Social Media Experience 7.08

Contents for this class

• Evaluation of SOC08-weekend– Location? Food & Fun? Timing? Guest

lectures: clo, tijs, tom / Other elements• Did you find it usefull (& fun)?

• Two elements on design methodologies– Community Centered Development

• These basic ideas are our main start.

– Social Interaction Design (hat tip to Jeroen)

CCD

• Community Centered Development Method

– Those who took the Community class already know about this.

– Repitition will however be usefull

– Design methodology by Jenny Preece– Specialises in online communities &

social computing. • Human Computer interaction

– Latest work & profile• http://tinyurl.com/2rad25

CCD

– In 2000 she published “Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability.”

– Developers and users have responsibility to plan, guide, and mold communities to support the people in them. Like twentieth-century town planners and architects, community developers can profoundly shape the online community landscape. Attention to sociability and usability will be a big step along the way to ensuring development of successful online communities.

– Check http://tinyurl.com/39xxtz formore info

CCD

• Community Centered Development Methodology borrows ideas from User Centered Design.

• The basic idea of her methodology– Humanity Driven > Community Driven– social “actions” & the software enabling them should be

intertwined and are equally important– Close engagement of all stakeholders from the start of

the design process– “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings

shape us” - Winston Churchill– She beleives in the organic growth of an online

community environment• Therefore it is wise to think about the roles of community

leaders versus the people on the community.

CCD

• Jenny Preece basic idea of an OC is…– People

• make the community. Group dynamics, needs and roles shape the community.

– Purposes • people come together for a shared

purpose(s).

– Policies • behavior is governed by group norms, rules

and sometimes formal policies.

– Software • supports and influences community activity.

Pillars of participatory community-centered development

Sociability Purpose People Policies

Usability Dialog & social

interaction support

Information design

Navigation Access

CCD

• Sociability – people purposes policies– A community must stimulate social

interaction– good sociability has unambiguous,

supportive, social structures.• Usability – software & beyond…

– human-computer interaction– good usability

• Consistent• controllable • predictable

CCD

• Sociability• Purpose – provide a clear statement of

purpose, brand name, symbol– Why

• People – support different types of participants and participation, show presence when appropriate, keep participants interested

CCD

• Sociability• Policies – guide behavior by providing and

encouraging conventions, moderate with policies, support trust and security

• Joining & leaving requirements• By-laws (the internal rules)• Codes of practice for communication• Rules for moderation• Issues of privacy & trust• Practies for distinguishing professionally contributed

info that can be relied upon• Rules for copyright• Democracy & free speech in the community

CCD

Usability Dialog & social interaction support –provide

support for communication – icons, reduce typing, visualizations

Information design – distinguish between new & old content, different types of content

Navigation – support moving around the community, searching messages, moving between modules

Access – consider speed of connection, not everyone has most recent technology

CCD

• Consists out of– User-centered design:

• User > technology• Contextual inquiry: understanding the

importance of the user context – “staying in context enables us to gather ongoing

experience rather than summary experience and concrete data rather dan abstract data”

» the context in which a product is used > essential for design

» the user is a partner in the design process

• ~participatory design• Continuous iterative develop-and-test-cycles

Support evolving community(frequently reassess community needs)

Design usabilityInteraction dialogNavigationRegistration fromsFeedbackSupport tools etc

Assess community needs

Plan SociabilityPolicies for membershipCodes of conductSecurity privacyetc

CCD

• Assessing community needs– Identify main users’ activities

• Spread information• Exchange info• Discussion• Support• Entertainment

– Analyse users’ tasks• Join and leave community• Receive & read messages• Make & send messages• Search for messages, info, other members• Trying to locate sources outside the community

– Also• Internet experience level• Technical constraints

CCD

• Analyzing Users tasks–becoming a com member; –quitting the community?– receive messages; –Reading messages; –Writing messages–Sending messages–Searching for info, people,

messages…–How can I consult extra sources

CCD

• Planning Sociability– Should it be an open or a closed comunity?

• Why?– Moderator?

• How will things be moderated?– Editorial policy?

• What will it look like?– By laws needed?

• Extra internal laws needed? Encourage memebers to write them.

– Disclaimer• Copyright statement, a policy for archiving,…

– How to support social interaction (subgroups etc)• What kind of subgroups willl/can form?• …

CCD

• Planning Sociability and usability– Knowing what (social) tasks users want

to perform, knowing what (social) needs they have [SOCIABILITY] what will be the best way to design, glue together,... an environment supporting them? [USABILITY]

CCD vs SXD

• We will now focus more on Social Interaction Design– Difference (to my opinion)?

• CCD is focussed on the experience of a group of people; SxD is focussed on the

• CCD starts from the point of view of the community organiser, SxD starts from the point of view of the member

• CCD sees “being social” as a neccessary asset, in SxD “being social” is a promise not a neccessity.

– So, how to use them?• See CCD & SxD both as ways to ask some key

questions when developing your design.

