The Side-effect Solutions
by JT
Survey on you
Online dating stats:
Active users?Dates?Marriages?Think it's lame?Think users are desperate?Hesitant to tell others?Tell strangers you're single and looking?
You are a bad data sample.
The problem with dating sites is...
...they are called dating sites.
Opposite of how people date in real life.
Any effort makes you look desperate.
Second to an off-line date
They want to keep you single
I'm not saying online dating will never work.
The point
There's a special type of problems,
where the direct solutions are not
the most effective solutions.
"The itch problem"
A Side-effect Solution
Examples
Networking
Old solution: "Networking" events
Fail: Douche bags
New solution: Events with other purposes
People will network.
Dating
Old solution: Bars, single events, dating sites
Fail: Douche bags, not "sexy", "magical"
New solution: Concerts, classes, bookstores
People will flirt.
Advertising
Old solution: Commercials in your face
Fail: Intrusive, not relevant, desensiting
New solution: Search, blog affiliated ads
People will buy.
Welfare
Old solution: Money
Fail: Dependency
New solution: Education, transit, internet
People will earn.
Hiring
Old solution: Job ads
Fail: Unskilled applicants
New solution: Contests (Netflix)
People will work.
And many more...
Teaching
Health care
Credits and loans
College admission
Recycling
Social movements
Any kind of user interface
How do I find side-effect solutions?
There's no magical formula.
Strategies
Step 1: Recognize the itch
Recognize the itch
Direct solution is not working (easy)
Direct solution is working, but not well (hard)
Solution has internal conflicts
The problem is related to other problems in which the solution do not solve.
Strategies
Step 1: Recognize the itch
Step 2: Brainstorm for solutions
Brainstorm for solutions
Situations where the problem doesn't exist
Parallel problems, how to solve them
Break it down
Exaggerate, examine and isolate
Or something complete different
Strategies
Step 1: Recognize the itch
Step 2: Brainstorm for solutions
Step 3: Apply, rinse and repeat
Game with a purpose (gwap.com)
Side-effect solutions in real action.
Founded by: Luis von Ahn (CMU)
Google talk: search for "human computation"
JT is not affiliated with this project.
That's all.
JT
Web developer / Entrepreneur
simplyjt.com (slides, email)
Questions? Or brainstorm?