conceptual tools
and techniques collaborative c o n s u m p t i o n diagnosing trends conceptualizing opportunities desinging benefits
Y V C A
o u s o f S i i c t o r M a h r i s t o p h e l e x a n d e r
d d i q i n c i n i r S n e l l Y o u n g
D i s c l a i m e r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Education & PAs..........2 P e r s o n a l S k i l l s . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Wo r k E x p e r i e n c e . . . . . . . . . . 4 Passions & Interests...5-6 Me & Design.............7-8 T h e B a s a d u r Te s t . . . . . . . . . . 9 T h e W K O D A I Te s t . . . . . . . . 1 0 Companies...........11-14 Search Strategies...15-16 What I Learned...........17
part 1: trend diagnosis
Community Commercialization The quality of a community’s camaraderie is defined by trust levels, and trust is built by engaging commercially with peers. Therefore, through collaborative consumption, a community is profiting socially as well as financially. (1) Social Network Monetization Traditionally, social networks have been recognized as intangible two-dimensional platforms with users playing the role of the consumer and content playing the role of the product. Through collaborative consumption, social networks become engaging business platforms that offer tangible products. (2) Disruptive Consumption The growth of collaborative consumption-based networks is a result of their vast circulation of capital. If consumers are progressively investing in these networks, big brands are losing market share to these flexible networks. (3,4)
2
Surplus Exchange Platform In its most basic form, collaborative consumption is a platform that trades, sells, and leases surplus. Whether it be an extra seat in the car, a skill, time, an empty house, or an unused bicycle, collaborative consumption platforms capitalize on these. (1) On-demand Ownership A key attraction to collaborative consumption is the own-it-when-you-need-it factor. Many platforms are based on sharing, trading, and leasing which ultimately allow for on-demand ownership. (5) Gratifying Participation Collaborative consumption allows for responsive financial engagements with individuals rather than faceless corporations. (5) Off-Beat Accessibility Offbeat access to non-traditional markets through specialized social networks and increased mobile connectivity has democratized access to goods and services. (2) 1. http://www.bothsidesofhetable.com/2013/06/09/heres-whats-dring-collaborative-consumption 2. http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1208887/understanding-collaborative-consumption 3. http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/04/29/sharing-economy-collaborative-commons 4. http://www.fastcoexist.com/3022028/the-sharing-economy-lacks-ashared-definition#12 5. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/ leisure/11110784/Airbnb-a ims-to-reshape-travel-industry.html
3
continued
On-demand Ownership A key attraction to collaborative consumption is the own-it-when-you-need-it factor. Many platforms are based on sharing, trading, and leasing which ultimately allow for on-demand ownership. (5) Gratifying Participation Collaborative consumption allows for responsive financial engagements with individuals rather than faceless corporations. (5) Off-Beat Accessibility Offbeat access to non-traditional markets through specialized social networks and increased mobile connectivity has democratized access to goods and services. (2) Aggregated Trust Assessment After engaging in a transaction, collaborative consumers are prompted to comment on, and rate the vendor. This generates a vast pool of public opinions that allows future consumers to confidently invest. (1)
4
Collaborative Lifestyle A system that is positioned on lowering costs by sharing of resources and assets with people of similar needs. (6) Ministering Sustainability Collaborative consumers can promote sustainable and ethical practices through their participation in social networks and investment. (7)
1. http://www.bothsidesofhetable.com/2013/06/09/heres-whats-dring-collaborative-consumption 2. http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1208887/understanding-collaborative-consumption 5. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/ leisure/11110784/Airbnb-a ims-to-reshape-travel-industry.html 6. http://www.slideshare.net/CollabLab/collaborative-consump-
meta trends: social networth The individual’s increasing value and agency due to social networks based on trust, reputation, and interconnectivity. Beyond the inherent market value of the commercialized social network, increases in connectivity and community involvement have created a value system that highlights participation, sharing and trust. The transformative and connective power of the networks allows multiple opportunities to engage in positive social change and engage in responsible and sustainable commerce. The inherent value of the social networks is creating a matrix of trust and cooperation and moving away from solely corporatist hierarchies. SIGNALS: As trust in the collective network increases, users consider crowd-sourced information, feedback and judgment to be an integral step in making decisions, purchasing and engaging in new activities/experiences. This spans the profile-based vetting of Airbnb, through Yelp, Amazon comments, and online user ratings.