SXD

• On Social Interaction Design (SxD)• Hat tip to Jeroen...

– It’s not a new form of designing– It’s a new way of looking at things

– All info derives from Gravity7 (http://tinyurl.com/2m7sae)

• I will only highlight some elements • You must read the rest at the site• In the end we will look at web site audits, which can

be used as a guidance for building social media

SxD

• We already know what social media are– Social media are not just websites, but are

dynamic social systems– Their User Interface is a Social Interface– Their content is people– Their people are contributors– Their contributions communicate – That communication is a form of talk– That talk is informed by design

• So, key elements: People communicate via talk, this talk is ‘organised, stimulated,...’ via the social environment, the user interface.

SxD

• Shift of Paradigm– From individual users to social practices– User provides content, and content is people– Grounded in the personal, biographical, and

the everyday – Personally and socially meaningful activities

and mediated forms of talk and interaction• New modes of organizing attention

– Remember: Ambient interruption/ Tijs’ talk on self promo

• New forms of value and differentiation– Clo on the “I saw this link first”-feeling

• New channels for messaging– “What are you doing?”

• New means of capturing audiences– Viral > spread via network

SxD

• The Social Paradigm– User as a social Self

• Social media are not so social at all, they are mainly self-centric?

• User as self-interested and interested in others– All activity is social (visible to some others)– Interaction is Participation– Participation is a form of talk

• Eg. LastFM > me listening to music is my participation– Talk has new forms and languages

• Eg Superwall, tagging, poking, nudging,...• New forms include posts, comments, reviews, ratings,

gestures and tokens, votes, links, badges, video– New forms are distributable and communicable

• The social coin of exchange > it isn’t good if it can’t be easily distributed

SxD

• Social Interaction– In any social encounter a participant

seeks to know:• What’s going on?

– If the interaction is familiar, s/he will have a sense of:• How to proceed• What to do next

– Users of social media obtain this from the participation of others on the site• Eg applications in facebook

SxD

• It’s all talk– Talk is addressed to an audience, of one, two,

a group, or a public– Codes and forms of talk organize social media

• What kind of talk do we have on facebook

– Talk is direct (to addressee) or indirect (in front of audience)

• Striking: lots of “personal” – Semi-private space in lots of online social media

environments

– Communication technology publishes and archives pages, posts, comments, and media

– Interaction technology captures and transmits direct interactions: IM, direct messaging,

SxD

• Themes– The identity of a social media service is

thematic– Themes communicate What’s Going On

which tells users How to proceed• Career networking and passive job search• Dating and Flirting• Verticals: music, movies, books, pets• Shopping, reviewing, “best of” and “new”• Classifieds, listings, marketplaces• News, feeds, press, blog coverage

SxD

• Activities are Social– Social media are designed around social

activities– Activities structure the talk and the action– Activities use participants, context, themes– These organize who talks, about what, what

happens, when and how frequently, for how long

– All of which must be represented meaningfully– And which must be self-sustaining and alive

SxD

• Users own it– The social media application platform is not in

our hands – it must be handed over to users and the

community of users– Shift of thinking from “what it does” to “what

users do with it”– Users need to feel that it is theirs, need to own

it and their relationship to it– Create the system so that it can become what

it will mean to each user , and as a result, service the community

SxD

• Common practices on SMPlatform• Social practices emerge on social media as

use becomes another way of maintaining and participating in relationships– Tell by posting– Show by uploading– Talk by commenting– Seek by querying– Ask by questioning– Opinionate by blogging– Associate by tagging

SxD

• Types of talk– Different kinds of talk form different social

practices, identifiable by their common interactions, balance of private and public, levels of participation, etiquette, seriousness, formality, and more

• They shape the degree to which users refer to and involve themselves as real people in communication

• Confessions, biographical and personal profiles• Flirtations, compliments, friending• Advice, recommendations, reviews• Opinions and discussions

SxD

• Windows and Views– Views of information, stats, traffic, and

activity measure, describe, and show user and audience participation.

– Views create aggregate perspective– Users look at views– Windows containing user generated content

are a selection of relevant contents– Users take interest in others– clickthroughs, rating, favoriting, friending,

tagging, etc

SxD

• Reflections and Mirrors– Social media show users their own activity

back to them– Reflections show users their presence to others– Users are interested in how they appear and

how they appear to others– Mirrors show users their reflection– Users need to see themselves represented– Users take interest in themselves

• numbers, ranking, ratings, votes, friends, testimonials, lists, gestures, winks, compliments all reflect upon the user

SxD

• System Feedback– It’s necessary to show users their own actions,

particularly the social consequences and reception of their actions

– Users need to establish trust in the system’s own functions and features

– Users want to feel competent users of the system

– The system’s feedback is confirmation of their actions and recognition of their competence

– Much system feedback is provided by other users, displayed and organized by design

SxD

• Distribution– Some social media are built as

destination sites and “walled city” domains

– Some social media extend their presence through widgets, badges, and shared data beyond their domain• to the desktop• to mobile • to other networked device

SXD

• We will take a look at some site audits

• In these audits some key issues are raised.

