Dynamic Dion: Nokia, Disconnecting People

Dear Dion,

Apparently the app is not yet ready. We’ll do further enquiry to our Developer organization about the current status .

Best, IdeasProject team

Over three months later, after requesting an update on the application from the CEO himself, Ideas Project sends the following message on July 31, 2012:

The following reply is sent:

Hi [New Community Manager’s Name]

Thank you for getting back. My main concern is that Nokia promised me and ten others that our ideas would be the first to be created by them from IP and that details would follow soon, that was in October and Nokia never got back.Thus we all just want updates on what’s being done with regards to the development of our ideas
Kind regards

Dion

Over a month later, another message comes through on September 5, 2012:

Hello Dion:

I hope you are well and I appreciate your email. I’m working to get your idea developed. As I mentioned in my last email, we had worked with a developer to develop your app and they ultimately didn’t publish it so we are working on alternative measures to get your app developed. Our partner AppCampus has many apps in the pipeline ahead of us so I’ve been pursuing other alternatives. I am currently talking with developers to determine availability and skill sets.  I will let you know when I have an update and I assure you this is an important priority for me. I am taking great care of your app idea and I’ll be working to see it through. I appreciate you reaching out and I will let you know as things develop.

Thank you for your email and don’t hesitate to reach out at any time.

Wishing you a great day,

[New Community Manager’s Name]

Over seven months later, on February 20, 2012, a request for information is sent:

Hi [New Community Manager’s Name]

It has been almost seven months after we last spoke, any progress? I
know plenty of the other ideators that were promised that their apps
would be made, never got theirs made either. Care to comment?

Regards

Dion

The following reply is sent the same day:

Hello Dion:

Thank you for your inquiry and know that I have worked to get your app developed. Below you will find the detail of the actions I have taken to  promote your app idea for development with our developer community. I hope that your idea will be of interest to developers at Mobile World Congress.  However, I do recommend that it might be helpful to update the information by adding screen shots and detail to your app.

In the last two years we have also raised the bar on idea submissions based on developer feedback. We have learned a lot in the last two years and continue to customize our efforts for developers. Developers have asked us to provide ideas that are well developed with visuals, screen shots and ones that are ready to prototype.  If you would like to increase the interest in your app idea by a developer, you may want to add screen shots and greater detail to your idea before Mobile World Congress. The link you have provided on the Ideas Project site for details on your app is broken or has been sent to the Archives of WordPress and this may be one reason that developers have not selected your idea. For your convenience, I have included a screen shot at the end of my email to share the error message I receive when I try to access the detail of your idea. If developers are unable to get additional details to understand the idea you have spelled out, that may influence whether they decide to develop the idea. Your app idea has been presented to developers many times, but to date developers have chosen other apps that appeal to their specific interests. People usually produce their best work when working on something that ignites their personal passion. We have a large community in Ideas Project and the number of good, innovative ideas that have flowed in over the last two years is amazing. If a developer cannot quickly gain an understanding of your idea and visualize what it may look like, they are likely to select another idea given the condensed time frames of developing at a hackathon.

Please also consider that your app idea is competing with all the new ones coming in to the site. We are constantly getting new and innovative ideas into Ideas Project and developers have shown interest in developing apps with the newest Windows Phone features. Developers are often most interested in developing ideas in line with the latest trends demonstrated in the community. Ideas Project charter is to inspire developers with app ideas that drive them to do their best work and create value for an evolving ecosystem that is competitive in one of the fastest moving industries on the planet.

Please see below for the actions I’ve taken to support getting your app developed.

1. Your App Idea was sent to All Hackathons

I have sent your idea and prioritized it at each hackathon. The issue is that sometimes we send these ideas to hackathons and developers choose different ones or bring one of their own. The current criteria for app ideas has changed significantly over the last two years and the ideas require screen shots and prototype detail as developers need to quickly understand concepts to complete work in the short time frame of a hackathon.

2. Submitted your idea was promoted to senior decision makers in AppCampus

I prioritized your idea with AppCampus and had it reviewed by the senior leadership. They have an overwhelming number of apps coming through AppCampus and they did not feel the app idea met with competitive standards of apps they are receiving and most submissions to AppCampus have a team of developers who are passionate about developing a concept of their own.  Feedback from AppCampus and developers alike were the impetus for increasing the criteria for app submissions to include screen shots and a great deal of detail so that developers can fully understand the concept.

