PART 5 - DID I MENTION THESE?

CROSS-CHANNEL ECOSYSTEMS 101

Andrea @Resmini

January 19 2017

DID I MENTION WHAT? WASN’T THIS PATHS AND MAPS?

Well yes, but there’s a few interesting things that have todo with the primary elements and the nature of the ecosystem

itself I should probably mention before I forget

Do you mind if I ...

… NO, PLEASE, GO AHEAD

Thanks, much appreciated

First, I should stress how ecosystem are instantiated by actors

As such, they are transient, volatile structures more similar to a theatrical performance or a ballet than to a building or a chair

ELEMENTS IN ECOSYSTEMS ARE POLYMORPHOUS

An individual element could represent either a touchpointor an actor, or both, depending on the ecosystem currently

being investigated and the current goals and intent

A typical example is provided by human actors, who very often also act as touchpoints for other actors. Staff, for example

A TOUCHPOINT MAY BELONG TO MORE THAN ONE CHANNEL

Touchpoints in an ecosystem may belong to multiple channels

“Study group” could both be an element in a hypothetical “peer conversations” channel and in a “lectures” channel, for example

When they do, they create seams that allow actors to move across channels, which is a good thing

CHANNEL: LECTURES

STUDY GROUP SLIDES BOOK CHAPTERS CLASS DELIVERY

CHANNEL: PEERS CONVERSATIONS

CHANNEL: COURSE INFORMATION

PIPES REPRESENT CHANNELS, BOXES REPRESENT TOUCHPOINTS, LINES REPRESENT SEAMS

GOTCHA. BUT WHY IS “LECTURES” A CHANNEL THERE?

Because actors have described “lectures” in such a way that they match the description of a channel, that is, as a pervasive

layer that transmits information throughout the ecosystem

As such, this is a specific characteristic of this ecosystem and not a general rule you can apply as-is everywhere

WHAT WOULD “LECTURES” “CONTAIN”, THEN?

In the example, it would be a blended channel where medium-specific touchpoints coexist, allowing actors to move

between the physical and digital spaces of the ecosystem

It might contain for example video recordings of the lectures, slides, notes and whatnot, but also the actual lecture moments

happening in a certain classroom at a certain time

GOOD SEAMS ARE NECESSARY

Seams are the thresholds between touchpoints and channels

While the “experience” needs to proceed unobstructed, this does not mean seams should not be perceivable. There might be

situations where a “bump” is necessary. For example, warning the actor she is leaving a “secure” channel for an “insecure” one

CHANNELS MIGHT HAVE STRUCTURED RELATIONSHIPS

Preliminary research seems to suggest that there might be preferred paths between touchpoints and across channels, and

that some general rules might exist that allow to predict whether a channel is either permeable or impermeable to another

channel depending on the touchpoints involved

CROSS-CHANNEL IS GENERATIVE AND EXOGENIC

That’s two big words in a row. They mean that cross-channel is a set of practices aimed at making things (generative) whose value proposition for actors resides elsewhere, in whatever

desired final state they are pursuing (exogenic). Compare with crossmedia, which is descriptive and endogenic

PART 6 COMING JAN 26

“FUN TIMES WITH PATHS AND MAPS (SERIOUSLY)”

Andrea @Resmini