• You can use them as guidelines while building your social media environment

• You can do these audits on your own, but also by using focus groups to help you in evaluating them.

SxD• Site objectives and goals

– What are your site's objectives, and how well are they being met

• Perspective: your & user’s• All social practices are as you designed it for?

– Eg Friendster met Fake-profiles• What kind of activity do you wish to facilitate? Is it occurring?

– What kind of value does your site provide?• To you (company) - To users - To third parties (businesses,

advertisers, etc.)• To whom are you providing value, and how?

• What are the social barriers to participation on your site?• How well does an individual user experience match your

stated goals for user and community participation?

SxD

• Themes– Communicating your theme

• What is your site about, and does it leverage something that members already talk about?

• Is it easy for members to see the benefits of participating in your site?

• Can members see this from what others are doing?

• Do members naturally talk about the theme or topic your site is built around?

• What motivates them to participate?

SxD

• What is your site's theme, and does it drive the kind of social participation you anticipated? How does it shape user participation?

• What kinds of talking and posting support that theme? How familiar are your users with it?

• Does your site's theme speak directly to users' daily routines or practices? Or does your service ask them to invest, to make a creative stretch, in order to see the value of your site?

• If so, what individual and social techniques do you use to drive motivation: for individual involvement as well as for social engagement? In other words, do your users see the purpose in doing this socially

SxD

• Seen from the user's perspective, your site's uses depend on what the site does, who's on it, and what they're doing. – What are your site's primary social practices?

Do they serve your purposes? – Socializing? – Auto-biographical disclosure? – Establishing personal expertise and talent? – Establishing professional expertise and skill? – Helping others? Abusing others? – Attracting attention through desirability? Looks

and poses? Wit and writing? Connectedness and popularity? Activity and participation?

SxD

• Content Organization– Does your site help users find what they need?– What kind of content organization schemes are you using?– Are users encouraged to contribute?– Does your success depend on their motivation to contribute?– If so, what would motivate them?– Perceptions, recognition, acknowledgement? (popularity,

celebrity, expertise, trust, etc)– Could a user's contributions be a natural extension of his or

her interests? In other words, would using your site, and contributing to it, make sense?

– Where else do you obtain content from?– Is your mix of user-generated content and third party feeds,

articles, and so on easy to differentiate and navigate?– How and with what effectiveness are you using rich media?

SxD

• Talk– What kinds of talk does your site facilitate?– How does it help users to differentiate themselves?– What are members "asked" to say in front of others?– Does this provide them with a clear means by which to appear

interesting to other members?– What kinds of talk earn members the attention of others?– How long, or short, are the runs of talk on your site?– How is the talk self-sustaining?– How does it appeal to user's ongoing attention?– Does it appeal on the basis of its content (fact), its personal

appeal (relationships), or something else?– Does your site's navigation support it?– Does your site's organization structure it?– Do your site's tags, directories, lists, and supplemental

navigation surface and engage interesting talk?– If your site uses rich media, how well are they embedded in

different kinds of talk?

SxD

• Communication– Who are your members talking to? – Why are they (not) talking? – What makes them interested in others – What makes them interesting to others? – How are you using direct interaction tools (IM,

winks, messaging)? – How are you using indirect communication

tools (posts, comments, compliments)? – What are the barriers to communication on

your site? – What are the benefits, rewards, and incentives

to and from communication on your site?

SxD

• Member trust and system confidence– How much trust does your site require?– What kind of trust do you establish among

members?– Do you use social networking to create trust?– How does your site surface trusted content?– How does it distinguish trusted members?– What commenting, rating, voting or other

social participation schemes have you employed to make trust a visible and reliable feature of your service?

SxD

• Transactions– What do your members exchange with one another? – What kind of economy organizes these exchanges? – How do members stand out? – How do members give and take, and what do they give

and take? – What kinds of transactions occur directly between

members? – What kinds of transactions are conducted "in front" of all

members? Groups? Friend networks? – How do you use community policing or normative

reinforcement to enable self-sustaining and self-organizing user behaviors?

– What token gestures (such as winks, favoriting, hotlisting, compliments) are available to you for the purpose of cementing transactions and their cultural economies and social practices?

SxD

• Distribution– Do you export your content to badges? – Do you use widgets to parcel out small

and familiar kinds of social interactions? – Could your content or users be of value

to third party sites or services? – If so, how might widgets be used to

accomplish this?

Assignment

• Ga een half uur in uw projectgroep zitten.• Surf naar http://gravity7.com/• Kijk naar de site audits

– Overloop ze en zoek naar eerste start van oplossingen voor jullie project.

– Of herleid ze tot strategische vragen voor jullie projectopbouw

– Zie dit als een eerste brainstorm– De highlights hiervan binnen half uur voor

groep• Gebruik daarna methodologie voor de

opbouw van ganse site