Suzanne

    Suzanne Livingston
    Senior Product Manager

    Joe

    Joseph Russo
    Software Designer

    David

    David Brooks
    Software Engineer

    Getting Started with IBM Connections

    Erika Varga  February 3 2012 08:49:44 AM
    Image:Getting Started with IBM Connections

    IBM Connections 3.0.1 has a new getting started experience to interactively guide users through steps for setting up and using IBM Connections. Each step lets you Learn more, Watch video or Do it.  Want to see how other people are using IBM Connections to do social business? The new getting started walks you through the same steps others have taken to  network with colleagues, join  a community, start an activity, and share files.

    Two ways to use Getting Started with IBM Connections:
    • Try out Getting Started with IBM Connections that uses IBM Connections hosted in Lotus Greenhouse.  You'll need your Lotus Greenhouse credentials to log in. http://infolib.lotus.com/resources/connections3/index.html
    • Already purchased IBM Connections? Administrators can download the IBM Getting Started sample for IBM Connections  and customize it for their environment. http://tinyurl.com/connections-gettingstarted

    Help us plan our session for SXSW Interactive

    Heidi Ambler  February 1 2012 08:55:53 AM
    Today's guest post is from

    Image:Help us plan our session for SXSW Interactive

    Heidi Ambler
    Director of Social Software Product Management



    Luis Benitez and I are excited to be presenting at SXSW 2012, and we want to tap into the collective knowledge of readers of our blogs, Twitter, and even internal to IBM to find out what your thoughts are on enterprise social software trends, which is the topic of our session.

    How are you seeing social media being used by enterprises and what are some of your most favorite examples?


    Let us know in the comments section below!

    And by the way, if you are going to SXSW 2012, we hope to see you there:

    Enterprise Social Media: 5 Emerging Trends
    When
    : Sat March 10th @ 5pm
    Where
    : Longhorn Ballroom @ Omni Downtown

    If you want to respond in Twitter, we'll be monitoring the hashtag so sends us your comments/questions. We would love to hear from you! The hashtag for our session is #SXsocbiz5

    Hope to see you there and hear from you!

    Participate in activities going on in the User Experience Lab at Lotusphere 2012

    Joseph Russo  January 16 2012 11:00:00 AM
    Participate in activities going on in the User Experience Lab

    View the latest product design concepts, experience mobile product designs, talk to our social solutions designers, and provide feedback to improve the information experience. Meet the designers, user researchers, and information architects responsible for the direction of our products. Participate in hands-on activities and tell us what you need.

    Lab Hours:
    Monday, January 16        11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
    Tuesday, January 17         9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
    Wednesday, January 18   9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
    Thursday, January 19        9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

    Visit these stations in the lab located in Asia 4:

