Next Generation Product Development Tools – Part 20

In my last entry I ended with this question: “At what point do non-monetary motivational factors – reputation and empowerment – overwhelm the barriers to entry for average people?” It’s an especially timely question because the interface barriers are dropping so rapidly.

Minority Report technology no longer seems like science fiction; in fact, YouTube is filling with it. And once-daunting 3D application tasks are routinely simplified into “I can do that” activities (e.g. ILoveSketch).

Consequently, it may not be long before increasingly sophisticated users reach the proverbial tipping point where mere apprehension of using a 3D application is no longer an issue preventing them from attempting to learn. And of course, when the barrier to entry lowers, so does the necessary motivation.
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Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 18

In my last entry I touched upon how the opportunity to improve one’s social reputation would encourage some people to learn 3D modeling; especially as new, task-specific interfaces such as Spore‘s “Creature Creator” make traditionally difficult applications easier for novices. Social reputation – especially within the framework of the videogame community or popular online social networking sites – is one non-monetary incentive for learning 3D CAD. Personal empowerment – particularly within one’s “real” world community – is another.
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