WEB COMMUNICATION

B_guided Web 2.0 Application

LinLin Kearney

IED Barcelona

Fashion Marketing & Communication

Product Trends

City/lifestyle guides have always been a popular and appreciated product. The most notably city guide product is Lonely Planet which is the largest travel guidebook in the world. Although different from city/lifestyle magazines the principle is mainly the same. These days for travellers, city guidebooks, magazines and websites are almost essential before embarking on a journey. With the new web 2.0 allowing for huge amounts of user generated content regarded cities, countries and where to go in each, it is always easier to choose a magazine in the city and be guided from this rather than attempting to sift through the stacks of information on the internet. The popularity of these magazines has surged in recent years with many cities having many different magazines for sale and given for free. It trend has developed so much that now these magazines have changed from not only city guides but to complete lifestyle magazines. They include where to go, where to shop, what to buy, where to holiday, events, style sections and more. It’s a new type of advertising, creating a life image for the reader and so, by reading and following their advice, they are marking themselves as a certain type of person with a certain type of life. Creating types of ‘brands of life’ that identifies the user with specific attributes. The new consumer wants to feel empowered, and in control, like they are choosing what they are buying or buying into. These lifestyle magazines help them to feel empowered, giving them advice as to how to live their life in a certain style and what they need to choose, buy, eat or places to visit to get them this lifestyle.

Market & Consumer Behaviour Trends

According the FTF (Future Trends Forum) the top two motivations for consumers to part take in 2.0 applications, making the active users, is due to interest in topic and feelings of group belonging respectively. The following reasons were for entertainment and collaborative nature. This push from consumer to prosumer is an important trend in web 2.0, seeing a shift in 2006 with 85% of web contents being created by common users and only 15% by media or companies. With these statistics and knowledge of the consumer motivations we can clearly see that any company website must facilitate for this new breed of user generated content and social interactivity. In regards to magazines websites it is essential if they want their magazine to stay successful with the ‘hard-copy’ publishing like magazines and newspapers declining in popularity. To really attract the new age web consumer you we must create a web 2.0 application that caters for the new consumer need, something that allows for them to have their say, connect with others and receive information that is catered specifically to their needs and interests. A consumer will generally lose interest if the information they are looking for takes more than 3 mouse clicks. With this in mind, creating a application that takes the information the user gives and searching and finding and returning the most relevant topics to them through advertisement or page suggestions is a very successful means of getting their attention.

For city/lifestyle magazines a main part is the deciding of what is cool, what place is the place to be ‘seen’, which art gallery has the best shows etc. The reviews and recommendations are key and if the users do not connect or agree or like these recommendations then the magazine will fail. To create a web 2.0 application that instead of the website publishing content, you allow the community to create content, choosing and decided what is good and what’s not that goes above and beyond any traditional

sense. Of course not everything that users create will be publishable but it does open the door to discovering many talented people, especially in writing. And the best part is that it is completely free. The users do not get paid, instead you pay them by empowering them; they become a voice that is heard, a critic being published. Not only this but you facilitate for them to connect with others and to connect them with places of interest.

B_guided 2.0 Application

• Goals and Objectives

This new application using web page and mobiles aims to create a platform where B_guided readers can contribute to the magazine by generating content, connect with other readers with similar tastes, share experiences, recommend and critique. This user-orientated application will not only give readers the interactive component they are looking for but at the same time give them the power to critique and share experiences with other users.

• Target Definition

The new application will be aimed at readers who are looking for a more hands on, user generated style of city guide magazine. Readers that like to hear critiques from the locals, people like themselves that share the same interests. By allowing readers to generate the content, it gives the critique a sense of authenticity and truth. You can find a review or critique about everything on the internet in this age but to have a review or story from someone that has the same interest as you, the same taste and the same lifestyle, helps to give readers exactly what they are looking for without having to scroll through hundreds of useless information spamming the internet.

• Description

The website will have an interactive map with many local bars, cafes, restaurants, art galleries, bookshops and theatres listed with their address and all relevant information. Any reader that would like to critique, add a recommendation or story simply needs to create a profile for himself or herself. This personal profile outlines their interests, musical taste, age, hobbies, favourite artist, favourite animal etc to give other users an overview of what kind of person they are. Each of these descriptive words will be tags (tagging) to allow for users to search for like-minded profiles of interest (see diagram). These will also be links to the certain place which is self tagged with these characteristics. For example “My Scene” allows users to list the kinds of places they like, underground indie nightclub, which then is a hyperlink to the profile of nightclubs that are indie/rock and roll. This connectivity and usage of the key element in 2.0 applications, tagging, is essential for getting relevant information to the consumer.

Once they have created a profile, users can submit a story, review, critique of the experience at the specific bar, café or art gallery, which is sent to administration for approval. Once approved this content is listed in the profile of the place they chose. From here, any user can click on the place, for example, a bar, and read the funny experience that another user had there, outlining the service or the great design or attractive bar tender. Users can add other users as contacts of interest, which allows them to see which places they have commented on. Users can also subscribe to different places, for example, an art gallery, and from here will get updates when new reviews have been posted on the current art show or alerts of special events that are being hosted

there. The application can be added on their phone and from here can be used while they are mobile, checking in to see what events are happening, new reviews or critiques.

Another function of the mobile application is for the user to check into a place and be tagged on their profile as “at Bar Lobo” for example. Another part of the mobile application will be as a map to locate any of the listed places and to give instructions on how to get there, what is happening there at the time and any other information that is relevant. This mobile connectivity is essential role of the 2.0 applications and allows for users to be ‘on the go’ and always connected to the website, alerts and other users.

• Contents

The initial application will be the profile of each user, the profiles of each shop, café, bar, gallery etc and the reviews/recommendations that each user submits to these profiles. It is user generated content and this is the main foundation of the application. It will feature an interactive map with the main areas and streets of Barcelona with a few highlighted places that are featured based on popularity or new updates or events that are happening on that day or week. The stylish map will highlight up to 6 places in one day and once the mouse is moved over each picture, it enlarges, showing the brief information and opens up 2-3 speech bubbles that are from user commenting about the place.

Once on each profile (user or place) there will be an option to follow/subscribe, which allows users to track the activity of other users and places. Also it will send updates to their mobile phone when a new event or a new comment has been posted. A check in option for the mobile application allows other users to see who is in what place and for those checked in to add small status’ to their profile about the place, for example, “Having drinks at The Barn with friends, great wine, great service, perfect for a Sunday Afternoon”. The mobile application will also allow users on the go to check the latest updates and events that are going on. Also they can use it as an interactive map to help direct them to each place while they are out and about.

The website and mobile application will be very simple in design, all white with black text keeping in the design of the b_guided website.

• Consumer Role/ Interactivity

The consumers will play the main part in this application, as it is a user content generated application. Users will write reviews and stories and send them in to be approved before they are posted on the places profile. Users interact with each other by following each other and places, subscribe to news feeds of events and updated info.

• Web Page Design Map