Opensource r eportv2

Design Planning WorkshopSpring 2009

Hintzman :: Knopman :: Mioduszewski :: Vuong1

Understanding CommunitiesResearch and design directions exploring how to effectively work with communities to develop and vet new ideas.


Hintzman :: Knopman :: Mioduszewski :: Vuong



Report Overview ...........................................................................................3What we set out to do and what we found

The Open Source Landscape ........................................................................4 – 6Secondary research into the evolution of Open Source, the communities that work on projects and business models around Open Source

Community Creation and Companies ............................................................7 – 9The ways companies and communities can work together and our research direction exploring how communities and Teague can work together

Research Methodology and Community Findings .........................................10–13We talked to community members in the shoe and car industries and developed understanding about the organization of communities

Design Principles ...........................................................................................14–19Key principles when designing for communities

Solution Strategies ........................................................................................20–28How Teague can address community needs while meeting its own business objectives

Road Map ......................................................................................................29Framing solutions opportunity space, time horizon, and certainty

Table of Contents



THE OPEN SOURCE LANDSCAPE

Report Overview

After conducting research into Open Source and customizing communities and identifying their needs, we developed a portfolio of solutions that allow Teague to tap into community knowl-edge and work

Teague is a design consultancy firm that was founded in 1926. Through its history, it has be-come a leader in aviation design and industrial design in the consumer electronics and life-style products industry. Realizing the need to stay competitive in an industry that is becoming commoditized by offshore manufacturing and labor, as well as shorter product lifecycles and increasing marketing costs, Teague saw potential in the growing popularity of Open Source Hardware (OSH).

Our goal was to develop a portfolio of options of how Teague could capitalize on OSH development, and what types of revenue streams were possible. Through our initial research we soon found that OSH was very similar to Open Source Software development in ideology, but very different because of the nature of physical production of artifacts. We also identified a typology of OS business models that Teague could pursue: Traditional OS, Commercial OS, Product Co-Creation, and Platform develop-ment.

After discussing the strengths and weaknesses with Teague, we were able to focus our research on what would benefit Teague the most--Product Co-Creation. Co-Creation is a way to identify trends of users, get rapid feedback during design, and get user validation during development and testing.

To understand Co-Creation, we looked at not just the Open Source Community, but other industries and communities that support and benefit from the work of members. We were also interested in how these communities are built and supported through its members because they are not usually officially formed and sanctioned, but rather built around hobbyists and enthusiasts very much like the Open Source Community. We also looked at customization, the people who do it and support it to understand why people modify products and what benefits the get from it.

From our research in areas such as car enthusiasts and sneaker customization, we were able to identify unmet needs of hobbyists and customizers, and develop design principles for a system that would develop and support an Open Source Hardware community. Initial concepts were developed around these principles. We then filtered the concepts based on Teague’s needs, objectives, and capabilities.

The final concept solutions ranged from Teague creating a blog and web presence among Open Source Hardware hackers, to creating live events and competition for community members, to creat-ing physical workshops for tinkerers and hobbyists to join and share work space while socializing. The concepts were then given an implementation strategy starting with the web presence based on the need and Teague’s capabilities in interaction design. The final step in the process would be the cre-ation of the physical workshops, or Hacker Hauses. The entire process should be done within a time span of less than 2 years however because of the fast paced nature of Open Source.

We believe this portfolio of options will not only make Teague a member, but also a leader in the Open Source community. This in turn will lead to quicker trend spotting, faster development time, and better user feedback. This will make Teague a sought after firm for companies wanting to create

products and services that people want to use.

REPORT OVERVIEW




Open Source + Teague

As the Open Source movement expands, how can Teague utilized these communities within its development process?

“Open Source” generally refers to a free and open approach to the design, development, and distribution of a product. The end goal of an open source product is to give the user information about a product to adapt the product fit their need, whether it is an individual user, or community of users. New products are shared with the community alongside the underlying code or specs so other users can continue the cycle of modification.

Open Source used to be primarily a tool of computer scientists at academic institutions, but in recent years has seen its scope expand beyond these communities. Open Source software, with Linux as the flag bearer, have become businesses unto themselves. Code that has been developed and refined by the community, is packaged with customer support and sold to outside organizations. These companies find themselves the beneficiary of not only well-engineered solution, but also with a new set of end-customers in the developer community.

collaboration within your personal network

collaboration across organizations

communities of collaborators

InternetIndividuals were able to connect and share ideas across geog-raphies.