6
meta trends: social networth cont’ IMPLICATIONS: As user-generated reviews and consensus become more pervasive, the trust aggregators will wield a greater ability and responsibility to influence business and commerce. Companies will have to be more reactive to customers or face their collective wrath. Service providers (hotels, restaurants) and retail will be especially affected by this trend, but eventually it will affect commodity and utility markets as well. Social networks will transcend traditional friend-based or photo-sharing constraints, allowing individuals to have economic and influential agency online.
meta trends: investerrupting The proliferation of opportunities for democratic participation in funding, promotion or distribution of projects or products represents a profound disruption in the status quo. The exponential growth of crowd-sourced funding and content is changing the way innovative products or ideas reach the market. Beyond purely monetary investment, this trend affects the dissemination of knowledge, empowers voters and citizens, and allows people to exert change on their world through their commerce and participation in vibrant, responsive social exchanges. SIGNALS: This growth is evidenced by the increasing visibility and use of online collaborative opportunities, encompassing all aspects of the market, most notably hospitality (Airbnb), transportation (Uber, Lyft), and innovation funding (Kickstarter).
9
meta trends: investerrupting cont’ IMPLICATIONS: As this trend gains momentum, larger companies and corporations will have to become more reactive to this democratization of the marketing and delivery of product and content. Whichever social networks or investment platforms take hold will likely seek to increase their market share and evolve and expand their capabilities. Companies seeing growth in this sector, à la Airbnb or Uber, will likely branch out to an ever increasing range of services.
meta trends: democommercialism The democratization of consumer markets, connecting individuals through specialized social networks. The newfound ubiquity of collaborative consumption opportunities, from companies like AirBnB, Uber, Fiverr, Craigslist, represents the emergence of a new paradigm, where surplus exchange platforms allow for efficient redistribution of consumer goods and services. By creating occasions for off-beat accessibility to markets, access to products and services has experienced a democratic swell, promoting commerce and connection. Users can benefit from a wide social network to generate revenue, redistribute surplus goods and services and exchange information.
SIGNALS: This democratization of redistribution and consumption has created a vibrant ancillary market that threatens traditional models of online and real-world commerce. Social networks have become the de facto redistribution marketplace of the 21st century, with companies like Airbnb, Craigslist, Kijiji
12
meta trends: democommercialism cont’ et al, reaching top-of-mind for modern users while more traditional service providers provide less interactive and fulfilling experiences. IMPLICATIONS: The redistribution of surplus will extend beyond goods and services, and will see those with surplus energy selling it back to the grid or other buyers, comprehensive transportation sharing networks and global coverage for the sharing of spaces and experiences. Mini-networks will emerge, creating a community of interconnected collaborative consumers, able to efficiently share all manner of resources, effectively changing the way business works.
in ve s
h rt
o
w et
te
n al
i oc
s
community commercialization
rr
up
tin
g
gratifying participation
surplus exchange platform
aggregated trust assessment
collaborative consumption
disruptive consumption
social network monetization
on-demand ownership
collaborative lifestyle
ministering sustainability
offbeat accessability
democommercialism
15
part 2: conceptualizing opportunity
conceptualizing opportunity: overview Modern companies, should they wish to remain nimble, adaptable and able to grow, must acknowledge the powerful nascent trends surrounding Collaborative Consumption. In our trend identification, we identified 10 trends that orbit this concept, eventually distilled down to three mega trends, porte-manteaus combining the most powerful forces and trends. To capitalize on these trends, both in financial terms and in a community and trust-building capacity, companies will have to reconceptualize the way they conduct business, the way they interact with their clients and shareholders, and forge inroads into the various social networks that interconnect consumers, their behaviour and buying habits, and commerce in general. We have identified three companies that are relatively top-of-mind in their respective categories that could tangibly benefit, in the short and foreseeable future, from added sophistication and integration of collaborative consuming trends.
