Learn how to build an open, scalable system to leverage the wisdom of the crowd to build products that are better than closed competitors. Previously presented at Highway1.

1. community engineering:
the economy of participation
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/madelynnmartiniere Twitter: @mmartiniere Email: madelynn@fictiv.com

2. why engineer community?
● Scalable system to create engagement vs.
promotional marketing
● Building ecosystem is a defensible advantage
● Leverage the wisdom of the crowd to build
products that are better than closed
competitors
“Our communities
exist because our
products are hard to
use.”
Chris Anderson, Makers: The
New Industrial Revolution

3. 4 elements to community
IDENTITY
Establish the who in your community
● What are they passionate about?
● What groups do they affiliate with?
● Who are the people they look up to, and why?
● What content do they read, when, and on what platform?
● What events do they attend, when, and it what format?
● What participation tools do they use?
● What do they want to learn?

4. 4 elements to community
PURPOSE
Establish the why for your community
● Answer the question - what is the long term vision of the community?
● What is the eventual outcome we can strive for, together?
● What problem is the community solving?

5. 4 elements to community
TOOLS
Establish how the community connects to help accomplish the aforementioned mission
● How can the community gain the necessary knowledge?
● How can they connect with others in the network?
● How can they gain support and guidance if needed?

6. 4 elements to community
INCENTIVES
Establish the what for your community
● How are community members rewarded for participation?
● How do they achieve the next level of participation?
● How do you attract sustained involvement?

7. rules of engagement
1. Tell your story.
2. Embrace transparency and openness
3. Create an architecture of participation
4. Empower catalysts
5. Measure, monitor, and adapt

8. “If you want to build a ship,
don’t drum up people to
collect wood, and dont’s
assign them tasks and
work, but rather teach them
to long for the endless
immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Expury

9. tell your story
● Make your vision and mission digestible and actionable
● Show a vision for the future to inspire imagination, create intrigue, and suspend disbelief.
embrace transparency
● Decide at the onset what can and should be open
● Communicate what is/is not open clearly, early, and often.

10. create an architecture of participation
1
Tim O’Reilly, “The Architecture of Participation” http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/articles/architecture_of_participation.html
Develop a roadmap for potential community members to get involved
Build a cumulation of knowledge, not objects
Always seek to solve problems, not create them

11. create an architecture of participation
● Make a roadmap for potential community members
to get involved
● Build a cumulation of knowledge, not objects
● Always seek to solve problems, not create them
1
Tim O’Reilly, “The Architecture of Participation” http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/articles/architecture_of_participation.html
Discover
EngageParticipate

12. stages of community
DISCOVER
● Developing knowledge
● Introduction to your community, a call to action
● Lowest level of permission required, users can
passively observe and assess the values of
engaging in a deeper, more meaningful way.
Discover
EngageParticipate

13. stages of community
ENGAGE
● Building trust
● Requires some level of collaboration, though there
are no strings attached.
● Introduction of a two-way dialogue.
Discover
EngageParticipate

14. stages of community
PARTICIPATE
● Providing ownership
● Requires the most permission and collaboration
out of any other levels
● Users at this stage have the maximum amount of
impact.
Discover
EngageParticipate

15. stages of community
PARTICIPATE
● Providing ownership
● Requires the most permission and collaboration
out of any other levels
● Users at this stage have the maximum amount of
impact.
Discover
EngageParticipate
BEWARE!
● The highest value community members are also
the most volatile.
● You can’t take away control that you’ve already
given without repercussions.

16. channels
CONTENT
● Requires the least amount of permission
● Potential to reach the largest audience
● Objective of content is to build out a knowledge base that builds community confidence to engage
further

17. channels
EVENTS
● Events should be grouped around initiatives - always around solving a certain problem in the
community
● The longer the event, the more permission needed
● The more the event costs, the more permission needed

18. channels
PLATFORM
● Allow individuals to participate in the building and improving of the product
● The more permission granted, the less control you have, and the increased likelihood of variability

19. channels
PARTNERSHIPS
● Partnerships create credibility in shared mission
● Can be an individual influencer, or an organization
● Build out an ecosystem of catalysts to drive community adoption

20. empower catalysts
● Catalysts are people or organizations that are community facilitators, avid cheerleaders, and
extreme connectors
● Can be an individual influencer, or an organization
● Build out an ecosystem of catalysts to drive community adoption
3 ROLES OF A CATALYST:
● Build trust
● Inspire action
● Provide education

21. measure, monitor, adapt
● Community is not an exact science
● Be experiment driven
● Find your hooks to extract meaningful data:
a. Statistics and automated data
b. Surveys and structured feedback
c. Observational tests

22. LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/madelynnmartiniere Twitter: @mmartiniere Email: madelynn@fictiv.com