Some of you might be familiar with the jargon – Six Sigma.
For those who are not familiar with the jargon, Six Sigma is the process of “improvising processes or products by systematically eliminating defects”.

Now, picture this – What if Social Media could be used for product or process improvisation.

Everyone, say hello to Social Sigma – “The process of improvising a product or process by constantly eliminating defects by leveraging on social media and user feedback”.

It is the users who are the target audience for a product or service of any sorts – So, who better to gauge something than the users themselves?

Social Media is a great tool to gain feedback, make users talk about product features and defects and improve user experience.

Social Sigma is the ultimate mechanism or tool for product development, be it online or offline if implemented in the right way.

Actually, many companies have been implementing Social Sigma in a Micro scale giving no particular name to it and just labeling it as “User Feedback”.

How many times have you as a user seen a product or site and though, “Hey, this would be much better if the UI was better” or “This tool would be great if it had an interactive video series about how to use it”.

This my dear friends, is what you call “valuable feedback” which will aid in making the product the best in the marketplace.

Some common ways to implement Social Sigma are:

  • Allow users to give feedback on what they think about a product.

  • Use Social Media to improve processes, by allowing process managers and creators to interact and discuss and make it widely available through the internet.

  • Eliminate possible defects pointed out by users – Its easier to point out defects rather than give possible suggestions.

  • Keep Users posted on what changes are being done and encourage them to keep the process going.

So, finally it boils down to the fact that Social Media isn’t just a great tool for marketing, communication or branding but is also a huge potential tool for product and process development.


5 Comments

By » Social Sigma for Process and Product Improvisation on February 9, 2008

[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt […]

By Mani Karthik on February 10, 2008

Ashwin, Interesting concept. I’m picking it.

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By A week in blogging Feb 10-17th on February 17, 2008

[…] a social media marketing enthusiast from SMMWhiz, has written beautifully about the concept of social sigma. This is an interesting concept which you will read more about on the social media arena in the […]

By Qrystal on February 17, 2008

I can’t help but think “social stigma” every time I see the phrase “social sigma”, and I’m actually familiar with the Greek letter sigma from using it in other ways. What about those people who aren’t Greek-geeky like I am?

More on topic though, I am absolutely ecstatic about the possibilities of products being brought to near perfection thanks to user feedback. I definitely try to do my part whenever I can!

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By improvisation process on June 5, 2008

[…] or process by constantly eliminating defects by leveraging on social media and user feedback???.http://smmwhiz.com/2008/02/09/social-sigma-for-process-and-product-improvisation/Visual Feedback in Performer-Machine Interaction for Musical …File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - […]

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