Legal ProtectionGPL and creative commons licensing allowed businesses to utilize the advan-tages of open source without worry of placing themselves at a competitive disad-vantage.

open source business models

open source hardware

Small Batch ManufacturingIncreases in global manufacturing capacity, have brought down the cost to fabricate designs so individuals can now design and make their own products.

User SupportThis skin around the Open Source community, allows community devel-opment to be used by a non-developer end market.

Open Source exists because of innovations that allowed collaboration to scale across geogra-phies, companies and industries.

Open Source is a formalization of collaboration. While it used to be that we could only collaborate with coworkers at work and friends at home, innovations in methods of communication and support for development of ideas have allowed collaboration to develop into businesses. The internet, the de-velopment of GPL (General Public Licenses), which protect open/collaborative work from being later patented, and the advent of companies that provided user support and know-how about Open Source products have extended the reach of Open Source software. While small batch manufacturing, has facilitated the evolution of Open Source from software to product development.





Understanding the OS community

Most projects aren’t worked on, those that are aren’t worked on by many.

The idea of open source software is commonly regarded a production of a community of developers, but open source projects tend to be developed by small groups of individuals. One might also think that the more complex a project gets the more developers there are involved. In fact, there is no meaningful correlation between the size of the project and the number of developers. A larger project doesn’t require more developers.

For communities to succeed, problems must have distinct modules that can worked on separately.

In a community of open source contributors, the key is to ensure an architecture that allows for customers and other self-interested users of the software to easily contribute pieces without having to sift through the whole project. The architecture of codebase is a critical factor with all open source software projects. Modularity and option values are important factors within the architecture of open source software. They allow developers with appropriate skills and training to make early, informed decisions and encourage the evolution of the open source project.

Modularity allows developers to tweak the code for their own benefit. Developers are “able to make small extensions without having to upset the balance of the larger project.” It allows code to evolve incrementally and lowers the barriers of entry by new developers by making it more approachable. Modularity encourages a community to elicit contributions based on the community’s natural reciproc-ity, altruism and a wish to be affiliated. It also allows many contributors to be recognized for their

Data was taken from an analysis of 400 open source projects from the FreashMeat portal which was published in IEEE journal in 2003. The data gathered was from 2001 .

active unchanged in last 6 months

number of projects

1

number of projects

number of people working on project2-3 4-10 11- 20 >20





Open Source business models

There are existing business models that tap into the Open Source community.

developers component parts Customer gets every-thing needed to make a product in one stop. Customer gets recom-mended/high quality parts.

non-developers, espe-cially larger companies

advice on how to use community generated products

Customer gets a usable version of a higher quality product and help deploying the changes as they are developed in the com-munity.

developers and non-developers

Open Source products The company will in-variably face knock-off challengers. By being open at the onset, the company reduces the market for knock-off and benefits from the innovation within the communities.

Aggregate a kit of parts

Center of the universe consulting

Prepare for rapid change

the customer the product the value propsition




COMMUNITY CREATION AND COMPANIES

Collaborative business models

Stepping back from our original scope, we looked at the value from and questions about varying types of user involvement in the creative process

open source community Teague

Other Companies

free developers(makers/users)

paying consumers (users)

open source community Teague

Other Companies



Traditional Open Source example: linksys

How do you monitor and use open source technology to create better/more appealing products for the devel-oper and non-developer community?

Company utilizes open source technology developed in communi-ties (might be company managed but are not company directed). By using open source, the company gains prestige within the developer/open source community and increases sales to this community. Product is sold into the mass market, but without a perceived competitive advantage (open source doesn’t matter to these people).

Commercial Open Source example: red hat

How do you manage a community to get useful insights and components of products relevant to a non-developer community?

The company manages an open source com-munity, taking an ac-tive role in presenting projects and guiding the community. These projects are packaged (with service offerings, or increased usability) to be sold into a mass audience.



Collaborative business models

Co-creation example: Lego

How do you involve your end users and/or business partners to contribute to the development of products?

A dynamic relationship between producer and consumer where a company engages consumer and produc-tion and/or distribution of goods services and values.

Teague


ideas

Platform example: iPhone

How do you create products that allow individuals and companies to add on to the offering, creating a richer brand and product experience through developments external to the company?

