home. You can provide options for the accumulation of virtual coins for several visits in a given period of time. In this case, the buyer will know exactly what visit he will be provided with a taxi and already purchased "to the fullest", since there is free transport to the house.
Accentuation - we put the main emphasis on one thing, we highlight it. For example, we collect all the discounts in one application and constantly update them - before going to the store, the buyer knows exactly where to get the benefit. Focus on saving motivation.
Typification (generalization) - we collect in the uniform idea one-type or disconnected entities. For example, you can arrange a single sports space MEGI, including in it stores of goods for sports, sportswear, sports nutrition, as well as departments of sports goods and sports equipment in hypermarkets. Thus, the buyer will know exactly where things are related to the subject of sports. When he needs skates or a hat for the pool, he will remember the “sports world” and come to MEGA. Of course, this will lead to other spontaneous purchases.
Action from the reverse. Here the principle works: you do not know how to improve, think up how to worsen. If there is a deterioration option, then the idea should be aimed at avoiding it. This can also include the transfer of the problem. For example, where should stand vending machines with water? Not only at the entrance (for those who have just arrived and want to drink from the road). We argue: thirst causes dry mouth, difficulty in speaking and occurs during physical activity. So, in the area of ​​the playground area and entertainment area should also be automatic. But since not every parent buys a child a soda, it is necessary to provide for the presence of non-cooled water in the machine.
Use your own experience. Surely you have been to MEGA or another large shopping center. Think what you did not have? For example, I previously lacked an interactive map of a shopping center with discounts, my location and surrounding stores. Now there is an application for iPhone and Android, conveniently and with interesting features.
Of course, in the generation of ideas there are factors of ingenuity, talent and luck. However, customization of thinking with the help of such templates helps to generate ideas even in the most critical and desperate situations, in the conditions of a narrow time frame. Reflect, try, dare, submit applications for participation in MEGA ACCELERATOR - it promises to be very interesting.
Of course, everyone thinks in his own way and each of us has his own sources of inspiration. But it is necessary to allocate a group of sources with the maximum concentration of useful information.
- Own and others experience. We are consumers and users, we watch others, communicate with family and friends. It is worth looking a little more closely and you will see common features of behavior, patterns of perception. For example, I noticed that people often take into account the calorie content of mayonnaise. It is absolutely harmful and high-calorie, but everyone is interested in the cherished figure. It seems to me that the one who indicates something like 53 kcal / portion * will gain a little success.
- Research, observations, statistics. Today, in the open access is interesting information in almost all areas. The necessary statistics can be found on the Internet, industry magazines. If a report is closed, then most likely its print version is available in a regular, “analog” library.
- Books - perhaps the most good source of information. Moreover, even if you work exclusively on creating websites or developing mobile applications, you need to understand for whom you are creating a product. Therefore, in the list of our programmer classics, books on neurophysiology, perception psychology, behavior will be useful (for example, physiologists I. Pavlov and I. Sechenov, deep researcher in the sphere of consumption M. Lindstrom, design guru David Berman).
A loner can possess a set of knowledge and competencies, or a team in which each participant knows a little about the project as a whole and deeply has its own field of knowledge. This is the synergy effect. Around us are solid clues for new ideas. One has only to see them and the generator will work without interruption. Well, in the intervals of the ideological crisis, you can develop, test, adapt and implement - to give life to ideas.
The game starts now
Have ideas already appeared? Or maybe you have been thinking about something for a long time, but you could not find the point of application of your idea? Leave your ideas directly in the comments to this post and we will contact the authors of the best ideas to invite to our MEGA ACCELERATOR. To implement the best idea, the entire space of MEGI and 3.5 million rubles will be allocated.
If you have a ready-made team of 2 to 4 people and a great idea - just leave a request here .
PS: if you were inspired by any of these ideas and want to use it - use it for health, these are educational examples and they have not been implemented anywhere.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/276953/
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