It’s hard to believe it’s been almost three years since Dell launched IdeaStorm. We opened IdeaStorm in February 2007 and were amazed that there were 2,000 ideas submitted within the first few weeks. And after seeing the volume of Linux-related ideas in those early days, we conducted a follow-up survey that resulted in implementation of Ubuntu by May. And our listening did not end there – to date, we’ve implemented almost 400 ideas, including our involvement in Product (RED), the creation of Your Tech Team and the heavily requested features and functionality of the Latitude E-series. If you have any doubt that this is a feedback mechanism that resonates with our customers and employees, we also celebrated as we crossed the 10,000-idea mark.
While we’re pleased to be part of the crowdsourcing community, it is now time to evolve once again. IdeaStorm originally existed as an open, crowd-sourced suggestion box. While this led to the sharing of many ideas, it was sometimes overwhelming for Dell and our customers. It wasn’t just us-IdeaStorm user brokencrystal published a good idea called You Ask Us Questions. The crux of the idea was for our development teams to ask questions directly to the IdeaStorm community to get their feedback during the design phase.
Brokencrystal’s idea formed the basis of a new element to IdeaStorm called Storm Sessions. Think of them as a way for us to connect relevant time-bound ideas and discussions to our teams during the time when they are actively discussing options. In other words, the goal behind Storm Sessions is to get our customers closer to the Dell teams that are responsible for bringing Dell products and services to market.
Here’s how Storm Sessions work:
- Dell initiates a Storm Session around a specific topic and invites your feedback.
- The community posts ideas or votes and comments on any idea while the Session is active.
- Dell closes the session and reviews the feedback. The countdown timer on each idea will show you how much time is left for submitting your ideas and votes.
- The Storm Session leader responds to the community with just how and when Dell will put the ideas into action.
Here’s a video where I explain Storm Sessions in a bit more detail:
Please join us in our two inaugural Storm Sessions – Mobile Technology Desires and Help us redesign our Support page for home users. Then, stay tuned for more Storm Sessions to follow. We are also asking for your ideas on future Storm Session topics in our Storm Session Topics category on IdeaStorm.
We look forward to seeing your ideas in the Storm Sessions and on IdeaStorm overall and putting those ideas into action!