    Station 1: IBM User Research and Future Studies
    See how we conduct research and sign up for an opportunity to participate in future studies. Discuss with us what you would like to see improved in the products that you use.
    Station 2: Connections and LotusLive
    To influence our future design directions, help us prioritize the most important scenarios in which you would use these products to complete daily tasks. Try out the next version of Connections and let us know how you like it. Give us feedback on our new features, including enhanced community functionality and integration of the social business toolkit.
    Station  3: Editing in the Cloud with IBM Docs
    Check out IBM's new web editors and tell us what is most important to you in a document  editor, a presentation editor, or a spreadsheet editor.
    Station  4: Design Your Information Experience
    How do you use information either as a new or an experienced product user? How can the Lotus and WebSphere Portal product wikis be more effective in giving you the information that you need? Help influence the direction that we take with your product information experience.
    Station  5: Sametime
    Real-time collaboration is critical to your business.  Come to the Sametime UX station to give us input on future designs and to discuss your requirements for online meetings, instant messaging, and using audio and video.
    Station  6: Making Your Business Solutions Social
    Learn about the core design principles that make a business solution into a social business. See the common set of patterns and artifacts that we're designing and help influence their design. Tell us about your favorite business solutions, and we can talk about how using social media can enhance the outcome of the solutions.
    Station  7: Social Mail
    View and interact with demos of the social mail beta in Connections 4 and help us shape the future user experience design. Provide your feedback and unique insights on how social mail might best be used by your company or organization.
    Station  8: What's Next for Lotus iNotes and Lotus Notes
    See a showcase of what we're considering for the next releases. Let us know what you think of these features and provide feedback on potential improvements.
    Station  9:  Lotus Domino Designer and XPages
    Do you want influence the future direction of your application development tools? Stop by and give us feedback on Lotus Domino Designer, the XPages extension library, XPages templates, and more.
    Station  10: Mobile Applications
    Select a device, select a product, and get a first look at the latest mobile products from IBM. This station features Android and iOS phone and tablet apps for Sametime, Connections, and Traveler. Come by and give us your feedback on future designs and prototypes.
    Station  11: WebSphere Portal, Social Portal with Connections, and IBM Web Content Manager
    Provide your input on the new and future plans for integrating IBM Connections and IBM Web Content Manager into WebSphere Portal. Come by and give us your feedback on future designs and scenarios.
    Station  12:  Design Your Video Experience
    Tell us how you find and use product videos, and what you expect from our videos in the future. Preview the videos that were submitted for VideoFest, and help select a new design for the wiki Video Gallery.


    Special Events

    Are you curious about product design? Do you want to get more involved? Join us for one or more of the following special sessions in the User Experience Lab (Asia 4).

    Special Events
    Monday
    1/16/12
    Date: Monday, January 16, 2012
    Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
    Topic: "IBM Collaboration Solutions Future Product Design Direction"
    Speakers: Chris Paul, Director, User Experience; Ethan Perry, STSM; Brian Utesch, STSM.
    Abstract:
    How is the user experience (UX) of IBM Collaboration Solutions products designed?  What role does Lotusphere play in ongoing collaboration with customers?  The ICS User Experience Director, Chris Paul,  and UX Design and User Research Senior Technical Staff Members, Ethan Perry and Brian Utesch, will discuss how design direction is set, the importance of user adoption, and how you are engaged in the design process.  Bring your questions to this interactive session.
    Tuesday
    1/17/12
    Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012
    Time: 9:30am - 10:30am
    Topic: "Mobile User Experience Directions"
    Speakers: Tyler Walters, Chris Reckling
    Abstract: Social Business and mobile technology go hand in hand. See where we are going in designing mobile apps for tablets and smartphones in 2012. Provide feedback on the design directions and help prioritize features.
    Wednesday
    1/18/12
    Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012
    Time: 9:30am - 10:30am
    Topic: "Meet the User Experience Designers"
    Speakers: Amy Travis, Margo Ezekiel, Ethan Perry, Eric Wilcox
    Abstract: Join our lead user experience designers and talk with us about our design challenges and future design directions in a fun and lively session.  It's your chance to see how we design your favorite products.






    Lotusphere 2012 - UX Lab Door Prizes

    Joseph Russo  January 16 2012 09:00:00 AM
    Throughout the Lotusphere 2012 conference we'll be giving out these lovely fashion accessories as door prizes in the User Experience Lab in Asia 4.  Come by any day and answer the "Question of the Day" at one of our stations for a chance to win.  Increase your chances by attending any one of our special sessions or by following our LotusTechInfo or LotusDesign twitter IDs. We're also giving out collectible User Experience Lab buttons!

      Image:Lotusphere 2012 - UX Lab Door Prizes                           Image:Lotusphere 2012 - UX Lab Door Prizes

    (Photo used with permission.)

    Participate in Online Feedback Activities for Lotusphere 2012 and Beyond!

