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Douglas Wong's Blog Who Guessed This Was Going On?
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Engagement
  • Author Author: dougw
  • Date Created: 11 Jan 2019 6:36 AM Date Created
  • Views 1932 views
  • Likes 10 likes
  • Comments 10 comments
  • doug wong
  • member participation
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Who Guessed This Was Going On?

dougw
dougw
11 Jan 2019

In the past year or so I set out to explore what we members could do to improve interest and participation in the forum. This blog is a discussion of some of those initiatives. In total these activities took quite a bit of thought and effort so I wanted to evaluate them as a whole collection to determine if they were worthwhile or making a difference.


I'll start with a poll that investigated road test fears:

https://www.element14.com/community/polls/2629#comment-137994

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This poll indicated that about 20% of respondents don't apply for road tests because they feel they can't provide a good enough road test. We could speculate about why they feel this way, but the bottom line is that it might be possible to increase road test participation by 20% if the underlying issued could be addressed. Maybe some simple road tests strictly for neophytes would encourage more participation and build confidence.


This was followed by a blog that explored what it takes to write a successful element14 road test proposal:

The Story of a Power Proposal of the Supply Variety
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This was intended to help members write more successful proposals. Of course activities like this could provide stiffer competition for my own proposals, but forcing me to figure out how to write better proposals isn't such a bad thing.


I also suggested a way to make projects less daunting by having a tutorial phase:

Design Challenge, Road Test, Project14, Idea

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Then there was a poll to figure out how members preferred to learn – this was aimed at providing insight into how educational material should be presented to reach a wider audience:

Best Learning Method

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Next I asked about members' plans for electronics projects to get a feel for what types of project would appeal to a wide audience or even a specialized audience:

New Years Resolutions

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Then I mixed in a query about having an element14 party to see if face-to-face interaction was desirable:

element14 Party

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I also wanted to know what members wanted in the way of electronic instrumentation to provide insight into their motivations:

Wish List Preferences


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I then tried entering a a design challenge with a partner to see if project collaboration was a feasible way to boost participation:

The Spice of Pi Blog Doug 12

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You can see we did a lot of work and collaborative participation was achieved, but it was very difficult to successfully complete the project, despite producing over 20 blogs.


Another query I had was about the seasonal nature of maker activity to find out if there was a point to structuring element14 projects around the seasons:

Is maker activity a seasonal endeavor?



I also tried to inspire members to get excited about their tools:

The Magic Tool Kit

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This turned out to be a pretty passionate subject for a wide cross section of members.


I suggested adding 7 new Top Members to encourage deeper participation but the blog is in the Top Member area.

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I ran a poll to find out if it was acceptable to re-enter older projects in new contests to see if we could make it easier to enter contests:

Re-Entering Old Projects In Project14 Contests

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I also asked members to talk about their weirdest tools to explore the tool topic further:

Weirdest Tool



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I explored yet another idea in a poll – would members build a project from a kit?

Would you build from a kit?

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This might lower the bar for those who have less confidence in their abilities.


I wanted a bit more insight into why most technical people do not participate on element14 to see if insight could be gleaned about this vast untapped potential participation pool:

Speculation in Absentia

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The comments did yield some interesting insights into some of the reasons and once identified, maybe something can be done to reduce reasons like intimidation.


Coming from another angle I wanted to explore deterrents to participation:

What is the Main Deterrent to Participation?

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There were lots more interesting comments, but I still showed about 20% aren't confident enough in their abilities to make an impressive blog for the world to see. Maybe an editor/mentor service by experienced members could help polish blogs and reduce concerns.


And one more poll on what instrumentation members prefer, again looking at motives to see what would really get the attention of the members:

Instrumentation Wishlist

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Oscilloscopes always rank high in these types of polls.


And I ended up with one more collaboration initiative on a road test project:

Special Project with Cypress PSoC6 BLE kit +  Honeywell Pressure Sensor

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Whether it is a design challenge or a road test, collaboration is tough to do well, even with good partners.