17
conceptualizing opportunity:
In 2008, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia founded Airbnb in San Francisco. These two roommates were looking for a moneymaking opportunity and conceptualized a company that would eventually become Airbnb. In the early days, they rented out three air mattresses to people in the area when local hotels were all booked up, hence the original name of “Airbed & Breakfast�. Today, Airbnb is a platform which allows users to rent their homes or part of their homes to other Airbnb users for a more economical travel experience. The site revolves around user feedback and comments of their trip, which ensures quality, and validity of the homes available. AirBnB is a vibrant player in the collaborative consumption economy, already embracing many of the identified trends as parts of their thriving business practice. Their growth and continued success point to the ubiquity of these trends as drivers of innovation and commerce, but also signal consumer’s innate need to create interconnections and establish
18
conceptualizing opportunity:
cont’
As this company grows, it has a tremendous opportunity to not only connect people with surplus accommodations, but to create a giant interconnected travel and experience network that can enhance both Airbnb’s economic reach and influence and the behaviour and experiences of its growing user base. Airbnb is already an effective surplus redistribution network, with elements of trust aggregation and collaborative lifestyle, but the future can see it provide increased off-beat access to deeper, more meaningful travel experiences. Users within the community can provide more than just a simple review of their accommodation, but provide insight and opinion about all manner of experiences. Airbnb, through a reorganization of their data infrastructure, can capitalize on the surplus of the intangible, the multi-faceted nature of moving through this frenetic world. By connecting users with other like-minded people, and allowing a trust framework and consensus to develop, Airbnb could effectively displace or replace various other sites (Trip Advisor, Yelp, Expedia, Kayak, etc..)
20
The future of Airbnb does not lie in simply connecting users with surplus accommodation and goods, but in providing a full suite of services that cater to the modern user. Reconceptualized and needing a branding overhaul to achieve these goals, AirB is the de facto source of communal knowledge about all travel experiences, dining adventures, transportation knowledge. This growth is super-charged by an invested, committed, and expanding user-base that can only grow. By being more connected and nimble than existing online services, the manifest growth of AirB would heavily leverage the Investerrupting that is redefining the modern commercial and societal landscape. A user-driven portal to access important information, filtered by consensus rather than by corporation, is where collaborative consumption trends are headed.
promotes renting personal spaces over corporate-run hotels
log personal experiences and opinions to generate networth
could eventually absorb yelp, trip advisor, expedia
investing in other users over investing in corporations
investerrupting
gratifying participation
promotes exchange of untapped experiences
recommending units, restaurants, people, etc.
engaging new users to multiplies exchanges
trusting recommendations, ratings, comments
surplus exchange platform
aggregated trust assessment
instant access to in depth advice and knowledge
platform champions those with comprehensive profiles
instant access to a broad range of units worldwide
sheds light on reliable proprietor
on-demand ownership
social networth
network-based self-sustaining economic system
people with similar interests sharing spaces
contract work arranged through network
continuous sharing of ideas & knowledge
social network monetization
collaborative lifestyle open access to personal judgments of airbnb experiences
residential space sharing makes for less construction & waste
promotes the expansion of network, increasing available units
promotes trust-based investing & social sustainbility
ministering sustainability
offbeat accessability
22
conceptualizing opportunity:
A family business founded in 1925, Festool’s notion is to innovate high-quality electric and pneumatic tool designs, for demanding professionals or for the everyday craftsman. Festool owns a considerable segment of the wood-working and power tool market segment, appealing to discerning experts and aspiring craftsmen alike with innovative, versatile, high-quality tools. Festool’s wide range of offerings represent a cohesive and integrated system, highly based on end user design and behaviours; their pricepoint is towards the high end of the spectrum, but their warranty and assurance of quality is something that selective users value. From a product design perspective, they are a sophisticated market player, but we’ve identified parts of their overall company infrastructure that can build brand loyalty, grow their business and increase their market saturation. Festool has already dipped their toes into the concept of a social network that both supports and enriches their brand, realized as the Festool Owners Group Forum. This online community, comprising basically of an 23
conceptualizing opportunity:
cont’
expanded series of discussion groups, compiles user experiences, allows users to submit feedback and reviews of existing products, and helps other users navigate the use of their projects and achieve their own projects in a cooperative and collaborative environment. The forum, however, is in its infancy, and represents a one-dimensional view of collaboration. Drawing from our identified trends, we can conceptualize a more robust interactive framework that will allow users to interact with the brand on multiple platforms and to various effects. The first step to creating an engaging community is to give users a place to congregate, both in the physical world and in the cloud as well. To satisfy the physical requirement, we posit a national series of membership-based collaborative workspaces, operated by knowledgeable Festool employees, that allow users to come together to experience the Festool advantage, test-drive new products before purchase, and complete woodworking and small construction projects in a semi-pro25
