interested in innovation and creativity

Cool 2.0 Ideas Executed With 1.0 Mindset

Posted: February 12th, 2007 | Author: | Filed under: Marketing | 2 Comments »

Nike has done some very exciting things with its Nike + campaign. If you’re not familiar basically Nike has created a little device (an accelerometer you put in your shoe) for the iPod nano that reports back how far you have run, your pace etc. You can then upload all that data to the nike site and it creates goals for you, and tracks your progress. They have done a good job of developing a sort of co-creative atmosphere, but it’s done in a very polished, monolithic way that does not give the community many creative options. Surely the real power here could be unleashed with a couple of api’s an easy ways for people grab the data and use it in other ways.

The other thing that drives me nuts is the desire to try and fit this all in a specific screen size, yes it’s all in flash, and no it doesn’t scale. Here’s a screenshot of the cool tool where people can share their routes (by manually plotting it out on a google map thing):

Nike Running map

And here’s that cool tool in the context of the actual screen real estate I have on my lap top:

Nike Running map Full Size

Great idea? Absolutely. Award winning design? Of Course. Did it test well in front of focus groups? Indupidably. Is it a pain in the ass when you start to try and use it? You bet.

  • http://strategyst.com/wordpress/2007/02/14/development-of-open-product-platforms/ the strategyst » Blog Archive » Development of “Open” Product Platforms

    [...] On Monday, Karl Long over at Experience Curve talked about “2.0 Ideas Executed with a 1.0 Mindset“. As an example, he cited the new Nike/Apple appliance that converts your iPod into an accelerometer. In a nutshell, he thought that the ‘black-boxing’ of the application was a lost opportunity for both companies. Rather than producing a “polished, monolithic” product, “real power could be unleashed with a couple of API’s … to use [the data] in other ways”. With this particular example, there is a fine line between providing an open application and addressing security/privacy concerns (recall the University of Washington student that hacked the device, igniting stalker fears). However, clearly (and sensibly) Apple developed the iPod in such a way that it could easily extend its capabilities and functionality — at this point, they’ve regrettably chosen not to make the platform “open” to external developers. [...]

  • http://chrismoritz.wordpress.com/2007/02/16/link-round-up-21607/ Link round-up (2/16/07) « The Field of Action

    [...] Cool 2.0 Ideas Executed With 1.0 Mindset “Great idea? Absolutely. Award winning design? Of Course. Did it test well in front of focus groups? Indupidably. Is it a pain in the ass when you start to try and use it? You bet.” [...]