Where are we going - Josh Williams

What follows is a brief history of our bizarre journey from a web + UI boutique to a social networking service.

WHERE ARE

GOING?

@jw * Josh Wiiams We

The Preface

In the BEGINNING

Where did we come "om?

What follows is a brief history of our

bizarre journey from a web + UI boutique

to a social networking service

Iconfactory circa 1999

Firewh#l Design

Inspired by Iconfactory’s Pixelpalooza,

I got into pixel art, drew hundreds of icons,

and met my first two co-workers

• Frustrated with our billing solution,

we wrote our own and decided to

make it fun And useful.

• Thank You Notes were an

unusual selling point that resonated with those who used the service

Blinksale

• 50,000 people came to collect

icons and trade them with friends

• Fewer than 15 percent of those

people actually used the icons for a

design project

IconBuffet

• Originally known as Project Agape,

Causes was envisioned as a standalone site to encourage social giving

• Ultimately Causes was re-imagined

as a Facebook application

• Over $25 million has been raised.

PIVOT PRESENT to the

Where are we now?

• PackRat was created at a scale that

assumed most people would play

one hour a day.

• We quickly learned our core audience

was playing 6-10 hours a day.

PackRat

Then Farmvie Ha$ened

What now?

Viva la iPhone

The iPhone changed everything

The Epiphany

The Totem

How do we inspire people to connect with the real world?

Can we use real world connections to inspire people

to discover and share

amazing places?

Landmarks

F"tba Stadiums

Baseba Stadiums

Airports

Add Go to a Wallaby

In many ways Gowalla was in the right place at the right time We’ve grown

our community from 2,000 to 500,000

in the last 12 months

The hype machine is great, but living in reality is better.

Hype Machine

Beware of placing your trust

in the future web proclaimed by blogs,

investors and so-called “social media gurus.”

A Word of Caution

“We are the music makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams.”

Wiiam Wonka

FADS THE FUTURE vs.

Where are we going?

Checking out

• Checking In is the status update for

the places we go It has succeeded

where other concepts have failed

• Now we’re checking into television,

books, video games, states of

consciousness, and more

• Overload is upon us

Checking in isn’t cool.

You know what’s cool?

Winning an iPad

after you check in

Game Mechanics

• A new wave of services are

repurposing ideas from Farmville and World of Warcraft for practical means

• They provide simple incentives for

completing ordinary tasks

• However, they are subservient to the

usefulness of the service

“Badges? We don’t need

no stinking badges.”

• Nothing new under the sun

• As a reward system, they’ve become

the poster child for the success of

location-based services

• Badges and achievements are driving

activity around the web,

but are they really?

Social validation

is the primary driver for activity on today’s web.

Social Validation

• We share on Facebook in order to

receive comments and likes

• We post to Twitter with the hope of

being re-tweeted, which in turn

boosts our follower count

• We upload to Flickr and look forward

to being favorited

Quora

Gratuitous Hugh Jackman

• Every week a new location-based

service is born seeking to cash in on

some perceived gold rush

• Location in and of itself is boring

People don’t care about the technology.Nor should they

• Context and value matter

• Checking in is a temporary solution to

a more complex problem

• Badges and game mechanics

are not a special sauce

that magically makes everything tasty

• “Geolocation” is not people friendly

“The Future isn't what it used to be.

I'm not surprised, I'm not surprised

Most of us live on boats of luxury

We're so confined We’re so confined.”

The Future

• Mobile: Get off your ass!

• Background Services and

Passive Applications

• Community

• Activism & The Social Good

Get off your a$!

• People have visited places in over

170 countries with Gowalla

• Location is central to the mobile

experience

• Mobile devices give us the ability to

connect with people and the world

around us in new and remarkable ways

TrS-80

TrS-80 of the Future

Rise of the A%s!

• While the future is most certainly

mobile, the App culture is wrinkle in

the fabric of the Mobile Web

• Device makers and carriers around the

world are fragmenting our engineering efforts We have taken a step backward

• Make no mistake, this is about money

“I think many of our problems as a country would be solved if people had thick passports

There's just no substitute for actually going and seeing things.”

Ma& Damon

For mobile services to become truly useful,

they must not interrupt our daily

lives or social interactions.

Pa$ive A%lications

• Flickr and Wikipedia set the example

• 1.9 millions places crowdsourced

on Gowalla (we were naive)

• 700,000 photos taken on the spot

Sydney Opera House

Gratuitous Hugh Jackman

Activism + Causes

• Obama’s Presidential Campaign

• Iran Election on Twitter

• Text Ten Dollars to

Haitian Earthquake Relief

What about social good

on the web?

The Case Against Corporate Responsibility

“The idea that companies have a responsibility

to act in the public interest and will profit

from doing so is fundamentally flawed

Governments are a far more effective protector of the public good than any campaign for corporate social responsibility.”

An#l Karnani, WSJ

And to that we say

With every pair you purchase,

TOMS will give a new pair of shoes

to a child in need

ONE for ONE.

TOMS Shoes

Will your system be alrightWhen you dream of home tonight?

There is no message we're receiving

Let me know, is your heart still beating?

Are we human or are we dancers?

The Kiers

What does this mean

for services like Gowalla?

OOO"""(h!!!

Double Rainbow

• Find the extraordinary in the everyday

• Provide a magical experience when

people check in, share photos, write stories and leave recommendations

• Inspire people to discover and share

the world with their friends

What does this mean

for you and the projects

you’re creating for tomorrow?

• Are you creating products that

provide real value to real people?

(startups for startups = Google Wave)

• Build a community then delight it!

• Connect people with the real world

• Inspire people to do the remarkable

Find me on Twitter @jw

Keynote Illustration by Will Bryant