All this activity has provided some insight into member preferences. I only put a couple of conclusions above, because the data is not definitive and members can have a look and come to their own conclusions, but this whole topic seems to be relatively popular as all of this activity has seen good member participation. One of these activities got over 23,000 views and my first collaboration project got over 26,000 views:

Vehicle Simulator - VTR / RTR

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In addition to these activities, I make an effort to contribute ideas whenever new ideas are solicited for projects or forum activities, partly with the hope of sparking interest among members. I'm not sure if all this activity was enough to give away my curiosity in this area, but it does show you can explore other things with this forum than purely technical topics. However I am curious about a lot of things. I have a new background somewhat non-technical project vaguely planned for this year, but it is not ready for blogging yet. This little hint is partly a reminder to me to work on it if I happen to see this in a few months.

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Top Comments

  • DAB
    DAB over 6 years ago +5
    Great post Douglas, You have been a tremendous asset to the community and I am just totally amazed at your support to projects and challenges. I also count you as one of my many friends found here at element…
  • genebren
    genebren over 6 years ago +5
    Excellent work Doug! I could not tell where you were going, but I did sense that you were trying to increase engagement and participation within the community. As others have said, you really do give a…
  • jw0752
    jw0752 over 6 years ago +5
    Hi Doug, If the administration are wondering why the site has been growing and is an exciting place to visit they need look no further than the exceptional efforts that you and several others have put…
  • dubbie
    dubbie over 6 years ago in reply to dougw

    Douglas,

     

    I agree, I think they are really nice spanners. I bought a set originally for my son at Christmas, but I liked them so much I then purchased my own. They are just so shiny and lightweight.

     

    Dubbie

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  • dougw
    dougw over 6 years ago in reply to dubbie

    I think there is a lot more scope to explore with tool topics - whenever a tool topic comes up, it is always popular. Lots of people are passionate about their tools. Those look like some nice spanners.

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  • three-phase
    three-phase over 6 years ago

    rscasny It wouldn't have surprised me if the figure had been higher than 20%. A lot of engineers by their nature will be introverted and not comfortable with writing and have their thoughts opened up on a world wide public forum.

     

    There are also some highly technical and very well written road test reports, that could also put new applicants off, as they may feel they would be under pressure to match that quality of work. As I think this through, that may be one of the major factors, certainly for the more conscientious members, it may be an issue, and ironically they are the ones you probably want to encourage a higher level of participation from.

     

    There have also been public criticism of some road test reports and that could put some people off from applying. I am not saying that those criticisms were unjustified, but more conscientious contributors could be put off by the thoughts of that happening to their work.

     

    Kind regards.

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  • Jan Cumps
    Jan Cumps over 6 years ago in reply to dubbie

    dubbie  wrote:

     

     

    ...

     

    About the RoadTests, I did have a go at one but it was pretty difficult and it just felt too much like work as I was having to spend many hours on it just to make a little progress. I'm retired and this did not appeal. Same for the current Picasso Design Challenge, it looks like too much to be an official contestant, ...

     

     

    Dubbie

     

    It is a lot of work. That's why I apply for tests and challenges where I expect to learn something that I can use later - or keep my skill up to date.

    Then it becomes gained time instead of spent time ...

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  • dubbie
    dubbie over 6 years ago

    Doug,

     

    I must have missed all these polls as I wasn't aware that any of these surveys were going on. Of course, this might be a consequence of one of my bosses telling me not to bother undertaking surveys as they were a waste of time. But it looks like some good information has come out of all your work.

     

    About the RoadTests, I did have a go at one but it was pretty difficult and it just felt too much like work as I was having to spend many hours on it just to make a little progress. I'm retired and this did not appeal. Same for the current Picasso Design Challenge, it looks like too much to be an official contestant, which is why I am operating as an independent one. I don't feel the pressure to blog and progress so I can just do what I have the enthusiasm to do.

     

    I think I'll have to look at my tools and do a blog on them as I get very excited about some of them , especially my new super smooth and shiny small spanners.

    image

    Dubbie

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