3. I have your app on the short list for a hackathon (it is only 8 hours) at Mobile World Congress and have invited 4 developers to MWC to develop ideas into apps at the hackathon

As is the case with all hackathons, the developers will pick ideas based upon their interests. Often they are looking to develop apps that encompass the latest technologies and apps that have market appeal with current trends. If you would like to add screenshots or detail to your app idea it is likely to get better attention from developers. I find they are visual and at hackathons if they don’t understand the concept right away they feel pressure to select a more developed idea that has already laid out.

We have booked 4 of our top developers to attend a hackathon at Mobile World Congress. These developers have a strong track record of creating quality apps that have been successful in the market and/or have a repeated pattern of success with Ideas Project. They are quite enthusiastic about being invited to develop an app and we have a great team of people with proven track records of success. We went through rigorous discussions internally and with the developers to ensure we selected the right people to attend as the hackathon is only 8 hours and there will be no time to waste. Your app is on the short list of ideas that developers may select.

As always, I greatly appreciate your inquiry and am happy to continue to work with you to encourage your idea with developers!

Wishing you warm regards and great success,

[New Community Manager’s Name]

The idea mentioned here, one of the eleven ideas mentioned to be part of the supposed “historical moment” for Ideas Project as the first 11 to be created, is PaniQ described in depth as follows:

PaniQ is, simply put, a mobile panic button.When in a sudden emergency, press the panic button, which can also be assigned a speed dial function, and the app sends your location, which can be determined using GPS and cell tower triangulation,to a list of friends, family or the police. PaniQ also immediately activates the voice recorder and uploads the clip to the internet while recording, just to keep up with what’s happening. You can also use the camera to take a picture or video of your emergency, like an assailant or victim, to upload onto the PaniQ servers. PaniQ is a free app that connects to social networks and displays your information to everyone when in an emergency. In a dangerous world, it will help you feel safer…

Of course though, Nokia and its award-winning developers could not decipher the idea to implement it. I have been tirelessly trying to track down the developer said to have developed the application, but to no avail. Surely if he could understand what was described, others could too, if he exists that is.

Speaking to most of the other ten people promised to have their applications developed on that faithful day in October 2011, I was shocked to find that none of their ideas were turned into working applications either. Conversations just like the ones above were exchanged between them and Ideas Project, but nothing came of it.

Informing  Simon Botes, Nokia developer champion and founder of the successful application development firm AppCRAFT, who also happens to be the husband of one of the ideators promised that their applications would be developed, of the news conveyed to me regarding the ideas, on Twitter, I was informed that his firm offered to create the applications on November 29, 2011, but Ideas Project promptly declined. So much for trying their best.
Throughout this debacle, it became clear to me that Nokia did not have their customers’ best interests at hear. They had enough money to send bloggers around the world to attend their events, they had enough money to send almost anyone who asked a Lumia device, but they couldn’t create eleven simple applications?

Last year in June, they laid off over 700 developers, any one of them easily capable of creating those eleven applications, without any additional compensation considering he/she would be employed by Nokia and developing applications would be part of his/her job.

I used to be one of Nokia’s biggest fans, I operated a blog dedicated to them with some insightful pieces every now and then, including breaking some news such as leaks of upcoming devices and information, some accurate, some not, but I still did it with all of my soul. I was one of the first people in South Africa to own a Nokia N8 as well as a Nokia Lumia 800, I was also one of the lucky few people to own a Nokia N950.

But the brand I loved, failed me, and others. Ideas Project continues to strive with its many challenges that users win devices and other items for, but the ideas never materialize, a lot of innovation is ignored, skipped over because an ailing company doesn’t really care about the something that may just lead to them gaining back customer loyalty, to them creating devices and applications that matter and can compete in a market dominated by the likes of Android and iOS.

The likeliness of any of this ever happening though is slim. Nokia will read this and ignore it or even worse, try to sweep it under the rug. Ideas that were promised to be made, will be forgotten. Innovation will be ignored and people with real, world changing ideas won’t get to pioneer a positive change in civilisation, or their ideas will just fall in the hands of competitors who make it the next Nokia 808 PureView or Apple iPad, heck, maybe even an Apple iWatch…