Crowdsourcing and the Changing Role of the Consumer
Crowdsourcing is changing the role of consumers as they seek to play a more active role with the brands they buy. Not only do they want to be the first to get hold of the latest gadget or product upgrade, but they also want to be involved in online communities associated with them.
The days of the passive consumer will soon be, well, err… passé.
A good example of people power is the development of Ouya, an Android-based video game console that raised $8.6 million on Kickstarter.
This made it one of the highest-funded projects on the crowdfunding website. But it isn’t the only impressive thing about the console.
Valuable Crowd Input
Development kits were made available early for backers and they have been emailing their suggestions for improvements and modifications.
In a blog post, the team responded to feedback, saying that some of the suggestions highlighted things they were already changing, and some of the comments were new.
The Ouya team took on board a few of the suggestions and implemented changes in a revised version of the controller. These included improved triggers and rubberized grips on the thumbsticks.
Previous suggestions from the crowd have lead Ouya developers to alter other features. For example, the console was originally going to have two controllers; it now has four.
Close Relationship
This close working relationship with the crowd is helping to ensure that the best controller is delivered to the market, one that will suit the needs of players.
Crowd responsiveness like this can prove to be invaluable to a company no matter their size, product or service.
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