Rapid Prototyping: The MOODPost3000

I’ve written recently about emergent technology, and the innovation and impacts we see around us: this work explores a basket of seven areas of innovation, one of which is ‘Temperature Checks‘. The idea here is that we can move away from annual surveys, performance reviews, conferences and so on, towards more synchronous, meaningful and effective measures.

In a rather daft project, i’m pleased to say that we are prototyping one such approach next week, with some decidedly homegrown technology! Sam has been working with me to take the idea forward, and he’s used a Raspberry Pi (plus some solder, an old radio, and a lot of imagination) to create this first prototype.

It’s designed to let us rapidly test the ‘temperature‘, the mood, of the community at the conference next week: we all have a Near Field Communication tab within our name badges, which allow us to ‘vote’ at the post. You are able to chose one of five ‘moods’, then dial up how strongly you feel that thing. The moods are: ‘confused’, ‘trusting‘, ‘tired’, ‘curious’, and ‘excited’.

As you vote, the results are synchronously collated in a Google Form, plotted every half hour, showing the aggregated ‘temperature’ of the group. Even in our prototype trials, we’ve been able to see when the group is ‘excited’, or ‘tired’. You can start to see the results here, and the ways they cluster, to show when the group is excited, or tired.

The MOOD Post 3000 is really an illustration of principle: what will the Socially Dynamic Organisation look like, when it can measure multiple, synchronous, metrics of ‘temperature’. Stay connected to the Trust research to see how we will add this dimension in over time too. For now, have a play, and think about what you could do with this type of approach.

I’m sharing this as very early stage #WorkingOutLoud, partly to illustrate how our approach to change in the Social Age is less about heavy technology, vast infrastructure, and great cost, more about the community around you and the mindset that we bring.

Next week, we will be working on the interface: exploring ways to share the mood back into the community.