The WELL: inkwell.vue.132: Derek Powazek: Design for Community

#77: Gail Williams (gail) Tue 22 Jan 02 12:06

Tue, 22 Jan 2002 12:06:00 PST

By the way... I noticed this in the Online Community Report:

> * Book Launch: "Design for Community" (Oakland, CA, Jan 23) > http://msp.sfsu.edu/oakland/newsevents/index.html#designcommunity

So Derek will be in Oakland tomorrow evening. [Read entire topic]

#76: Derek M. Powazek (dmpowazek) Sun 2 Dec 01 17:33

Sun, 02 Dec 2001 17:33:00 PST

Thanks, Jon and everyone! This was fun. Thanks very much for having me here and asking such great questions.

I hope to see you all in the Design for Community conversations! http://designforcommunity.com/conversations/

Ever forward,

-- Derek [Read entire topic]

#75: Derek M. Powazek (dmpowazek) Sun 2 Dec 01 17:31

Sun, 02 Dec 2001 17:31:00 PST

Nancy --

As interfaces go, most sites that self-identify as communities go for the straight-up bulletin board approach. Welcome page. Select a section. Select a thread. Drill drill drill. It's understandable, sure, but boring.

I think, depending on your site's goals and the depth of your community functionality, there are many opportunities to play with the interface. For example, at Kvetch! (www.kvetch.com), the site is structured like an old radio, complete with knobs and buttons. Selecting a section is like dialing in a radio station. And the posts are presented randomly - contributing to a sense of chaos and spontaneity.

Another novel community interaction I saw once was actually a popup advertisement. I can't remember who is was for - Levi's perhaps - but it presented a branded theme and asked users to talk back. It was a sponsored, temporary community interaction, and it only worked because it was presented with such a light, playful spirit.

Then, of course, there are the visual mediums. Habbo Hotel (www.habbo.com) springs to mind, where the community is represented visually, with little rooms and tiny pixel people. I talked about Habbo a lot in Chapter 12, because I think they're on the leading edge of this kind of visual net-based community.

In the end, the interface you create for your community says something about the kind of community you want to create. An interface that tends to promote the content (like the way Slashdot is all about the content on the front page, and stories are presented in descending chronological order) creates an environment where the conversation is really based on content and time. An interface that makes people click through long lists of conferences, sections, and thread names with little hand-holding (sound familiar?) says something else about the community you want to create: it's here for the people who already know how to get around - heavy on the social structure and community participation.

Interface is a huge contributor to the flavor of community you want to create, and it's powerful because it's so subliminal and unspoken. [Read entire topic]

#74: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Sat 1 Dec 01 20:45

Sat, 01 Dec 2001 20:45:00 PST

Thanks, Derek, for sharing your thoughts with us! For the rest of you: there's more discussion of Derek's book at http://www.designforcommunity.com. [Read entire topic]

#73: Nancy White (choco) Fri 30 Nov 01 16:45

Fri, 30 Nov 2001 16:45:00 PST

Derek, what is the most unsual design/user interface you've ever seen for an online community? [Read entire topic]

#72: Derek M. Powazek (dmpowazek) Tue 27 Nov 01 16:31

Tue, 27 Nov 2001 16:31:00 PST

Doug --

In a way, that's what my entire book is about. "How to keep an online community from getting trampled by cranks" was just less catchy than "The art of connecting real people in virtual places."

For a quick review, here are a few techniques for positive posting:

-- Use a personal voice in your content. People are more likely to attack a thing than a person.

-- Provide ample examples of the kind of participation you're looking for from your users. Examples work better than rules.

-- Enforce the rules as even-handedly as possible.

-- Embrace user-controlled moderation techniques where appropriate (like Slashdot's moderation system, discussed in Chapter 6: www.designforcommunity.com/display.cgi/20011021222)

-- Carefully set, and constantly monitor, your barrier to entry.

-- Content, content, content. Use content as example material, conversation starters, and to create commonality and focus. And make sure that content is tightly interlinked with the conversation tools.

There's lots more, but that's a start.... [Read entire topic]

#71: Doug Hess (dougrhess) Tue 27 Nov 01 16:23

Tue, 27 Nov 2001 16:23:00 PST

I'd still be interested in other ideas on how to keep an online community from getting trampled by cranks. Moderators? Complaint buttons by other members? Ignore them? Seems many a good thread on some forums gets ruined by mal-intentioned posters... [Read entire topic]

#70: Brian Slesinsky (bslesins) Tue 27 Nov 01 12:46

Tue, 27 Nov 2001 12:46:00 PST

Just thought I'd mention that there's a review of Derek's book on slashdot. (How's that for timing?)

http://slashdot.org/books/01/11/27/167256.shtml [Read entire topic]

#69: Ari Davidow (ari) Tue 27 Nov 01 10:21

Tue, 27 Nov 2001 10:21:00 PST

I would guess that a lot of the diversity issue boils down in many ways to diversity and access issues that affect people offline.

I'm thinking of this because as we're discussing Derek's book, I'm also reading a book from a couple of years ago, Paloff and Pratt's lovely "Building learning communities in cyberspace" and was struck by how much of the book is spent teaching the reader about online interactions, and how both teachers and students will be new to the medium.

But that's far less true today than two or three years ago when the book was written, and I don't think (Derek, please correct me if I'm wrong) that Derek spent much time on the "what is this cyberspace stuff" in his book--it's a given--and I think I remember several times reading reminders that it's community--face to face, or online, people still have similar needs and ways of relating.

Even though an awful lot of people don't have much (if any) knowledge of online community, it is far less a mystery than it was, and more community creators and moderators are recognizing that while it is new and wonderful to have a new medium with which to build community, we have extended our reach, not changed our basic humanity thereby. [Read entire topic]

#68: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Mon 26 Nov 01 20:11

Mon, 26 Nov 2001 20:11:00 PST

> I expected to see more ethnic and cultural diversity > than I've experienced so far on the Well. . . . > I was going to ask Derek a follow-up question, but on reflection > decided not to because it is clearly not the intent of Inkvue to grill > the authors kind enough to participate

I guess Derek's point was that it's hard to get a sense of the ethnic composition of a virtual community... and my question was whether your impression of the WELL's lack of diversity was more a cultural issue. As for the follow-up question, ask away. I don't think Derek's averse to tough questions, and we certainly don't discourage pointed discussion.

And I do think the question of barriers, who's included and excluded, is important to ask when you're discussing community, virtual or physical. [Read entire topic]