mo.de. - motivational design: the four core elements
DESCRIPTION
This presentation explains the first part of our methodology for social design. Here we are explaining the four core elements of our theory: Functional Needs, Social Usability, Relational Motivations, Circadian Activity Flow. Authors: G. Giacoma, D. CasaliTRANSCRIPT
Mo.De.Motivational Design
In summary,what are social networks?
They are networks of people.
Network: complex systems.
People: psychological and social dynamics.
We need to think differentlyabout social networks.
Technology enables usage but that's not enough: the dynamics interplay on the interfaces, which are considered social artefacts in addition to being cognitive.
Why do we needmotivations in design?
It’s because if we consider systemic factors as constraints and opportunities, the motivations are what fuel social networks and make them running, growing and living entities.
The four pillars ofMotivational Design:
1. Functional Needs
2. Social Usability
3. Relational Motivations
4. Circadian Activity Flow
1.
Opening a channel isn’t enoughto make people participate.
flickr • 11164872@N04
The Functional Needs:
Needs and requirements of the person and/or group that are satisfied explicitly by the system.
The Motivation:
Dynamic factor of animal and human behavior that activates and directs toward an objective.
The Relational Motivations:
1. Competition
2. Excellence
3. Curiosity
4. Affection
The Relational Motivations:competition.
The need to impose oneself and/or his/hers beliefs.
The search for a confrontation.
The accumulation of aggressiveness.
Anger - Aggressivitysystem
ExampleDigg: no more charts
Digg was forced to remove the “Top Diggers” chart.
The reason? Top diggers were accused of manipulating results to be "at the top" and Digg perceived this as ruining the quality of the service.
http://blog.digg.com/?p=60
The Relational Motivations:excellence.
The need to confirm one's skills and quality self-worth.
The need for approval and increase one's self-esteem.
Narcissism - Self
ExampleDigg: the voting system
Digg’s voting design is very simple and fast: one click and you decide if the content is good.
Note: while it isn’t clear at first glance, the “vote down” feature exists as well. It’s just harder to reach and use. Digg has a “hybrid” voting design: two votes are possible, but one is definitely easier.
The Relational Motivations:curiosity.
The need for knowledge and control.
The need to satisfy one's exploratory instinct.
Research - Playsystem
ExampleFFFFOUND! arouses curiosity
FFFFOUND! is a service focused on continual visual creativity stimulation. It associates images and people together in order to make affinities and ideas emerge.
The Relational Motivations:affection.
The need to share and be a part of a community or relationship that supports individual actions and thoughts, that also functions as a shelter to protect oneself.
Affection - Caresystem
ExampleLinkedIn: implicit and explicitOn LinkedIn groups and recommendations are used to raise one’s status.
Groups are used to display a sort of “social identification badge”.
Recommendations play a role of reciprocal acknowledgment.
11.
Social is overrated.
flickr • luc
Social Usability.
Social Usability is a quality attribute that assesses how easy social interactions are to make.
The word “social usability” also refers to the methods for improving the ease of human-human interactions during the design process.
Social Usability properties:interpersonal relations.
How easy is it to find other people and connect to them?
How easy is it to keep those connections active?
How relevant are those connections?
ExampleFriendFeed: subtle contacts
FriendFeed designed an interesting method to allow people to discover other people in a content-driven situation.
It shows you a specific content of someone you don’t follow if a friend comments on it.
Social Usability properties:identity.
How rich is one's personal identity expression?
How much are interests and passions expressed?
How much are personal distinctive traits shown?
ExampleFacebook: profilesFacebook, as a generic social network (a social network without any other scope outside social relations) is the best example of a 360° profile.
Note: it’s curious that the page theme is one of the few things that isn’t possible to customize, it’s a kind of personalization that allows a very good identity expression at a glance.
Social Usability propertiescommunication.
How fast can a message reach the other person?
How many messages can one handle efficiently?
How easy is it to handle conversations (1-to-1, 1-to-some, 1-to-many)?
ExampleSkype: with one, or manySkype is a software that allows very flexible and lightweight communication channel management: personal 1-to-1, private 1-to-some and public 1-to-many. All of these with just a click.
This is true for both text and voice (and file exchange).
Social Usability properties:groups emergence.
How easy is it to create groups, aggregate and talk around a common interest?
How active are groups once estabilished?
How long do they last?
How important is to be a part of the group?
ExampleIRC: a new group is simpleThis is an old friend. IRC is centered on the room metaphor, that’s just a way to organize groups. A new group is just a few clicks away.
The IRC rooms: real time interactions and a name can easily build strong relationships.
Circadian Activity Flow.
It’s the sequence of small and big actions made during the span of a day, prioritized through competing individual value hierarchies: importance, interest, obligations, easiness, moral, etc.
ExampleTwitter: always, everywhere
Twitter is a leader of insertion ins one’s flow, thanks to a wide array of channels to use it: web, e-mail, instant messaging, sms.
Anything not offered by Twitter directly is created by outsiders through the API.
111.
Doubts? Questions? Comments?
flickr • jay_que
Gianandrea Giacoma
Davide Casali
Better SoftwareFlorence, 6-7th of may, 2009bettersoftware.it
flickr • dharmesh84