Company creates usable product that is sold into the market. Information about this product is released to allow other individu-als and companies to develop complimen-tary products. Product brand is enhanced by the ability to custom-ize with these external products.

free developers(makers/users) paying consumers

(users)

Teagueother companies

COMMUNITY CREATION AND COMPANIES




Co-Creation + Teague

Teague is interested in how to tap into the knowledge, work and trends in the developer/tinkering community

Each of the collaborative business models has an area of intersection between Teague and the developer/tinkering community. In talks with Teague, it was clear that it was the nature of these intersections, not the specifics of Open Source, which were of the greatest value to the firm. Rather than providing specifics of a business model, our research looks at the nature of how companies can locate, work with and utilize the knowledge of communities and individuals.

community Teague




RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND COMMUNITY FINDINGS

New Research Direction

Examining Open Source as Customization and Co-Creation

After talking with Teague and reframing Open Source as a form of co-creation, we decided to focus our research on the biggest and most well-known form which is customization. We wanted to know who customizers were, who they customized things for, and what motivated them to customize things.

We also saw that it was important to understand the communities that get behind customization of products, as they were the people who made large open source projects not only possible, but kept the projects going throughout different communities. It was necessary to research what motivated these communities and not just individual customizers, and understand how they functioned as a group with common goals as well as individual goals.



Understanding the Community

Research Methodology Focusing on the Entire Spectrum of Community Participants

In order to understand not just the community and how it interacts within, and how it represents itself to the outside world, we wanted to talk to people at all points of the spectrum. This lead us to those who were at the center of their group, or the hardcore participants, to the people who are on the fringes, those who liked the community but didn’t necessarily associate with it entirely. This lead us to create a model of community interaction that helped us understand the members and the roles they played within the community. It also helped us identify those we wanted to interview for our primary research.

Members’ Roles and Participation Structure the Community Architecture

The Hero

These are individuals who stand out within their groups. Their work is not only representative of the community, but is also influential and emulated by the subcommunity.

The Subcommunity

These are active members within the community who help support it and make it grow. They specialize in their specific group and often socialize (both physical and virtual) in order for the group to sustain itself and gain new members.

The Lifestyle Ecosystem

Although these are not integral members of the group, they are an essential part of the community. They serve as a gateway of information and education for those without existing resources to join the community and provide a wider audience for mem-bers to show off their work.




Research Participants

Miguel: Hero

Sneaker customizer, former graffiti artist

Ben: Subcommunity Member

Car enthusiast / customizer

Marilee: Lifestyle Ecosystem Member

Worked for car enthusiast magazine

Nikhil: Subcommunity Member

Car enthusiast / customizer / designer




Understanding the Community

Community Overlaps and Intersections Spread Knowledge and Influence

From our research, we were able to see how ideas and trends flow from one community to another. As influence from the Heroes spreads out to the Lifestyle members, these Lifestyle members also belong to different Lifestyle communities. As trends rise and fall, these members pass the trends along their individual communities as well, spreading influence up to those with Hero status. We believe this intersection is where innovations happen as communities influence each other and pass trends along to different communities.

We feel that if Teague can help build and maintain a community of Open Source Hardware hackers and tinkerers, they will also be able to spot rising trends from across different industries, communi-ties, and cultures. Teague will then have an advantage as a trend spotter, but would also have the ability to tap into these different communities through their own influence within the Open Source Hardware community.

Example of trend and information flows across different communities with shared members

SkateboardCommunity

GraffitiCommunity

SneakerCommunity




DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Design Principles

Our primary and secondary research identified needs, objectives, activities and breakdowns that clustered into nine principles when designing for a community.

• Provide a place for community members to display work

• Provide ease of entry for different skill levels

• Provide people with acess to resources and tools

• Offer opportunities for education and growth

• Offer compensation to members for work used

• Appeal to wider ecosystem

• Have a way of showing membership ad identity

• Have transparent process

• Value the community and past accomplishments



Provide a place for community

members to display workA solution should allow customizes to showcase their work and exhibit contributions along side the contributors. Members add value to the community through their specials skills, knowledge and abili-ties. The platform to display work should be both virtual and physical forums and should allow the cre-ator to interact with the audience during the process. Providing a way for people to exchange ideas and to validate each others ideas helps the community build their skills and continue learning.

