50 posts
Tim took time out from SxSW to answer questions on Picle, its future developments, walking around in underwear and other things to look forward to.
One of my favourite talks of SXSW this year was ‘Rebuilding LEGO’ by Prof. David Robertson of The Wharton School, Pennsylvania where he teaches innovation and product development. The talk was a cautionary tale of how dangerous innovation can be if it isn’t managed.
FLICKR CREDIT - kalexanderson
So, back from another SXSW :(
It's great to be back in a country where the butter doesn't contain sugar by default, where fizzy drinks don't come in buckets and where you can buy meat in units of less than one pound. But... I will miss adding cheese and chipotle oak-smoked maple-flakes and sugar-coated tequila-bacon dust to my deep-fried food. If we hadn't got out when we did I would not have fitted through the doorway of the plane.
It was another awesome trip for Made by Many for many reasons - not least because of the way people embraced Picle, the iPhone app we launched.
We promised to make Picle an open experiment in Lean product innovation. To that end, we approached SXSW as a giant customer development exercise. This blog post is about how we prioritised the feature-set that we launched with, and how we might grow and evolve from that Minimum Viable Product.
Bruce Sterling's closing keynote at SXSW was typically fiery and inspirational. But whereas last year's felt like a war cry, this year there was a strain of hope in his words.
And he summed it up this way:
Be passionate about what you do, because now is a pretty awesome time.
After a week of BBQs, speeches, panels, margaritas, putting names to faces and more BBQs I’ve landed back at Made by Many HQ and I want to share some of the Picle love.
Alex Harding is an Interaction Designer at Made by Many and the inventor of Picle. This is the story of Picle in Alex's own words - a story already blogged on this website, but told through a beautiful video that Alex and Paul Wyatt made last week.
I’m counting down the hours until thirteen of the many (including myself) head out to Austin for SXSW. Just as the tradition of us sending a swarm over to Texas is well established, so is the idea of South By ‘taking over’ our homepage for the duration. So, here’s a sneak peek at this year’s page (and a reminder of what’s come before).
Last week we announced the forthcoming release of an iPhone app for SXSW called ‘Picle’. The reception was overwhelming, and we’re really excited to announce that Picle is now available in the app store.
But, hold on... before you run off and start Picling there is something we must remind you of...
SXSW has been an important event in the Made by Many calendar over the past few years.
We take as many people as possible and we always have a great time - we learn, we swarm, we go to lots of parties and we live together for a week in some big houses in Travis Heights. We also get to spend some quality time with our clients, do some new biz and hang out with lots of people we'd only otherwise know through Twitter and Instagram.
For the past few years, we've tried to launch something new for SXSW: a homepage takeover and/or a new app. Last year we launched Hollergram for the iPad - an app designed specifically for SX that turns your iPad into a glowing sign, and that simultaneously tweets your wittiest bon mots into the stream. Gosh, how we all laughed!
This year we are beyond super-excited to announce the birth of Picle. Our most ambitious Made by Many product yet - an iPhone app that uses photos and sound to give users storytelling super-powers.
Here's a little preview...
I'm not going to beat around the bush pretending that I'm just telling you about some talks.
Nope.
Honestly, I'd really like it if lots of people voted for these two panels that I'm hoping to be part of March at SXSW Interactive 2012. They're both really fascinating and relevant topics and both should appeal to a broad spectrum of people who are interested in making more successful and engaging digital products, services and experiences.
Do read on...
