Designing forCommunity

Week Eight

• Why design for community

• MUDs

• Discussion Groups

• Blogs

• Podcasts

• Wikis

Designing for Community

• Creates a powerful meeting place, sounding board

• Give audience a voice

• Creates strong site "stickiness" and loyalty

• Inexpensive way to keep site fresh

• Get great ideas for improvements/content

Why Design for Community?

Types of Online Communities

• multi user dimensions/dungeons

• earliest online communities

• Community members build structure, society

• intense commitment

• some users can get addicted

MUDs

• WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectric Link) the first

• thousands worldwide

• serve niches and communities of interest very well

• easy to create

• require careful moderation

Discussion Groups

• online diaries, aka weblogs

• maintained by one person or small collective

• easy to keep fresh

• often self-indulgent

Blogs

• feedback comes from message boards, phone, audio gmail

• more labour intensive

• powerful "cult of personality" factor

Podcasts

• feedback comes from message boards, phone, audio gmail

• more labour intensive

• powerful "cult of personality" factor

Vlogs

Seesmic

• Hawaiian for "quick"

• collaborative content development

• users engineer architecture

• grows organically

• needs clear rules and processes

Wiki

Any online contentcan spark community

On the web content is only

a catalystfor community

and conversation

Phillip SmithCommunitybandwidth

Thank you for your kind attention