For our research:• Community members want to be famous. “....not that they wouldn’t want recognition for them-

selves. i think they’d all want to be famous...just like painting and works of art get known” – Marilee

• Identifying the good people through the community and learning from them. ”Through the com-munity...you figure out who’s the good mechanic...like anyone does in a social network you figure out who the good people are and learn from them...now that there’s the internet it’s a lot easier...specialty publications...doing whatever you do to learn about your car and keep it operating...it’s informal.” – Marilee

• Members need the community to validate and appreciate their work “i don’t think you can do car stuff by yourself. If you don’t have a community around you that appreciates the inordinate amount of time you spend on your vehicle...” –Marilee

Provide ease of entry for different skill levelsA solution should allow members of different skill levels to enter into community activities and educate all levels of contributors. Exploring different possibilities and ideas are important to the skill development of a community. The solution should provide a way for people to find out about new things and build on existing knowledge whether they are a novice or an expert. It should have no or low cost of entry.

For our research:• Experimenting and exploring involved in customizations, especially when there is little previous

knowledge “trial and error and a lot of error”- Nikhil

• Customizing begins with casual exploration. People don’t always start out customizing with the goal of customizing, it’s more of an ends to a mean. He got started by making a pair for his brother, then his kids. It snowballed after that –Miguel

• Skill and ability limitations make it difficult for anybody to customize things, people without technical skills and craftsmanship may not participate- Miguel

• Need to offer different levels of involvement to draw in those who might not have the resources or knowledge to be a core community member. –Marilee

DESIGN PRINCIPLES



Provide people with acess to

resources and toolsA solution should provide access to tinker-friendly things. With new technologies stifling the ability to tinker, it is important for the community to have access to new technologies and tools. This enables members to discover new skills and build on there previous knowledge. Providing a wide range of options, from the low tech tools to tools for the highly skilled tinkerer also helps community member to develop skills and learn from each other.

For our research:• Companies bringing resources to the community. ”Nike provided materials, stipends” - Miguel

• The knowledge necessary to tinker needs to be easily available” ...they [old cars] are cars that people can work on...it’s specialied knowledge but it’s not inaccessible”-Marilee

• The car industry is evolving in a way that prevents access by a tinkering community- “they taught [auto repair] in my high school...but where do you go to learn that? the cars that they build are all computerized...there’s no connection...you really have to have a level of expertise that is uncom-mon”- Marilee

• “You would have to invest in more equipment. You have to buy all the computer, the equipment to diagnose... Can’t do as much with a new car these days”- Ben

Offer opportunities for

education and growthA solution should provide members with opportunities for educational growth to achieve profes-sional and personal goals. Emerging talent often arises out of creative communities and those talents should be recognized and given opportunities for professional growth. Communities value learning and skill development, therefore a solution should provide resources and tools that help members grow as an individual.

For our research:• Sneaker designers who submit ideas online have a “naïve hope” that they will get recognized for

their work and get hired by a company – Miguel

• Members need the community to get information about resources. “If you’re not part of a commu-nity you don’t know...where to get parts” – Marilee

DESIGN PRINCIPLES



Offer compensation to members for work usedA solution should recognize that compensation for ideas can be realized in terms beyond financial reward. Other forms of compensation include the opportunity to network and build close bonds with colleagues and friends, access to education and resources, and publicity. Receiving credit and recog-nition for individual accomplishments is integral to the co-creation process.

For our research:• “I think they’d [tinkerers] all want to be famous, just like [creators of] paintings and works of art get

known.” –Marile

• “It’s about being around your friends and family, working on it together. You can meet up together and work on your car. Like ‘Ben just got new sonar heads for his car, let’s get a 12 pack of beer and work on it.’” –Ben

Appeal to wider ecosystemA solution should transcend the product or project and consider the over-arching value system and ecosystem supporting a project area. A solution should acknowledge the various inspiration sources of an idea, as many customizations are throw-backs and references to prior art. Additionally, a solution should recognize that needs and preferences of customizers are dynamic and ever-changing for; what is relevant today, may not be tomorrow.

