Don’t jump for the tool

The possibilities presented by these new technologies can make it tempting to jump straight for a fashionable tool and expect it to improve things. For example:

•  Need to provide updates and gather feedback? Why not try a blog (rather than an e-newsletter)?
• Want to collaborate on a report? Go for a wiki (instead of tracked changes in Word).
• Keen to engage a group in discussion on a series of topics? Why not build a social network (instead of a forum or e-mail list).

Yes, it’s important to try the tools so you understand the possibilities (see Experimenting with the technology). But it’s easy to get distracted, and if you ignore the ‘who’, and ‘why’, you may find no-one is reading your blog, contributing to your wiki or engaging in your social network. Work out what you want to do, and then choose technologies appropriate to the people you want to reach - not the trendiest thing you can find. This applies to building your own tools too: Patient Opinion spent their first nine months on market analysis in preparation for technical development, so that they could build something people would actually use.

All of this means that clarifying your core purpose is the single most important thing you can do – so make some time, involve everyone in the process, and get it right. A good statement of your core purpose can guide everything you do; a bad one will make you anxious and confused at critical moments, and even leave you stranded in the technology jungle with no map of the way home.

All tools – old and new – work for different purposes. Saucepans, casseroles and frying pans are all useful in cooking – but we choose the pots and pans we need for a particular recipe, and the recipe depending on who’s coming to dinner. It’s the same with technology tools: it’s ‘who’ and ‘why’ first, then ‘what’ and ‘how’ later.

Remember:

• What’s the point?
• Know your target audience and what motivates them
• Know your platforms and their features and constraints
• Identify a need/desire that this product is filling
• Focus on one single, simple idea

Whatever your situation, spend time at the beginning working out a clear sense of what you will do, for whom, and how to make that fit appropriately into the context around you. If you don’t you may make quick progress, but it will probably be in the wrong direction.