IlliGAL Blogging

Since DISCUS inception we envisioned how, with the proper innovation infrastructure, on-line communication could be an excellent medium for creativity- and innovation-based activities. Providing real-time feedback to the discussion participants about the current topics and possible chances is revealing as key element to increase the productivity of creative sessions. Moreover, providing the bare bones building blocks of an scenario in a communication and the relation among them is helping participants to rapidly cross-fertilize scenarios and generate new innovative ones.





Today we had a first hand validating result using common users (mostly UIUC students) in a real-world scenario (marketing scenarios for cell phones). The previous photos show one of the biggest experiments conducted this week using DISCUS. Fourteen students used only DISCUS to communicate among them in the focus groups for cell phone usage focus groups. In less than 30 minutes, more than 100 messages were posted and analyze. Right now, we are collecting a large volume of information about how the users interacted among them using DISCUS. We are really thrilled about the possibilities that DISCUS and this week of experiment are opening.

The milestone of the day: Chance Discovery Consortium and DISCUS researchers analyzing and creating new cell phone scenarios in the largest session held till now using DISCUS. Yes, the picture below does not lie; Nao is back in town for a few days :)