fessional setting. These Festool Experience Labs would allow users access not only to a physical space and the tools themselves, but to an entire network of collaborators, spanning professional and experts to hobbyists alike. This kind of partial or membership system represents an opportunity for off-beat accessibility, allowing users a new and dynamic way to interact and experience products rather than simply through a one-time purchase. The network itself, an expansion and evolution of the existing Owners Group Forum, would become its own social network, facilitating commerce and interconnection, and creating a transformative brand loyalty and knowledge. FESTOOL PLUS, the online manifestation of this collaborative consumption trend, functions as a trust aggregator, compiling and weighing the cumulative opinions and knowledge of a vast pool of interested parties. Mechanisms would be in place to encourage contribution to the online community, and Festool could incentivize participation by allowing users to create multi-dimensional identities within the community. Individuals that participate often, and contribute valuable information to the whole (as rated by other users) might increase their social networth, their interconnectedness and knowledge making them a valuable part of the Festool community. 26
membership over ownership
no maintenance / no stoarge helping others with projects
only company that offers this service
investerrupting
gratifying participation
promotes exchange of knowlege and know-how
recommending experts/tools/methods
sale of second hand tools through network
trusting recommendations
surplus exchange platform
aggregated trust assessment
instant access to valuable feedback/advice
encourages social networth gain
“instant” access to a wide range of tools
identifies “experts”
on-demand ownership
social networth
generates brand loyalty and potential investors
people with similar interests sharing a space
contract work arranged through network
continuous sharing of ideas & knowledge
social network monetization
collaborative lifestyle access to festool’s full range of tools
tool-sharing makes for less waste
access to a conducive community
promotes a diy lifestyle
ministering sustainability
offbeat accessability
27
conceptualizing opportunity:
LinkedIn was officially launched on May 5, 2003. Since then the company has expanded exponentially serving over 310 million members in over 200 countries. In addition LinkedIn is offered in 23 different languages and 67 percent of LinkedIn users live outside of the United States. At a basic level LinkedIn exists to connect employers with employees and to connect job-seekers with a wider web of potential employers. Though recent years have seen the emergence of many professional social networks that aim to connect employees and employers based on skills, suitability and connections. In North America at least, LinkedIn is the prevailing leader in top-of-mind status. Whereas this network provides various opportunities to establish trust and accountability, and connect employers and prospective employees, it still deals with a very surface-level conception of interconnectedness. Within the current paradigm, connections are compiled and quantified, but provide only one level of assessing a person’s worth within the network. It is not simply the number of 28
conceptualizing opportunity:
cont’
connections that has value, but the depth, breadth and quality of these connections. An individual’s social networth gives a better view of how an individual interacts with a community in general. By analyzing the way in which a person contributes to a larger community in myriad ways, employers can glean more information about potential hires and ultimately find people that mesh with their corporate vision. What we envision is a deepening of the LinkedIn community to take into account a wider range of human experiences and interactions. We envision a profile that digs deep into an individuals web and real-life experiences; seminars, conferences, professional development, volunteer experiences, travel, learning and organizational styles and skills could all be compiled into a living online identity that allows employers to better identify those that could help their business. Integration and publication of conference attendance helps legitimize the company hosting the conference in addition to adding value to their social networth. Whereas Facebook and other social networks have strayed from providing pure 30
interconnection between users to being a giant consumer data collection network, LinkedIn still can serve a valuable role connecting people with the kind of empowering career they are seeking. In embracing collaborative consumption trends, LinkedIn should look to expand their identification, tracking and inter-connective abilities. By creating a comprehensive online fingerprint, one that reflects a person’s whole range of abilities and experiences, LinkedIn can transform into a company that can place people not only into fulfilling careers, but also into fulfilling opportunities and experiences, from the educational through opportunities for professional development. The holistic and whole view of individuals within a complex community can be achieved within the raw data matrix of online social networks. The LinkedIn of the future can be driven by the philosophy of “Everybody fits somewhere�. The community and online sharing can thus be a transformative power, able to be monetized, capitalized upon and provide a highly desirable service to not only employees and employers, but to modern global citizens navigating the new inter-connected landscape.