    Joseph Russo  January 15 2012 02:55:40 PM
    Participate in Online Feedback Activities
    Answer Our Online Question of the Day! In the User Experience Lab, we'll be asking a "Question of the Day."  Visit us in Asia 4 each day to answer the question and to sign up for a chance to win a prize at the end of the day. If you don't have time to stop by and see us, we'd still like to hear from you. Click here to fill out a short survey to give your answers.

    https://www.ibm.com/survey/oid/wsb.dll/s/ag41e
    Wiki usage survey We want your feedback. IBM is continuing to develop improvements and release updates to the wikis. We want to hear what is important to you so that we can prioritize improvements that help you most. The data we collect from all wiki usability and feedback activities is used to influence our priorities for future design enhancements and development.
    https://www.ibm.com/survey/oid/wsb.dll/s/ag419  

    Sametime Prioritization Ideation Blog Help us come up with a list of future features in Sametime. Vote on the ones listed here and suggest your own by adding to the list!  Click the following URL to access the Ideation blog in our Online UX Lab in Greenhouse. [You will need to register on Greenhouse in order to participate (using a business email address) but it only takes a minute!]

    https://greenhouse.lotus.com/communities/community/icsuxlab/SametimeLS12







    Participate in any of these ongoing feedback opportunities - check in regularly to participate, follow or contact us


    Online UX Lab:

    Join our online UX community and participate in any of the on-going feedback opportunities in our online User Experience Lab:
    www.tinyurl.com/onlineuxlab

    Sign up to be a Usability participant!

    Join our IBM Volunteer database and be contacted about future feedback opportunities!
    https://www-01.ibm.com/software/ucd/register.html?wsb39=WPLCdeveloperWorks

    Check out our blogs!
    Notes Design  http://www.notesdesignblog.com/NotesDesignBlog/NDBlog.nsf/
    Sametime https://www-304.ibm.com/connections/blogs/SametimeBlog/?lang=en_us
    Inside Lotus Design and User Experience http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/insidelotusblog.nsf/




    Stay Connected!  Follow us during Lotusphere and beyond!

    On Facebook

    Lotus Design: facebook.com/lotusdesign
    Lotus Tech Info: facebook.com/LotusTechInfo

    On Twitter:

    Lotus Design: twitter.com/LotusDesign
    Lotus Tech Info: twitter.com/LotusTechInfo

    A Sampling of IBM Connections sessions at Lotusphere 2012

    Suzanne Livingston  January 11 2012 08:47:25 AM
    There are many, many great sessions on IBM Connections this coming week. It is going be challenging to make time for all the sessions that you will want to attend!! Here are few that I will share:

    I will be speaking at the following sessions:
    ID221: What's New in IBM Connections Next (Tue 11:15, Wed 4:00) David Brooks and I will discuss what's coming in the next major release!
    ID225: Setting up Communities to Solve Your Biggest Challenges (Wed 1:30) Mike Wanderski and I will share community use cases and how to use the various features.

    Insights and Innovation (22 in all)
    INV204: A view into the future of IBM Connections and Lotus Quickr (Tues 10:00)
    INV301: IBM's Social Business Strategy (Tue 11:15)

    Infrastructure and Deployment (15 in all)
    ID224: What's Coming in IBM Lotus Quickr and Beyond (Wed 1:30)
    ID229: Make Your Microsoft Stack Social with IBM Connections (Wed 3:00)
    ID301 Inside IBM: Collaboration For The Next 100 years (Wed 10)

    Cross-SWG Solutions Sessions  (12 in all)
    SPN206 Going Viral or Managing the Introduction of Social Content Management (Mon 2:15)
    SPN210 The Social Enterprise: Social Analytics and your Workforce (Mon 3:45)
    SPN214 Applying Social Business to Software Development Projects (Tue 1:30)

    Application Development (6 in all)
    AD204 Mastering the art of social application development (Wed 1:30)
    AD203 Developing Custom Client Applications Using the IBM Connections APIs (Wed 11:15)

    Other related sessions
    ASK 101 Ask the Developers (Thurs 1:30pm)
    ASK102 Ask the Product Managers (Thurs 11:15am)
    FS216 Social App Throwdown (Wed 5:30pm)


    Lotusphere 2012 #LS12 #IBMSocialBiz

    Joseph Russo  January 10 2012 08:51:10 AM
    Hi everyone, here's a heads up for where you can catch me at Lotusphere. I'll be in the UX Lab, come see me at the Social Business Solutions Design table. I'll be running a Hands on Design activity where we can take your favorite solution and see how to enhance the design with Social. I'll also be talking about Social Business Design Elements, please come, hear about them and influence the design with your feedback.

