Nerd Network: Building an Online Community for Developers

National Instruments transforms the way engineers and scientists around the world design and deploy systems. Often deemed the "Home Depot for Engineers," NI offers a wide-variety of hardware and software products to empower technology leaders working on applications ranging from LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software to hardware for the CERN supercollider.

With such a broad user base, it is essential for engineers utilizing NI products to connect, communicate and collaborate online in order to obtain support for niche applications. Utilizing the P.O.S.T. methodology, NI launched a successful online community, www.ni.com/community, in 2008 for engineers 25,000 companies globally.

This central portal helps users discover and collaborate on example code, technical tutorials, and textbooks using a wiki-based platform. The NI Developer Zone Community also includes a variety of other technologies, including forums, RSS feeds, blogs, videos, polls, and tagging.

With this new site, NI community members can easily share development techniques, learn about cutting-edge technologies, and connect with product experts working on similar applications worldwide.