For our research:• “It [my choices] represents a different time in my life now, I’m kind of moving on from it, like, I

want to get a Vespa. I was living in the suburbs. I was driving around a whole lot. There was a different culture around it too, your car meat a lot more to you, cause that’s how you connected to your friends. You really couldn’t get over to anyone’s house without a car. You couldn’t get to school. Here I could take public transportation all over the place.” –Ben

• “There are a lot of semantic clues, themes, metaphors and analogies you can take from other prod-ucts and use in your professional life.”–Nikhil

• “Customization is a lifestyle, not necessarily specific to a certain product.”–Miguel

• “For example, a doorknob. I may be searching for a casing for my speedometer and use that doorknob.” –Nikhil

DESIGN PRINCIPLES



Have a way of showing membership add identityCreators identify with subtle cues and latent messaging that says “I am a part of this group.” Therefore, a solution should consider the social and cultural forces that culminate in in-the-know language (lingo) or physical representations (ex. car customizers’ greasy fingers) that convey group membership.

For our research:• “The great thing about customizing shoes is that the only limitations is the

person’s ability.” – Miguel

• “[Customization] is done for a single user, completely against fundamentals of mass production. It’s not about one product being created for all.” – Nikhil

Have transparent processA solution should direct contributors through the process of sharing work, ranging from how to share, with whom to share, to the result of sharing. Put simply, a solution should make contributors and “borrowers” feel in control of and educated about the idea-sharing process.

For our research:• “Middle or end users / clients need information as to why customizing is important or how it can

help their business.” –Miguel

• “Established business models may be hard to break.” –Miguel

DESIGN PRINCIPLES



Value the community and past accomplishments

A solution should honor the spirit and essence of references and honor the authenticity of past ac-complishments. A solution should align with brand and community values and attributes to create products that harness and maintain a community’s sincere and deep-rooted interests.

For our research:• “Performance wise it was great. Aesthetically like the trying to make it look like the old mustang I

know some people like it. I didn’t like it”–Ben

• “The ideas of the enthusiast community are too fringe for the needs of the mass market.” –Marilee

• “Companies scour forums and use online ideas, turn out a watered-down version of the product.” –Miguel

DESIGN PRINCIPLES



Solution Strategies

Increase process transparencyTeague must open up its own creative process to allow outsiders to contribute and understand the methodology Teague uses. This necessary first step lays a foundation for credibility within the open source community and begins to build channels to outside communities.

Community Presence

Rapid Feedback Tool

Expand Teague’s network of influenceTeague begins to open temporary forums for specific contribution from outside. Structured as short-term projects, Teague offers education, access to resources, notoriety and prizes to the community in exchange for work and ideas

Teague Academy Exptension

Design Competition

IdeaFest

Work with community herosBecause Teague has developed inroads into various communities, heros can be identified with and their role can be used to develop products, and used to help identify intersections of communities that indicate future trend direction

Co-Brand

Hero Subscription

Become a place where new ideas goBy opening a physical space, with tiered access to resources, Teague becomes the place where the community can meet, develop and share ideas putting Teague always on the forefront

HackerHaus

SOLUTION STRATEGIES



Increase process transparency

Community Web Presence: Beginning with Blog

A blog site could happen immediately to attract interest from a community. An internal Hero at Teague brings enthusiasm to community by reporting about events outside the design community. This helps create a community around the opinions and experiences of the Hero. This builds a com-munity of people who are interested in learning and people who contribute and add feedback to the blog site. In order to gain attraction from blog readers, the Hero networks with other bloggers. Link-ing this blog to other blog sites allows other bloggers to talk about Teague and also add links to the Teague’s blog.

An essential part of building this community is the enthusiastic Hero. This person must be actively engaged in the community and respond to community members. If community members ask to see more of product X, the Hero must respond to the demand in a timely manner and engage in dialogue with members.

As the blog gains popularity, a community slowly forms around the Teague Hero. Participants may write feedback and start sharing their own opinions. The website evolves into a social networking platform where the community may start their own blogs, share their own projects or share or report about events, products and services they have seen.

What it is

• Internal Teague Hero writes blog

• Self promotion outside of design community

• Community “myspace-like” platform for displaying personal work and networking

What it does

• Promotes Teague

• Builds community around Teague Hero and ideas

• Network with other bloggers and communities

• Networks people within community built by Teague

• Allows community to contribute and share ideas with Teague

SOLUTION STRATEGIES



Increase process transparency

Rapid Feedback Tool

Social networking tools allows Teague to leverage the community during the design process. This is a Teague driven process which helps designers to get instant feedback and rapidly iterate based on the community input. This tool could be useful at every stage of the design process. Whether it is a deci-sion to make or not make a certain product, or if a product should be silver or black. These decisions could rapidly be decided by the community.

