Presented  by  Tom  LeBree    June  21/2011

The  Serendipity  Experiment

What  is  Serendipity?

       unexpected  chance  meaningful  encounters  

The  Serendipity  Experiment

Q  -­‐  Can  we  enhance  serendipitous  encounters  with  mobile  technology?

What  is  StreetSpark  ?• Creates  Serendipity  by  connecGng  people  through  moments  in  life  that  maIer.

• Matches  users’  shared  social  acGvity  and  sends  an  alert  when  a  match  is  nearby

• The  matches  facilitate  a  spark,  which  can  either  be  Ignited  or  ExGnguished

• ‘Social  Matching’  using  Interest  Graphs

• Facilitates  real-­‐Gme  encounters

“Chance  favours  only  the  prepared  mind.’’  Louis  Pasteur  

Expecte

d  Road

3  Magic  Factors

Place

Time  

Ac/on

Place  and  Time

CiGes  are  serendipity  

engines,  but  most  of  us  just  follow  the  same  rouGne,  most  of  the  Gme,  

with  liIle  divergence.

We’re  very  predictable.

Birds  of  a  Feather…

Flock  together!

AcGon  –  online  to  offline

StreetSpark  creates  ‘Social  matching’  :based  on  interests  &  social  networking  acGvity

Follow  the  same  people  on  TwiIer

Read  the  same  books  and  news  on  GetGlue

Listen  to  the  same  bands/musicians  on  Last  FM

‘Like’  the  same  things  on  Facebook  and  Facebook  

Groups

Check  into  the  same  places  on  FourSquare

Watch  the  same  movies  on  Ne`lix

Familiar  Strangers?Jim  and  Gina:

• Both  ran  the  London  Marathon

• Socialise  at  Soho  House• Go  to  Reading  on  the  weekends

• Love  watching  cricket• Just  read  ‘Visit  from  the  Goon  Squad’

• Are  parGal  to  Karaoke• Read  The  Observer  religiously• Believe  in  Astrology• Downloaded  Jaime  Oliver  cooking  app

• Listened  to  the  Beatles  ‘Yellow  Submarine‘  this  week

What  we’ve  learnt• Strangers  matched  on  social  interests  are  more  likely  to  ignite  (compared  to  profile  info  only)

• Strangers  more  willing  to  meet  when  there  are  overlaps  in  personality  (even  places  they  like)

• People  will  take  risks  (if  they  feel  there  is  potenGal  of  finding  something  ‘special’)

• People  want  an  excuse  to  be  spontaneous• They  see  serendipitous  encounters  as  romanGc    

THE  EXPERIMENTCONTINUES…

What’s  next  for  StreetSpark?

It’s  business  /me…

Reference  material  and  photos  Thanks  to:• Desperately  Seeking  Serendipity  –  Ethan  Zuckerman    (hIp://

bit.ly/j8UIlO  )

• Google  Images