31
absorbtion of job-finding services
the job you want finds you
only company that offers this service
personal qualities and social networth are valued
investerrupting
gratifying participation
surplus of businesses looking for people
trusting endorsements, comments, and claims
surplus of people looking for jobs
comprehensive trust in the network
surplus exchange platform
aggregated trust assessment
instant access to qualified professionals
connections, endorsements, and comments show worth
instant access to potential work opportunites
profile communicates your true professoinal attributes
on-demand ownership
social networth
profiles express users’ true professional value finding people from whom you can benefit efficient people translate into efficient businesses
continuous sharing of interests and knowledge
social network monetization
collaborative lifestyle access to an immense pool of professionals and their detailed profiles acces to an extensive range of assorted work opportunites
promotes social sustainability
ministering sustainability
offbeat accessability
32
part 3: designing benefits
designing
benefits: overview
LinkedInspiration: As a company, LinkedIn already espouses the spirit of collaborative consumption in several tangible ways. Since its inception, LinkedIn has seen substantial growth and has virtually cornered the market segment for professional social networking, acquiring smaller subsidiaries along their path to provide effective tools to both employees and employers. Connections in the LinkedIn network have become a de facto currency for professional growth, development and corporate culture. LinkedIn looks like a social network that leverages interconnectivity and social net worth, but it can be so much more. For the formulaic process of connecting prospective employees with job opportunities, LinkedIn excels, but it is missing the humanity of an organic social network. As the world becomes more tightly linked, it is not only the quantity of connections that determine value, but the quality, depth and scope of these connections. Seeing value in LinkedIn as it grows and evolves involves reconceptualizing the company’s potential to become a bigger player as not only a job-connector but as a comprehensive passport to jobs, experiences and 34
opportunities. By re-positioning itself at the center of an opportunity network, LinkedIn can appeal to a wider range of individuals and corporations as the de facto “place� where valuable connections occur.
What if your life was your resume? LinkedIn-Depth: Like stamps in your passport, battle scars from a life hard-fought, an individual is more than a resume of educational and job experience, peppered with meaningless buzzwords. As the job market changes at a rapid pace, employers are no longer looking for a static list of skills and qualifications, but rather adaptive, interested agents of change that transcend traditional categories of description.
The current CV culture, expounded by the more traditional elements of Linked In’s operations, accurately measures employment experiences, education and training and adequately tracks professional development. The resume of the future, however, is a living documents that tracks all the previously intangible and unquantifiable aspects of a vibrant human existence that create valuable, employable people. While work and education will continue to be important factors in connecting employees with opportunities, deepening the way the resume defines and understands employees will allow people to optimize their search and companies to find the optimal employees with the right set of skills and experiences to make them valuable not just on paper, but in the rapidly changing new economy. LinkedIn 2.0 would seek to track the vast experiences that not only make individuals unique, but also employable.
What if your resume
grew up with you? LinkedInteraction: Job applicants spend painstaking hours compiling what they deem
to be important aspects of their work and life experience, in a vacuum, hoping that they can stand out from the crowd. 36
LinkedIn 2.0 integrates automated resume-creation with the modern digital world. Life experiences, travels, conferences, mentorships, accomplishments are all, at their core, signposts in a vast network that expands with every new opportunity. As LinkedIn grows, it can be not only a record of one’s life, but allows a roadmap for future growth and development. Through web and app-based integration, skill and experience building becomes an ongoing exercise, undertaken not only when seeking employment, but continually. The creation of a useful resume can be transformed from an onerous activity, aimed at an outside observer, to a responsive daily activity that benefits self-reflection as well as outside scrutiny.