This tool would require a change in the Teague designer culture. Being open to criticism by the community, selectively acting on certain suggestions and disregard others and changing the design process to incorporate this tool are things to consider. This tool can have as great of an influence on designers as designers and community members allow. Both deisgn and community members could choose to the level of engagement and dialogue they would like to contribute.

Teague ultimately drives the design process and decides which feedback is relevant for their product and what design and research questions they would like to get feedback for from the community. This tool may also require a change in confidentiality from the client. How much information can Teague disclose to the community?

What it is

• Internal design tool (widget or internal process to gather feedback) for Teague to get feedback from community members

• Uses social networking tools like Facebook, twitter or teague created platform to get feedback

What it does

• Gets instant feedback from community

• Allows designers to ideate quickly

• Co-create with community

• Aggregates content from community

SOLUTION STRATEGIES



Expanding Teague’s Network of Influence

Teague Academy Extension

Expanding on the already-established Teague Academy brand, Teague would work with both students and older hobbyists / tinkerers to teach them design and prototyping skills. The students would get training through working on real world problems and projects sponsored by Teague clients. This would help build both Teague’s brand and their client’s brand among the Open Source community. They would also get fresh ideas and concepts from the class.

An example of this comes from our research where Nike sponsored a sneaker painting class. They paid for the supplies and other fees, while in return they were able to promote the upcoming release of a shoe for Latino Heritage Month.

Hack-To-School!

What it is

• Workshop space

• Staff / teachers

• Projects from clients

• Access to special tools and software

What it does

• Idea generation and testing for Teague’s clients

• Offers training and resources for hobbyists

• Community building

• Brand building

SOLUTION STRATEGIES




Open Source Design Competition

The Open Source Design competition would be similar to other design competitions in that it would be open to designers (students and professionals) but also computer and hardware hackers and tinkerers. The topics of the competition would be based on actual Teague client projects.

What makes this competition different is that it would have multiple rounds. At the end of each round, each contestant or team would submit their design (physical, digital files, or both) for review. At these points, they must work in an open source environment, allowing other people to use their designs and work. In turn, they would have access to other contestants’ works to use at their disposal. They would also be able to switch projects and work on other teams or projects.

After 3 to 4 rounds, a winning design would be chosen. However, the winning contestant or team would be judged not only by their final design, but a combination of design skills, contribution to other projects, and openness of process. This would encourage an open source environment of knowledge sharing.

Round #

Winner!

12

34

1st

What it is

• Website for digital competition

• Judging by the community

• Prizes / incentives for contestants

• Client projects

What it does

• Brand building

• Community building


SOLUTION STRATEGIES




IdeaFest

Events are central to all communities and community ecosystems. They provide challenges for members to work towards, venues to show work that’s been done and a forum to draw in new members. IdeaFest positions Teague at the center of community events. Teague would host events, inviting specific communities and/or those engaged in the Teague online community. IdeaFest will have tinker-tables where people can experiment with new technology and ideas, quickfire challenges along the lines of cut-copy where people pit their rapid prototyping skills against each other in a live forum, and showcases where individuals and groups (co-sponsors) can display what they’ve been working on.

IdeaFest benefits Teague by engaging designers with with people outside the design community to get a fresh perspective and feedback on specific concepts placed in the tinker tent or quickfire challenge. Up front costs to set up and publicize the event can be offset by charging to attend, enter the quickfire challenge, or co-sponsor showcase space. Non-monetary compensation comes in the form of ideas, publicity which puts Teague in the center of buzz around new ideas, direct feedback on current prototypes and the ability to identify and build relationships with community heroes.

For community members, the IdeaFest is a place to exhibit work, learn from others and establish themselves within the community.

What it is

• space to host event

• staff to organize logistics

• co-sponsors

• marketing to communities and organizations

• event themes

• prizes, cocktails, music...

What it does

• provides a social environment for designers and tinkerers to interact

• sponsors contests and events where people can show off their skills and work

• makes Teague a destination

SOLUTION STRATEGIES



Work with community heros

Hero Subscription

As tinkering and customizing become more pervasive, the ways in which people explore their own ideas and execute on them grow more varied. Contributing in large part to the creative process is the interest to draw inspiration from multiple sources and domains. In other words, car tinkers are not merely looking to other car designers for inspiration, but rather referring to other fields like furniture and accessories design for fresh design perspectives.

