BlackBerry should form users council to steer future features
- Here's a suggestion, create one or more user councils which can provide input to the development efforts at RIM. Perhaps:
1. OS council
2. Business Apps council
3. Entertainment council
Let these councils bring their opinions and those of others (from places like Crackberry) to help steer future development efforts. I'm sure someone will point out that RIM already has product managers, agencies, R&D, etc....but after the launch of the Z10 and Q10 I have to believe something isn't working quite right.
At the same time, how about briefing the fan sites (n4bb, crackberry, etc.) formally on the roadmap? Obviously some items must remain confidential, but better communications would help. (It's a shame when these leak out through BGR.com along with biased comments).
I do admire that Heins reached out the core user based on day 1. (Chen reached out the the bus/gov community week 1 which is great as well).01-09-14 03:02 PMLike 0 - They have something similar. It's called market research. That's where all those survey response goes.
Posted via CB1001-09-14 03:34 PMLike 0 - Here's a suggestion, create one or more user councils which can provide input to the development efforts at RIM. Perhaps:
1. OS council
2. Business Apps council
3. Entertainment council
Let these councils bring their opinions and those of others (from places like Crackberry) to help steer future development efforts. I'm sure someone will point out that RIM already has product managers, agencies, R&D, etc....but after the launch of the Z10 and Q10 I have to believe something isn't working quite right...
I believe BBRY should have teams of testers using other platforms' flagship devices as daily drivers. These teams would stay "up" on news & rumours in the smartphone world, as well as just simply using these other devices for messaging, apps, games, media, syncing, and whatever else.
These teams should have the ear of someone with power to influence decisions on future devices and OS development. Future BB device concepts would be reviewed with these users, as would planned OS features.
I believe too many people that matter in Waterloo are out of touch with the competition and the smartphone market in general. This has shown signs of improvement, but BB is still perpetually playing catch-up it seems. Hopefully this idea, if well executed, could help them better understand the market and close the gap, or even leapfrog the competition when possible.BlackBerry Guy likes this.01-09-14 03:41 PMLike 1 - I had a similar idea.
I believe BBRY should have teams of testers using other platforms' flagship devices as daily drivers. These teams would stay "up" on news & rumours in the smartphone world, as well as just simply using these other devices for messaging, apps, games, media, syncing, and whatever else.
These teams should have the ear of someone with power to influence decisions on future devices and OS development. Future BB device concepts would be reviewed with these users, as would planned OS features.
I believe too many people that matter in Waterloo are out of touch with the competition and the smartphone market in general. This has shown signs of improvement, but BB is still perpetually playing catch-up it seems. Hopefully this idea, if well executed, could help them better understand the market and close the gap, or even leapfrog the competition when possible.
Remember CB Kevin visited Samsung in So. Korea, he noticed buildings, floors, cubicles full of engineers working R&D. I don't see how BB, realistically, can catch up or leapfrog any of these companies.
Chen is focused on Sales, understandably so. IMO, he will sell the company at some point, for patents and customer lists, govt,, etc...
I bet the Corporate Jet gets it's upgrades on time!01-09-14 10:06 PMLike 0 - Interesting point - but I wonder if we need to load the phone up with more new stuff, as opposed to just making an efficient, high quality phone targeting core needs. As pointed out in other threads, the 9900 is a powerhouse phone and (seemingly) preferred for business users that want to get core tasks done quickly (and one handidly) - at the expense of OS10 apps like angry birds, instagram, etc.
There have been some great suggestions (eg: add a laser pointer, add back charging contacts, add back physical buttons, add back feature buttons, make trackpad vs touchscreen a user choice, inductive charging, fingerprint scanner, etc). So many of these user demands don't need a whole lot of R&D...just a focus on the RIGHT stuff.01-10-14 01:33 AMLike 0 -
- I doubt Blackberry's problems with smartphones arise from the lack of input regarding new features. Every employee at Blackberry is a smartphone user as well as their families and friends. I'm sure they have ideas coming out the wazoo. What's lacking is the resources to implement them in a timely manner.
I'm thinking about the recent Verge article on webOS by Dieter that described ending up with a Touchpad that was DOA by the time it was launched because of the iPad 2. If you think about it, what the OP is suggesting is the opposite of what drove the design of the iPhone and the iPad. There, it was Steve Jobs and a couple of guys who seemed to have the final say on practically everything.01-10-14 09:29 AMLike 0 - I doubt Blackberry's problems with smartphones arise from the lack of input regarding new features. Every employee at Blackberry is a smartphone user as well as their families and friends. I'm sure they have ideas coming out the wazoo. What's lacking is the resources to implement them in a timely manner.
I'm thinking about the recent Verge article on webOS by Dieter that described ending up with a Touchpad that was DOA by the time it was launched because of the iPad 2. If you think about it, what the OP is suggesting is the opposite of what drove the design of the iPhone and the iPad. There, it was Steve Jobs and a couple of guys who seemed to have the final say on practically everything.
Z10STL100-3/10.2.1.1925Haytham Hamad likes this.01-10-14 02:21 PMLike 1 -
Just take a look at the forum topics posted here. Many of them can be boiled down to "I want BB to be more like Apple/Google". Those people are better off simply using those companies' products rather than goading a company to be more like them. Different companies have different strengths and weaknesses.Dave Bourque and Haytham Hamad like this.01-10-14 07:09 PMLike 2 - If cb is anything to go by it'd just end up in the users council trying to run the company ;-)
Posted via CB1001-12-14 08:40 AMLike 0 - I am not sure the main issue is BlackBerry getting "lists" of ideas for needed features. They probably have those running out of their ears.
I think the anecdotal evidence points more to their inability to execute their vision quickly and completely.
Corporate "culture" issues, lack of resources with talented individuals being stretched too thin, un-certain/mis-guided leadership -- that kind of thing.TGR1 likes this.01-12-14 08:44 AMLike 1 -
Posted via CB1001-12-14 09:38 AMLike 0 - Exactly. Consumer opinion for the most part is based on what they know already exists in the market. They aren't insiders at Apple, Samsung or IBM, they don't know what future technologies these companies are working on. Consumer opinion in the technology market is a lagging indicator, not a leading one. Ultimately it will be something in the vein of "something better than what I have now". That's not particularly helpful.
Just take a look at the forum topics posted here. Many of them can be boiled down to "I want BB to be more like Apple/Google". Those people are better off simply using those companies' products rather than goading a company to be more like them. Different companies have different strengths and weaknesses.01-20-14 08:03 AMLike 0 - BlackBerry users are not a unified group and many of their wants are contradictory. BB leaks the OS for beta testing. They should really have a beta software site.
They should do more consumer testing on the hardware side.
I do think that many CB ers would agree that we need a bigger screened qwerty model.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using CB Forums mobile app01-20-14 03:12 PMLike 0
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