37
What if your career could choose you? LinkedIntuition: Companies spend considerable time and effort trying to attract optimal candidates for jobs, but this generally consists of posting jobs and hoping that candidates with the right set of skills connect with them. This depends as much on chance as it does on the quality of the job posting. What if careers could actively connect with candidates that have the right skills and target these candidates directly? By linking to a constantly updating network of potential employees with constantly improving skills, companies might have more success at attracting employees that can help them grow their business. The knowledge that this new social network paradigm is driven on a more holistic understanding of the employee as person will drive more people towards the LinkedIn network. Actors in the new economy are looking for value in the infrastructure of their social networks, and LinkedIn can connect people with these valuable opportunities, providing selfgrowth, advancement and gratification along the way.
38
What if your employer
really knew you? LinkedInventory: By tracking more than just the traditional metrics of what makes someone employable, employers can achieve greater insight into the combined strengths and weaknesses of their existing and potential workforce. By looking at these more humanist metrics, validated by a community generated validation system, companies can also better understand themselves. In a data-centric economy, previously unquantifiable parameters are not only measured, but are used to drive business growth and development. Human behaviours and experiences that were once merely valued as ancillary benefits, will be the new currency for businesses to set themselves apart. By understanding their own employees and the workforce in more humanist terms, companies can distinguish themselves and position themselves for future success.
designing
benefits:
Automatic Resume Creation
In order to leverage users’ increased connectivity, our conception of LinkedIN includes the added functionality of Automatic Resume Creation. The Curriculum Vitae is, by definition meant to be an ongoing account of one’s life, not simply a formulaic account of job experiences, competencies and characteristics. By removing the onerous barriers to resume creation, automating the process by which it is created, and creating an evolving document inobtrusively, LinkedIn users can concentrate on their actual lives, skills and growth.
The New LinkedIn Asks Better Questions: Every time you log on, you make your profile better, more complete. At each log in to LinkedIn, the system would prompt you for information about your life. This might involve your hobbies, previous jobs, inspirations, aspirations etc.. LinkedIn learns about you with each and every question and by breaking up the process into unobtrusive steps, the process disappears into the background of the LinkedIN experience. Rather than relying on memory and a scattered view of life experiences, the intelligent 40
tered view of life experiences, the intelligent algorithms that collect information for resume-creation seek to create a full, nuanced and personalized view of what makes an individual unique and employable. Better questions yield better responses and reveal both hidden strengths and experiences and also areas for improvement. As a de facto opportunity network, every question opens to door to access new opportunities for growth and development. LinkedIn, through your activity in the network, your searches, and interests, can learn what kind of opportunities you are looking for, be they employment or personal development. By asking questions that respond to social network activity and ones true interests, resume-generation can lead towards a living document that better represents an individual. Better questions reveal opportunities for growth. If a LinkedIn user has, for example, been looking for jobs in the IT sector and many of these jobs require specific programming languages, LinkedIN will provide questions that are based on real job requirements. If the candidate reveals, through their answers, that they lack a certain proficiency, LinkedIn can suggest opportunities for growth.
41
Better questions, at regular intervals, can inspire growth and open new realms of possibilities. The data collected in the resume creation process is constantly indexed to job and opportunity markets, looking to make connections happen.
The new LinkedIN resume is Ongoing and Automatic: Beyond simply asking better questions, the new process of resume-creation is ongoing and automatic. Through mobile-based apps and updated web access, all manner of experiences can find their way into ones LinkedIn identity. Attend a conference on Net Neutrality? Participate in a workshop on Conflict Mediation? Participate in a panel discussion on Electoral Reform? The new LinkedIn identifies experiences and categorizes them, making them a part of the ever-evolving online identity. As buy-in in LinkedIn increases, more and more professional, social and cultural experiences will be able to be tracked. The resume becomes not only a record of static moments in time, but a barometer for social and professional involvement. In the ever-changing global job market, employers are not merely looking for quantity of experiences, but for individuals that engage in growth as a part of their daily life. One’s 42
resume can show the quality, breadth and scope of an individual’s activities, and also how active and involved they are in the world around them. In its current incarnation, one overly scrutinizes the type of information that makes it onto the resume, and this one-dimensional process results in a flat view of an individual By making information gathering easy and automatic, people can track all the experiences that drive and inspire them, not only those choice experiences that might impress a potential employer. An individual’s ongoing experiences are seamlessly integrated into their resume. Employers can only include so many skills and competencies in their job postings, so a multi-dimensional view of an individual might reveal connections and competencies that can be lost in the busy job market.