The Hero Subscription has two main functions: (1) to provide a forum where hero tinkerers can share their ideas and processes with the public and (2) to draw connections between seemingly disparate project areas to determine how to source fresh ideas. Teague’s role is to support and man-age online space where the public can come to preview/ subscribe to videos of heroes at work. Over time, Teague would be able analyze subscription behavior to discern emerging trends and inconspicu-ous links connecting areas of interest. Teague could then draw from these data points to devise a research and design plan for future projects.

What it is:

* Online site

* Community forum

* Online video subscription service

* Data tracking system

What it does:

* Provides forum for industry leaders and com-munity members to showcase work

* Offers insight into tinkering process

* Facilitates learning and information sharing

• Tracks subscriptions demands to determine market trends and user behavior

SOLUTION STRATEGIES

area of community overlap

Hero who has garnered attention of various communities

sneaker community

comic book communitychair design community



Work with community heros

Hero Co-branding

The short-term nature of seasonal events, such as holidays and annual observances, offers unique opportunities for collaborative as it provides clear time constraints and boundaries for projects. Un-like freelance work where the project area may have existed before the freelancer arrives and will continue to exist after the freelancer leaves, event-based collaborations are designed to allow col-laborators to be a part of the entire life-cylce of a project. Hero Co-branding projects are short-term engagements between Teague and community heroes where heroes benefit from the resources and reputation of the Teague company and Teague benefits from the credibility and talent of the hero. More specifically, Hero Co-branding is about leveraging the brand of Teague with the brand of the hero via short-term, highly publicized, event-based collaborations.

With the advent of Hero Subscriptions and IdeaFest, Teague can follow closely as community heroes emerge and capture the attention and loyalty of tinkerers and community customizers, Teague will be well positioned to partner with rising heroes and subsequently achieve access into communi-ties that may have remained untapped or remote.

An example of a Hero Co-branding project:

Teague facilitates a short-term partnership between client, Hewlett Packard and graffiti artist, Mr. Spray, to create limited edition laptop skins. Leading up the launch/ during launch of new product, Mr. Spray exhibits his artistry via an HP-sponsored public event where a handful of limited edition laptops are designed on the spot and pre-sold.

What it is:

* Brand development business model

* Short-term partnerships

* Event-based collaborations

What it does:

• Facilitates short-term projects between company and community hero

• Builds brand recognition

• Identifies community heroes for business venture and product development

• Leverage seasonal and project-based events

SOLUTION STRATEGIES



Become a place where new ideas go

Teague Hacker Haus

Hacker Haus is a physical place for tinkerers and Open Source hackers to hone their craft. The Hacker Haus would have a membership structure that would allow new people to drop in and learn new skills while providing more experienced member access to tools and resources that they do not have. Members could work on their own projects while Teague would have floor projects spon-sored by their clients that members could also work on. This would allow testing of new concepts and ideas from unconventional sources while getting real-time feedback.

Also, the Hacker Haus would be a physical gethering space that allows members to socialize. This would help establish Teague as not only a member of the Open Source community, but a leader in bringing Open Source ideas and thinking into new projects and business solutions.

What it is

• Workshop space

• Access to special tools and software

• Publicity materials

• Prototypes for tinkering

• Teague touch-point

What it does

• Offers workspace for members

• Provides an open forum between Teague and tinkerers and hackers


• Provides a physical space for members to gather and socialize

SOLUTION STRATEGIES



ROADMAP

Roadmap

How Teague Can Plan and Manage this Co-Creation Strategy

Range of ProbableFutures

Hacker Haus

Known Set of Possible Futures

Clear Future

Near Term<3 Months

• Blog / Web Presence

• Rapid Prototype Tool

• Hero Subscription

• Co-brand with Heroes

• Open Source Design Competition

• IdeaFest

• Hacker Haus

• Teague Academy Extension

Mid Term3 Months - 1 Year

Long Term1 Year+

Community Web Presence

Hero Subscription

Big Payoff

Medium Payoff

Small Payoff

Co-brand

Rapid Feed-back Tool

IdeaFest

Design Com-petition

Teague Academy Extension

Technology

Opensource r eportv2