    Also, you can come to my presentation, under the Insights & Innovations Track

    INV314 Designing Social Business Solutions

    Abstract: Learn about the core principles that make a business solution social. We'll take you through
    the basic values that any social business solution design delivers and we'll cover core Design Patterns
    that enable you to become a Social Business. Learn about how social design patterns provide direct
    value to any business solution, and provide them in the context of the people using them as well as how
    adding social design patterns to a solution enhances the overall value of both your social network and
    every business solution that makes use of social design patterns.

    Speakers: Matt Flaherty, IBM; Joe Russo, IBM

    Tech level: *
    Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012
    Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    Location: N. Hem E

    and remember to follow me on twitter/russoDesigns, I'll be tweeting from Lotusphere.

    I look forward to seeing you, meeting you for the first time or catching up with old friends...see you soon!

    Kudos badges for IBM Connections annouced today

    Suzanne Livingston  January 4 2012 05:02:17 AM
    Adam Brown of ISW, an award-winning IBM Business Partner, posted some exciting news on his blog earlier today.

    Kudos Badges for IBM Connections is a flexible gamification engine for IBM Connections. By providing achievements and rewards (Kudos Badges), rank and leaderboards (Kudos Rank), and missions (Kudos Missions), organisations can dramatically improve their user engagement and adoption of IBM Connections.


    Congrats to the team on their launch! Check it out on their site http://www.kudosbadges.com/

    Real businesses getting real results with Lotus Live

    Suzanne Livingston  December 27 2011 08:44:47 AM
    A few days ago, wiredFinance's Big Fat Finance Blog posted a few Lotus Live customer stories:

    IBM, however, with its LotusLive Social Business Cloud has emerged as the leader with real businesses actually profiting through social cloud collaboration:

    Newly Weds Foods, here, needed a way to connect geographically dispersed teams without the capital expense and staff required to run an in-house collaboration system. They also needed security to protect their proprietary information and safeguard client recipes. They turned to the LotusLive Social Business cloud. The benefits: cut response from days to hours, saves 4-5 days per month in travel time, and cut travel costs by 10%. And a no-cost guest account lets them invite clients to collaborate on recipes.

    Panasonic turned to LotusLive cloud collaboration in its drive to become the electronics industry’s leading green innovation company. It also expects to improve its competitive advantage and boost business results by enabling multiple business units to work together more efficiently. The benefits: reduced cost and immediate accessibility to advanced collaboration tools across all regions of the global company, but especially for product research, development, and sales.

    Russell’s Convenience, here, has emerged as IBM’s poster child for social business collaboration. The company, which operates stores in numerous western states and Hawaii, looked to social media to connect its far-flung franchises and people using the cloud. It turned to the LotusLive Social Business cloud for seamless communication between corporate management, franchisees, and project teams and to provide a central location for definitive information and project plans. The results: travel costs reduced by 33% and postage costs by 50% for $30,000 in annual savings. It also increased revenue as a result of more timely communication around inventory and purchase trends.


    ISSL announces IBM Connections Quickstart for Lotus Notes/Domino

    Suzanne Livingston  December 8 2011 07:58:14 AM
    If you were excited about the entitlement to the IBM Connections Profiles and Files with Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5.3 but aren't sure how to get started, check out this quickstart offering from our services organization:

    IBM Connections QuickStart for Lotus Notes & Domino is a new offering from ISSL. The IBM® Connections QuickStart for Lotus Notes® and Domino® solution is a well-defined services process, delivered by IBM Software Services for Lotus (ISSL), which allows for deployment of a Connections Profiles and Files solution in three weeks.

    Here is a direct link to the services brief as well.


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