OPPORTUNITY
43
designing
benefits:
Human Metrics & the Holistic Profile As an opportunity network, capable of connecting millions of individuals to jobs, growth and development, LinkedIN has to evolve. This evolution involves looking at more than education and competencies, it involves looking at a more holistic view of individuals. LinkedIn gives users avenues to demonstrate their unique identity by expanding 5 key areas.
self-expression
ongoing learning
Opportunity
life experiences
Resides In
Understanding
One Another
personality metrics
social networth
45
Self-Expression: Perhaps the most overused buzzword to pervade modern resumes and job postings is creativity. Creativity is not a blanket statement. Creativity is not a word on a resume. Creativity exists in the real world. LinkedIn can provide the tools to demonstrate creative value by increasing opportunities for self-expression.
Bulletin Board / Online Portfolio Though LinkedIn already successfully employs the concept of the homepage (akin to Facebook), this is a sub-par landing site for people who would like to get to know you better on LinkedIn. Integrating a multi-media bulletin board would allow users to highlight web content, experiences, photographs, connections, opportunities. Like community-centric online portfolio sites, this ability to insert and update content inserts another facet to each individual profile, allowing, in at least one way, an opportunity to express creativity and show individuality. The curation and selection of this content, combined with the ability to integrate mixed media offerings increases the value of each LinkedIn profile and provides valuable fodder to create an ever-increasing network of connections and opportunities.
46
47
Video Introductions In addition to the addition of the bulletin board feature to showcase interests and creativity, LinkedIN will offer the ability to create small introductory videos. Beyond just words and qualifications on the page, a video is another avenue to demonstrate creativity, communication skills and create another opportunity for engagement. These videos, integrated into the homepage, contribute to creating a real and holistic view of the individual, yet another way to demonstrate value, employability and skills.
Life Experiences LinkedIn is your digital passport to experiences. It is also a proxy passport to your physical travels. Modern employers are looking for adaptable employees with not only work experiences, but a wide and varied set of life experiences as well. LinkedIn can and should track travel experiences, volunteer experiences and other significant life events. The addition of each event provides another level where connections can be made. Effectively showing the various paths and events that 48
that have defined a life, both visually in terms of interactive maps and infographics, can demonstrate skills and characteristics that might be lost in traditional resume system.
PASS
SOCIAL NETWORTH As identified as one of the major trends driving society’s tendency towards collaborative consumption, the role that an individual plays in social networks and their participation in online life is of increasing value. LinkedIn can leverage the transformative power of this new-found connectivity by highlighting its value. Online participation, with social media, in various social networks and through the sharing economy, is a valuable metric that demonstrates not only value, but highlights the many layers of connection and influence that being a connected modern technology user entails. LinkedIn can highlight use of, and participation in a valuable online social existence in many ways.
49
Integrated Personality Metrics Employers are not just looking for skills, they are looking for highly adaptable workers that will enable them to grow their business. Beyond competencies, many sectors are looking to ramp up the way they integrate collaboration into their business practices, seeking to create effective teams to tackle the intricacies of modern commerce and business. There exist already personality-type tests, like the Basadur Creative Problem Solving Profile, that allow individuals to learn, measure and experience their own unique style of creativity (8). Determining the way that individuals engage with the creative process allows companies to better evaluate employees as team members. LinkedIn can integrate the elements that make up these into their offering, asking
implementer
generator
optimizer
conceptualizer
50
better questions along the way to help create a deeper view of the each potential hire. For LinkedIn users, having access to profile services like this offers a valuable method of self-reflection, once more increasing opportunities for growth, giving additional insight and helping to pinpoint areas of strength and weakness. (8) http://www.basadur.com/howwedoit/thebasadurprofile/tabid/83/default.aspx
Ongoing Learning. All educational experiences, formal or otherwise, contribute to an individual’s identity and value. The persistent impetus towards growth and self-improvement can help someone stand out from a group of potential employees and can show the multiple competencies that might have been overlooked on a traditional resume. Informal and ongoing educational experiences offer valuable insight into what an individual is interested in and how invested they are in their own personal development. It is no longer enough to simply list the educational institutions that one has attended, modern employers demand continuous and tangible self-improvement. Placing ongoing education prominently allows LinkedIn to create another layer that can foster connections and allow their profiles to better reflect the holistic growth and development. 51
designing
benefits: Connections
Interconnections, on whatever level they occur, are what makes LinkedIN an increasingly viable network, not just for those in the search for employment or employees, but to millions of other users not in the job market, but still hungry to connect to a rich, fulfilling opportunity network. As collaborative consumption trends continue to evolve, an individual’s interconnectivity and participation in social networks becomes a valuable asset. The magnetism of the community, and increased buy-in means that LinkedIn is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this need to interconnect, for growth, for self-improvement, for altruism, and from the basic human need to be a part of a community.
