I’m eternally interested in the complex issues of online identity and the ongoing challenges that sites face. There’s a tug-of-war between providing visitors with complete safety and complete convenience. Lots of interesting work goes on in this space. Fast Company named Facebook’s Dave Morin as one of their “100 most creative people” for his quest to solve this problem using Open ID. Design researcher Sam Ladner reframes the conversation away from privacy towards allowing users greater control over their own (potentially stigmatizing) identities. The NY Times Magazine showed us how credit card companies use detailed transaction data to build a picture of its customers to assess risk, but you can see how they might use this data in our favor as well.
Plenty of Charlotteans have keyrings like mine, with bar codes to get discounts at Harris Teeter and access to the YMCA. How retailers use loyalty programs is well documented, but today I wondered about how the Y might use the two pieces of data I effortlessly give them: who I am and when I go to the gym.
New features Find other people with a similar workout schedule as I do and create an exercise group, send me text/email alerts for classes I might be interested in that align with my preferred workout times, tell me who else I know is at the gym when I walk in so I can find them .
Alternative pricing models Incentivize me to use the gym during non-peak hours or use less-busy Y locations, charge by the visit instead of by the month, rewards programs (and parties!) for folks who reach the 100, 1000, 10,000 visit milestones.
New partnerships Share the data with my family, my doctor or employer/insurance provider to prove that I’m exercising, tie to my phone apps or NikePlus to track workouts, GoogleMaps mashup to show how many people are at the gym at any given time.
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