customisable sites
DESCRIPTION
Since Geocities made it easy to publish and build websites online editors have come a long way. The capability of tuning your own site contributed both to the rise and fall of Myspace. After Myspace it seemed for a while that allowing your users to customize any design was not done, but slowly we see the market recover and a willingness to experiment with new kinds of style editors is growing. In this article I will try to describe some trends that are going on which can help you to pick the right editor for your next project.TRANSCRIPT
Customizable social sites
Lessons learned and questions unanswered
What is this presentation about?
• A look at the current best practices• What I’m currently working on• Things to take into consideration (aka lessons
learned)• Discussion
Current best practices
• Microblogs• Blogs + social networks
Flavors.me – simple styling
All about styling
Tumblr.com – beautiful themes
typepad.com – photo colour generator
typepad.com – simple action = great result
Lessons from microblogs
• Editor can be placed where-ever wanted• Give users the ‘feeling’ they are in control of
the design• Blow them away with great pre-made styles
Myspace.com – editor on top
posterous.com – smallest of them all
Blogger.com – using templates
Blogger.com – customize template
tumblr.com – css, do it all yourself
Lessons from blogs + social networks
• Editors preferable small and on top• Work with templates, make sure the defaults
look great• Gradually allow users more control
1. Pick a template 2. customize template 3. edit css
Current work at Webjam
• Focus on different user roles• Encourage users to customize themes• But keep them away from ongoing editing
sessions• Make it a visual appealing ‘fun’ experience
webjam.com – editor framework
webjam.com – simple choices
webjam.com – make it visual
The more flexibility you offer the more complex the interface of the editor becomes (the harder your usability test are going to be).
Complexity curve
Try to keep make your themes and customization options so good looking that users won’t request editing the site themselves.
How to deal with complexity
6 guidelines for RIAs
1. Make It Direct 2. Keep It Lightweight3. Stay on the Page4. Provide an Invitation5. Use Transitions6. React Immediatelysource: http://www.insideria.com/2009/09/50-most-usable-rias.html
Questions + discussion
• [email protected]• http://svirsk.org• @sjors
• More to read:http://uxmag.com/design/rich-internet-application-screen-design