Follow-Up: IDThisItem.com Does It Right!

Sometimes, a platform is so useful, so novel, and so well-designed that I have no choice but to write about it multiple times. So when one of the people behind IDThisItem.com sent me a message saying that the invite-only period was over, a quick browse through the site convinced me that this glorious platform absolutely deserves a second look.

The concept behind IDThisItem is simple; sometimes you see something on TV or on the internet that’s awesome. An article of clothing, some artwork, or a well-designed piece of furniture catches your eye and you think, “Alas! If only I knew where to purchase this glorious item, my life would have new meaning and my wife won’t leave me!” IDThisItem saves your marriage by allowing you to post a picture of the item with a short description and have the website’s fantastic community find the item, the designer, and/or where and how to buy it.

It’s very rare to see a start-up like this firing on all cylinders, but IDThisItem absolutely nails it. Their best decision was to emphasize their co-operation with platforms like Pinterest and Tumblr, which are both hugely popular right now. Crowdsourcing initiatives work best when they actively seek a relevant audience, and IDThisItem has done that perfectly by actively seeking an audience from these websites. It’s not uncommon to see the typical account on these websites chock-full of interesting examples of fashion and design that may not be available at your local Target.

In addition to knowing its audience, IDThisItem knows how to design a platform, too. The sign-up process is super minimal, and can be done by linking Twitter or Facebook. Submitting an item to be identified is similarly a snap, and the community fills many requests within 48 hours. Especially useful is the option to list a budget for the item in question. Rounding out the site are some simple community features, like an aggregated score for each member that tells how helpful they are, and personal “walls” for interaction. The only flaw I can find (which isn’t even a flaw yet) is that as the site grows in popularity, the “Art & Design” and “Other” categories may become too broad, and could benefit from some specialization.

In summary, anyone who’s fashion-minded, online-shopping-savvy, or has a really good photographic memory should sign up for IDThisItem immediately and save themselves some trouble down the road when they see a cute pair of jeans on Jersey Shore that they just have to have.

Ourcast Weather App: Three Tenet Test

I don’t know what to make of weather apps that propose to obtain more accurate weather data through crowdsourcing. Ourcast isn’t the first one I’ve seen, but it’s the first one that’s inspired me to dust off the Three Tenets. Thank goodness I’ve made simple criteria to tell me what to think in situations like this!

• Incentive: At first glance, this seems to be where most of my issues with this brand of app lie. Weather is certainly ubiquitous, and it affects everyone, but there’s only so much an app can do. We already have a whole nation covered in complicated devices for measuring and predicting weather, so what more can this app give us? The only thing I can think of is up-to-the-minute forecasts done by members in areas with inadequate weather coverage to begin with. Other than that, I don’t see the appeal of this app over simply typing “weather.com” into one’s browser.
• Barrier to Entry: As I mentioned, weather affects and is seen by everyone, so the barrier to entry on a project like this has to be super-low. It’s not required that you’re an expert; only that you have a tenuous grasp on what defines “rain” and what defines “sunny”. With this in mind, a smartphone app does indeed seem like the way to go, especially if the app demands constant updates, most likely from people directly observing the weather (i.e. outside and away from a computer).
• Compartmentalization: If the app is lacking in incentive, this is where it makes up for it. The feature I like the most, although I may be alone on this, is that the app features several buttons you can click to give a specialized description of the weather. For example, clicking the “sunny” button may open a menu where you can modify that description with buttons such as “good gardening weather”. The average person doesn’t care about wind direction or barometric pressure; they simply want to know if the rain will affect their jog, so this is what the app encourages users to input. The full weather reports the app provides give the aforementioned nitty-gritty weather data, but similarly presented in such a way that the important stuff is front and center.

My conclusion, according to my own criteria, seems to be that Ourcast is a well-put-together app that serves the purpose it sets out to. Unfortunately, it suffers from a bit of an unsolvable problem, which is that the weather is fundamentally mundane and doesn’t really lend itself to foster a community well. But that’s hardly a fault of the app.

Crowdsourcing Solves a Murder Mystery

Photo Credit: Waynesboro Police Department

When 57-year-old Betty Wheeler was hit by a car and killed a few weeks ago, police knew the chances of finding the perpetrators were slim. The only evidence the driver left was the shard of metal you see above, which had broken off in the collision. Car parts are notoriously difficult to identify, what with the vast numbers of makes and models available, many made with similar-looking parts. So without a good way for the police to find the specific car this piece came from, they turned to the crowd.

Automotive news site Jalopnik picked up the story, and urged readers to help. And help they did; the comments section exploded with helpful automotive gurus who practically clambered over each other to identify this piece. And in a matter of days, one vigilant commenter correctly identified the part as belonging to a Ford F-150. Although a common truck, this identification helped police narrow their search, and it was only a matter of time before they located the vehicle that had a chunk missing in the exact size and shape of this broken metal shard. Truly, a film noir Cinderella story.

None of us are as smart (or dumb!) as all of us, so stories like these are a great example of how a team can use crowdsourcing to add to their available knowledge base. Without the vast and deep knowledge the crowd possessed, police may have never located the perpetrators of this heinous crime. The takeaway lesson: when a project requires specific, detailed knowledge of one particular thing, crowdsourcing essentially provides a library of research, conveniently mobilized because it happens to be attached to five thousand dedicated individuals.

CollabFinder Helps You Build a Creative Team

LifeHacker got to this one before I did, with a better article than I could write, so I’m just gonna give you guys what they gave me.

Have a project or big idea you’re working on and want to find an awesome programmer, illustrator, writer, or designer to help out? CollabFinder is a new site for finding that collaborator.

It’s a pretty simple concept and site: Join, using Facebook, with your details—including your interests, skills and background—and others can pitch their projects to you or you can pitch projects to similar members on the site. You can find collaborators by searching for interests, skills, or those nearby, as well as if anyone is connected to your mutual Facebook friends (I found a couple after joining).

Networking isn’t always easy (especially if you’re a really shy creative type like me). This site, which doesn’t allow recruiters or “business-types” might help you get your project off the ground.

I really like this platform. I already signed up, and I plan on using it to see if anyone wants to get near the public bathroom app I posted about a while ago. Wish me luck, and let me know if you find success with CollabFinder!

No-Nonsense Answers and Product Recommendations at Get.com

© 2011-2012 Get.com, Inc.

Sometimes, you just have a simple question that demands a simple answer. You need a new computer part, or some fashion advice, or a restaurant recommendation, and you don’t want to slog through the information overload that the Internet has become famous for. This is 2012, right? We demand lightning-fast results with minimal hassle. That’s where the crowd-based Q-and-A site Get.com comes in to lend a hand.

In a model that reminds me a lot of OpenStudy, Get.com aims to provide fast, accurate, crowd-vetted answers to specific questions about a wide range of topics from computer hardware to automotive to hair and makeup. Users post questions, which are usually short, direct, and specific:

• What is something funny my boyfriend can be for Halloween?
• What is the best men’s money clip?
• What is the best video capture card under $100?

Users provide answers in a similar fashion; short and sweet, usually with a link to a relevant product if one has been requested. Users “agree” with answers they like, and the highest-rated one floats to the top, with other options ranked on the sidebar.

And that’s it. No questionable product reviews, no hours doing comparisons, no heavy research, just people who will answer your direct question with a similarly direct answer.  Sign-up is free (and a breeze with Twitter/Facebook account linking) and the traffic flow is high enough that many questions are answered within 24 hours.

So what are you waiting for? I just got a great recommendation for my next computer part purchase… what will the crowd help you with today?