This is a recent presentation to members of the Association of Online Publishers in London. I looked at publishing and content through the filter of product development. In this way, we saw content delivered to solve user problems; eg. the evening leisure problem, the morning 'need to know' problem. I also shared the idea of Content as a Service (courtesy of Jeff Jarvis).

1. Solve problems
@martinbailie
commercial strategy director
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2. innovation =
a process of trial and
error
in search of a
product/market fit
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3. problems
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4. pure pain and
frustration
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5. “The basic idea is that people don’t go around
looking for products to buy.
Instead, they take life as it comes and when
they encounter a problem, they look for a
solution—and at that point, they’ll hire a
product or service.
It is the job, and not the customer or the
product, that should be the fundamental unit
of analysis.”
Clayton Christensen — author of The 5

6. what problems do users of
content have?
what are the frustrations?
the pain points?
what emotional need does
content answer?
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7. the search to solve
problems drives behaviour
change.
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8. “angry people dictate the
future of technology”
and we’re all in the
technology business.
Jeff Bonforte via Marty Cagan
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9. platform
user content
hardware
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10. the the
efficients laughers
the the
the irrationals comfortables
lovers
perceived pain
Jeff Bonforte via Marty Cagan Everett Rogers Technology Adoption Lifecycle model
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11. problems
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12. the
morning must-know problem
quick 45%
topics I want twitter is first
source of
offline! breaking
news
Glue isobar survey n150 UK adult respondents, November 2012
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13. the
morning must-know problem
Glue isobar survey n150 UK adult respondents, November 2012
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14. the
evening pleasure problem
40% of
1 hr 40 mins tablet
of opportunity owners only
read news in
the evening
on their
Glue isobar survey n150 UK adult respondents, November 2012
tablets 14

15. When the laptop is open, TV is the second screen
Thinkbox 2012/ Cog research
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16. 16

17. 17

18. the
quality reads problem
topics I like,
when I want them
serendipity
but limited waste
Glue isobar survey n150 UK adult respondents, November 2012
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19. the
waste problem
learning what I like
PAYG
beautifully presented
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20. the
waste problem
RSS users are more
risk averse than average
(control AND content)
Aegis CCS 2012 survey (n10k UK adults) 20

21. the
being part of… problem
for a community,
not for subject news
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22. “Content is that which fills
something.
Service is that which
accomplishes something.”
Jeff Jarvis
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23. SaaS
WaaS
CaaS?
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24. “We hope to rewire the way
people spread and consume
information.”
Mark Zuckerberg, May 2012
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25. 25

26. Go forth and experiment!
@martinbailie
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