Finding More than just A Job As it stands, job-finding is the raison d’etre for LinkedIn, and it excels in creating a network of people, allowing companies and individuals to connect for jobs and other employment opportunities. As LinkedIN’s ability to create a more multi-dimensional view of it’s many millions of users, the network becomes more than just a way to connect jobs.
52
Scouring the many layers of LinkedIn will allow companies to know more about their own employees, information that can be used for restructuring, creating efficiencies and making powerful teams to drive growth and innovation. Small companies, start-ups, idea-driven people and beyond can connect with mentors, collaborators, investors, sages and wisdom, identified by LinkedIn’s many layers of identity and connections. Charities can find both volunteers and those with the skills to help them succeed. Conferences can attract participants and increase attendance.
In creating more avenues for valuable connections, these connects can serve to bring users closer to an ever-increasing network of opportunities. 53
Jobs Finding You (Notification Center) In creating valuable connections and avenues for employees and employers to connect, the increased value of a connected and holistic profile can pay dividends even for those not actively searching for work. Because your profile would now more accurately represent the totality of your skills and competencies, and LinkedIn better understands who you are and what you are looking for, the opportunity network can connect you with employment or experience postings that you might not otherwise be looking for. Daily notifications of interesting and pertinent jobs provide a barometer of the opportunities exist, providing daily inspiration, helping realign aspirations and allowing access to untold possibilities.
54
Bulletin Boards: Following Inspiration and Experience By allowing users to post on their bulletin boards and express their creativity and individuality in ways that the traditional LinkedIN did not, the new LinkedIn provides incentives to explore, follow and share with others. Fellow profiles transform from competitors in a frenetic job market, to sources of inspiration.
? Following each other demonstrates trust and participation in the process and is a powerful tool in giving users a sense of space and belonging in a giant social network. Users can follow those that provide interesting content, those whose career paths they find inspiring, individuals with deep and meaningful experiences.
55
PLAY & Personal Connections The emergence of ubiquitous social networks has created multiple layers of friendship, often tenuous connections that serve more as status symbols rather than a marker of true kinship. LinkedIn can connect you with those that can help you grow. Beyond simply the employment possibilities of the social network, in order to increase buy-in from the general public, LinkedIn has to be seen as the place to connect on various levels. The powerful insight and connections that a smart and responsive LinkedIn creates can connect like-minded individuals the world over. Connections transcend geography. A deeper view of an individual and a high-resolution amalgam of their experiences allows people to find people.
56
designing
benefits: Summary
What does the new LinkedIn do better? - Tracks Human Metrics and validates experiences by community-sourced conrmation. - Makes tracking experiences easy and intuitive. - Highlights the value of inter-connections creating valuable primary, secondary and tertiary networks of shared skills and experiences. - Makes the LinkedIn network more useful to all stakeholders; a living, reactive network that connects people with various opportunities for advancement, employment and gratication.
57
What is LinkedIn’s new brand direction? - LinkedIn is the primary source for personal and professional growth and development, eectively tracking all metrics for determining employability. - LinkedIn is an organic, evolving network that measures social networth and connects individuals and corporations to opportunities. - LinkedIn is an opportunity network. - LinkedIn is a tool for success in the modern world.