Product Development in the Post-Twitter Era

Tom Shoemaker from PTC‘s product marketing division might have inadvertently conjured up the past (the Swinging Sixties) when he referenced The Kinks’ “I Need You” (released March 1965) in his blog post “A Day in the Future of Product Development.” But he was envisioning how engineering collaboration might look in the not-so-distant future, in the post-Twitter era where social media is no longer a novelty but a part of life. Here’s the scenario Shoemaker imagines:

Bob’s phone rang to the tune of The Kinks’ classic B-side “I Need You.” It was an alert message sent by his prototype drilling rig currently undergoing field testing. Environmental conditions at the test site were compromising its performance, and the onboard communications system was letting Bob know of the problem. Bob remotely ... downloaded a full set of diagnostics ... [He discovered] a damaged casing was exposing the equipment’s sensitive internals to the elements.

Bob used his product development system ... and was able to visually navigate through a network of information which mapped specific iterations of CAD files with all past and present team members that worked on them ... He saw that Fred, a long-time colleague and team member on other projects, was a close connection to Ned, the original design engineer ... Bob initiated an instant message chat with Fred, who made the introductions to Ned. After a video-based design session and with guidance from Ned, Bob had the design guidance he needed. He revised the CAD files and had manufacturing run updated tool paths in the CAM system ...

I propose we take a look at how Bob might solve the same problem using the social networking tools available to him today, because that might yield clues to how the next generation will tackle their design problems. For the purpose of this exercise, let’s assume Bob works for a company that’s willing to tolerate social media in its daily routines.

Most likely, Bob will discover that his test unit in the field is having problem from a colleague who’s assigned to monitor it. The alert, the error code, and the diagnostic information will probably arrive via email, perhaps with a URL directing him to a closeup photo of the damaged rig (hosted on Flickr).

As a member of the Facebook group called “Oil Rig Experts United,” he might turn to the group’s communal wall and write, “My prototype rig is having hiccups. The error code and the diagnostics suggest ... Has anyone ever had a problem like this?” Bob might even repost the Flickr photo on the group’s wall (with privacy settings restricted to members only).

Bob might also log into his Linked In account and do a few keyword searches to identify people who’s worked on similar rigs. In one of those searches, he’ll probably discover that his former colleague Fred and a stranger called Ned are both knowledgeable about the type of rigs he’s working on. Assume, for the moment, that Fred and Ned have both set their profiles to be visible to all Linked In members. A glance at Ned’s previous jobs reveals to Bob that Ned was, in fact, the lead designer in the project he’s inherited. It would also reveal to Bob that Fred and Ned had worked on the same project.

By the way, both Fed and Ned might also belong to the same Facebook group Bob belongs to, so they could have discovered one another there.

At any rate, Bob could ask Fred to introduce him to Ned. Or he could also reach out to Ned directly (which is a perfectly acceptable practice in Linked In or Facebook). Time permitting, Bob could suggest a three-way WebEx meeting with himself, Fred, and Ned. (If Bob is like me, he’ll opt to have his Web cam off during the meeting, because he doesn’t want Fred and Ned to see his messy apartment.)

From this point on, Bob, Fred, and Ned could troubleshoot the rig and come up with a better design.

One problem I foresee with this approach: Bob’s boss might not be comfortable with the idea of Bob exposing the prototype rig’s design on Facebook. (People working for rival companies are bound to be members of the same Facebook group.)

What do you think? If you were Bob, how would you find your collaborators using the social networking tools at your disposal? What problems do you foresee?

To read more of Tom Shoemaker’s posts, visit PTC’s Social Product Development blog.

To better understand why I use social media, watch the video clip below.