Social Productivity

In the days where there is an Uber-for-everything, if you can’t dial up someone to do it for you, it’s hard to get things done. Have you noticed that the hard things really are, still, hard?

I found this myself when planning and organizing my wedding. We decided to do it ourselves and do it our way. Which meant researching a ton of options, from caterers to venues. Running around town and trips, taking notes and discussing together. But also, to make it our own, there were things we came up with that we couldn’t just buy. But make. And like raising a barn, we had help from friends and family. Which meant coordinating and communicating right through that glorious day.

While putting this together, I found myself lacking the tools to be productive and creative. I realized there was a gap in social productivity that made it harder than it should be to get things done on my own, and especially with other people, and on the go. That gap existed for all the things I wanted to get done with friends, family and colleagues. Not just big lifetime events like a wedding ?—? but running errands and chores, keeping the home organized, hosting a potluck dinner, trip and vacation planning, and yes, work.

Social Productivity

So what is Social Productivity? Getting things done yourself, and largely with other people. Some of the goals you accomplish will be more mundane than lofty, like crossing something off a to-do list instead of organizing a new community. Social Productivity will borrow design patterns from the social web and enterprise tools. It’s a combination of Personal Productivity and Collaboration that empowers people.

A Social Productivity app:

• Is as simple, instant and social as messaging. So everyone can use and spread it. A lightweight, fast and easy way to get things done. Letting you work in real-time with others. Ridiculously easy to form groups, and unlike a CC line, bordering on fun.
• It’s a consumer service, like a social network for getting stuff done. Maybe individuals will pay for increased social productivity. But it can’t be driven by enterprise requirements that yield complex, slow and siloed products.
• Single-player and multi-player modes. You need a private space for a person to be comfortable in, and gradients of privacy to get things done with others, when they are ready.
• It of course has to work across devices and platforms to connect with everyone and support you on the go

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Now there are a lot of apps out there. First generation mobile apps like the native calendar, notes and list apps. And second generation apps that let you work across your devices like Evernote. Generally fast and easy to use, and great on the go. All good for personal productivity, but because they don’t connect people, you and your outboard memory are really on your own. You end up drafting something and messaging it to someone. Not being productive with people through the app.

There are fantastic messaging apps out there that connect people, like Whatsapp, Snapchat, GroupMe and Facebook Messenger. And enterprise darling Slack. Great for communicating and sharing instantly, but too ephemeral for setting goals and getting things done.

And there are great document apps for documenting together, like Office, Google Docs, Dropbox and Quip. Good for creating long-form content together in tandem with chat. But not as instant, simple and social as messaging is for everyday use with regular people.

But with all that consumer choice for apps, and a noisy crowded market, I don’t think the generation of social productivity apps has arrived.

A More Productive World

There are 1 billion people who are about to get connected with smartphones. They never had a PC on their desk and are in places that not even Microsoft could reach. Someone in their community was the first to get a cell phone. Maybe that person texted the market to get prices for their daily catch. Maybe that person upgraded to a smart phone and is on Whatsapp right now. That person was more productive, and made those around them more productive. But soon almost everyone is going to have that very smart phone in their hands and they are going to get more done than just talking. Maybe organizing their community to get something greater done. I believe there will be a social productivity app on every consumer’s phone, and what emerges with groups of people will make the world more productive.

At Pingpad, we are quietly making that social productivity app. In a private beta, with lots to do to fulfill our mission. But I don’t like stealth mode that much and I thought I’d be open about the problem we are solving. Come join us when the time is right.

Ross Mayfield is the CEO and co-founder of Pingpad, making social productivity as instant, simple and social as messaging. Previously, he was with SlideShare (acquired by LinkedIn) and co-founded Socialtext (the enterprise social software pioneer) and RateXchange (a B2B bandwidth exchange). He might get back into blogging.