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Some suggestions, ideas and possibilities for the Global Ideas Bank |
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Score
88%
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12 votes,
Feasibility
87%
Originality
81%
Humour
30% |
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The Problem:
Some ideas here are responses to problems, some are ideas generated without any specific problem in mind.
The Social Invention:
Here are some ideas for the GIB that are the product of a ‘GIB brainstorm’. I hope these ideas have value but I also hope they will serve as a springboard for more ideas.
1 GIB could remember registered contributors (probably by a cookie arrangement?) so that when they visit the site they are automatically given a ‘logged on’ status. (This facility is available on many online communities.)
2 Each idea could display date information. Eg: Date idea submitted, date added to the bank, date idea became a seed or plant etc.
3 Comments on ideas could be directed/focussed to make them more specific.
(Through my experience in market research I have found that people are not likely to offer much information if questions are too general, but if their attention is directed by the use of specific questions they are more likely to offer specific answers and information.)
Examples of ways in which comments could be directed:
-De Bono’s PMI : plus minus interesting comments.
-Six thinking hats.
-‘Yes and…’ and ‘ Yes but…’ comments.
-Swot analysis: Strengths , Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
-Suggested contacts: for a list of people who could be contacted with a view actualising ideas.
-Alternative uses or applications.
-How the idea could develop over time: within five years, ten years etc.
Each idea could have a second screen that opens up to display and gather the above information.
Normal, general, comments could be made in the usual way.
4 A focus on one idea per month: one idea would be the focus of a monthly brainstorm and comments collected using the above pointers.
5 Single paragraph summaries of each idea: this would allow visitors to achieve a quick overview of ideas and, in the case where a submission is lengthy, decide which ideas are worth further reading.
6 A page with A to Z of all GIB ideas could be created with a single paragraph summary of each idea (as discussed above). The full details of each idea would be available by clicking a link.
7 Flag entry to the site: as visitors enter the site they could indicate their nationality by clicking on flags. Then the ideas on display would be prioritised so that the ideas relevant to their country are displayed at the top. At registration users can state if they wish to see the nationality-specific listing as a default.
(I have visited many ideas sites on the web, and I have noticed that the country of origin of websites is quickly apparent and unfortunately they are often US-centric, UK-centric etc. The above suggestion could ensure this pitfall is avoided.)
This information could also be used to compile statistics about origins of ideas and nationality of visitors.
9 A subject for new ideas could be given as a monthly brainstorm focus and a target number could be set. Eg: 100 ideas for the Olympics, 100 ideas for communities etc.
10 A ‘Problem of the month’: all visitors would be able to contribute thoughts and ideas.
11 Report a social invention: contributors would be encouraged to submit ideas and inventions they have seen in the media or in daily life etc.
12 A “Winner’s Blog” area where winners of the awards are invited to do periodic summaries of their idea’s progress.
13 A yearly award for young contributors.(Under 18?)
14 Statistics and information: a page showing information. Such as: idea with most votes, longest idea, shortest idea, countries of origin, submissions by age etc.
15 A page showing the most recent activity on GIB: this would show the most recently added comments and ratings. This would allow visitors to pinpoint current and most recent areas of activity.
16 For Brainstorm days: a ‘latest score’ showing number of ideas received so far.
17 A Forum for thought experiments and ideas at the germinal stage.
18 A photographic area displaying links or displaying photographs of successful ideas (such as Mahabir Pun’s wireless networking).
19 ‘My vision’ area: a collection of people’s personal visions - how they see society developing, what they would like to see. Anyone could contribute as well as the GIB’s well-known supporters such as Charles Handy, Anita Roddick etc. A yearly entry could be made showing a compilation of people’s thoughts.
20 A forum with thought-provoking questions: AKA a ‘mental playground’ for contributors. Questions could include: What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? What sort of world do you want in 10/20/50 years time? What is your choice for the fourth ‘R’ (subjects you’d like introduced to schools). What is your favourite idea on the GIB and why? How do you think specific ideas will develop over the next century (or millennium, even)?
21 Email alerts when an idea receives a new rating/ new comment.
22 A means for anyone to leave a comment without the need to register
(Maybe these anon comments could ‘die’ after a month?)
23 A yearly prize could be introduced with the winner chosen by a contributors’ vote – they could select their favourite idea from the last twelve months or choose a winner from among the nominations.
24 Each published idea could have an “update this idea” submission box. (The contributor may want to add new thoughts or change the idea’s format.)
25 A charities area: this would give a comprehensive list of charities with information about their work and the kind of ideas that could be useful to them.
One could be chosen each month for a Brainstorm. The ideas that result from this brainstorm could be submitted to the charity.
26 Users could choose ‘related items’ themselves when they submit an idea. This would also offer a chance to show influences (as recently suggested on the GIB)
http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=4734
27 An area for contributors to list their influences: such as inspiring and useful books, inspiring people, favourite creativity and social inventions websites.
28 BIU (Bold, Italic, Underline) options could be available when posting new ideas and comments.
29 An ‘Email to report errors’ box on displayed ideas thus giving a quick and formal way to report errors (particularly spelling errors).
30 An official contact procedure could be developed so that contributors can contact possible idea developers on behalf of the GIB and in its name. Formal approaches in the GIB’s name would give approaches extra gravitas.
31 ‘Open seeds’: a collaborative project where all contributors are invited to turn a selected idea from a seed into a plant. Starting with a brainstorm (perhaps on a forum) and then moving to a more formal arrangement of ideas.
32 (This idea would involve considerable computer wizzardy): the keywords (or all words) of each idea could be combined in groups and then Google could be searched using the word groupings. This would show information on the web relevant to the idea and could:
A) Suggest potential webpages/sites who could be contacted about the GIB.
B) Suggest people to contact regarding introducing and developing the idea.
33 A box displayed with each published idea could ask contributors to report similar ideas/thoughts from elsewhere on the web. These links could be displayed under the idea. Contributors could also choose five related links when they submit an idea.
34 Relaxing background sounds: visitors could choose pleasant background noises to hear while they are surfing GIB - such as waves, birdsong, running water, rain etc.
35 Anonymous brainstorm area for each idea: it has been widely documented that people can be inhibited during brainstorming. A brainstorm link with each idea would allow visitors to post comments anonymously.
36 Delayed publication of some ideas: a percentage of ideas selected could have a deferred publication (until weekends) to give the site a ‘24/7’ feel.
37 A contributor's published idea could be sent to them six months after initial publication to prompt them to add any new thoughts.
38 An informal meet in London to discuss the GIB and social invention.
39 A list of ‘sleepers’: ideas that haven’t had a vote for X number of days. A list would show the sleepers in ascending/descending order (regardless of current percentage)
40 The GIB could link up with patent office, so that people applying for patents or patent literature are told about the GIB.
41 Word counts for each idea: so that visitors can pick off the ‘quick-reads’ or delve into a longer idea
42 Email addresses of submitters could be displayed on ideas.
43 The GIB books in the store could be displayed in the same format as books on Amazon, with a list of contents (and perhaps some pages) on display.
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John Tunney is from Northampton.
I have a blog where I have posted some non-GIB ideas (concepts for TV shows, ideas for freelance writing articles, inventions etc).
Feedback welcome. Also, any pointers on readability and layout of blog welcome.
http://johnideas.blogspot.com
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| We are looking at several of these, but I would like to see people adding comments to these...particularly about those they might favour..... |
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