Looking back over the past nine years, we saw a surge in web development, and then a crash. After the dot-com bust, a new approach evolved that focuses on fewer, leaner smarter websites that value their relationships with people as individuals. However, for every Flickr or You Tube, there are thousands of failed startups. Getting the right mix of people and technology is difficult. Scaling for high-volume web traffic is also difficult, and every new technology raises concerns about it. However, scaling for community interactions is also a difficult social problem. While the scaling problems caused by growth generally mean that your product is doing well, scaling to support social growth needs earlier planning. The move to a social relationship means we are no longer simply concerned with the technical implementation of the website: "Does it function? Is it reliable?" We are now setting up systems that closely integrate with people' s lives, and therefore these systems also need to solve problems of a sociological or psychological nature. Many interaction designers-among them Dan Saffer in his book Designing for Interaction(Peachpit Press)-argue that this was always the case, but the representation of people on our websites makes this explicit. It is no longer enough to make software that merely functions; we now have to create online spaces to host human behaviors Several common types of relationships can exist between an organization and its cus tomers I'll discuss these in the following subsections. Figures 2-2 through 2-5 show Choosing the right collective noun for people is tricky. Not every or ci s I'll use a variety of terms, and let you insert the one that works best fo Customer -service-driven Customer service is one of the more obvious reasons to engage with your community This splits into two rough groupings: customer service based on the company gener ating the product or service, and customer service in a more retail-based setup in which the company is selling branded goods coming from another company. If you run an organization such as these, usually in retail, there is the secondary relationship with the manufacturer to handle Customer service forums, such as the one shown in Fig ure 2-2, are often spaces for gaining help from the manufacturer or for helping other users of the same product. Publisher-driven The second group of community sites operate in response to some editorially produced material. This can range from a magazine or a newspaper to TV and radio. generally, a strong voice at the center of the organization, usually the publisher, directs the opin- ions and views of the organization, and the viewers, readers, and listeners react. There 10 Chapter 2: Analyzing, Creating, and Managing Community Relationships
Looking back over the past nine years, we saw a surge in web development, and then a crash. After the dot-com bust, a new approach evolved that focuses on fewer, leaner, smarter websites that value their relationships with people as individuals. However, for every Flickr or YouTube, there are thousands of failed startups. Getting the right mix of people and technology is difficult. Scaling for high-volume web traffic is also difficult, and every new technology raises concerns about it. However, scaling for community interactions is also a difficult social problem. While the scaling problems caused by growth generally mean that your product is doing well, scaling to support social growth needs earlier planning. The move to a social relationship means we are no longer simply concerned with the technical implementation of the website: “Does it function? Is it reliable?” We are now setting up systems that closely integrate with people’s lives, and therefore these systems also need to solve problems of a sociological or psychological nature. Many interaction designers—among them Dan Saffer in his book Designing for Interaction (Peachpit Press)—argue that this was always the case, but the representation of people on our websites makes this explicit. It is no longer enough to make software that merely functions; we now have to create online spaces to host human behaviors and interactions. Several common types of relationships can exist between an organization and its customers. I’ll discuss these in the following subsections. Figures 2-2 through 2-5 show some examples. Choosing the right collective noun for people is tricky. Not every organization is a business, and not every organization has customers. So, I’ll use a variety of terms, and let you insert the one that works best for you. Customer-service-driven Customer service is one of the more obvious reasons to engage with your community. This splits into two rough groupings: customer service based on the company generating the product or service, and customer service in a more retail-based setup in which the company is selling branded goods coming from another company. If you run an organization such as these, usually in retail, there is the secondary relationship with the manufacturer to handle. Customer service forums, such as the one shown in Figure 2-2, are often spaces for gaining help from the manufacturer or for helping other users of the same product. Publisher-driven The second group of community sites operate in response to some editorially produced material. This can range from a magazine or a newspaper to TV and radio. Generally, a strong voice at the center of the organization, usually the publisher, directs the opinions and views of the organization, and the viewers, readers, and listeners react. There 10 | Chapter 2: Analyzing, Creating, and Managing Community Relationships
Apple Discussions Forum: Phone maw aptos Post New Teol o Back to Forum Uat ges12-112345Nen1 一“/ Jun 3.200309FM A Can you run tn phases en ene arc 7如3a02 m 地地地 252PM e I Ione lock-up? bn 3: note :. Figure 2-2. Apple customer-led discussion support website is little opportunity for the individual to initiate conversation, though plenty of chances for him to respond and discuss, as shown in Figure 2-3 The third group comprises people who want to host a conversation where anyone can initiate a new topic. This is the common message or bulletin board system, deriving from systems when dial-up was the main means of access. Jason Scott produced a documentary covering this early period of community largely pre-web(htTp: //www bbsdocumentary. com). I' m making a distinction between these message boards and those support forums coming from a manufacturer. In the case of the generic message board, there is no direct support coming from a single company. The site will likely cover a hobby, an issue, and products from multiple companies, as shown in Fig ure 2-4. The contributors on the site do not have a financial arrangement with the people who run the site in terms of purchased product-by this I mean it is not a shopping site. These open, subject-led message boards represent a huge area of activity on the Internet Contributor-driven The fourth group consists of community or social networking sites that allow postings of more complex content, such as Flickr(shown in Figure 2-5)and You Tube. Here,a more direct relationship exists between the site and the individual than in the other three types of relationships. The language people use to describe their relationship is Analyzing Your Users' Relationships 11
is little opportunity for the individual to initiate conversation, though plenty of chances for him to respond and discuss, as shown in Figure 2-3. Member-driven The third group comprises people who want to host a conversation where anyone can initiate a new topic. This is the common message or bulletin board system, deriving from systems when dial-up was the main means of access. Jason Scott produced a documentary covering this early period of community, largely pre-Web (http://www .bbsdocumentary.com/). I’m making a distinction between these message boards and those support forums coming from a manufacturer. In the case of the generic message board, there is no direct support coming from a single company. The site will likely cover a hobby, an issue, and products from multiple companies, as shown in Figure 2-4. The contributors on the site do not have a financial arrangement with the people who run the site in terms of purchased product—by this I mean it is not a shopping site. These open, subject-led message boards represent a huge area of activity on the Internet. Contributor-driven The fourth group consists of community or social networking sites that allow postings of more complex content, such as Flickr (shown in Figure 2-5) and YouTube. Here, a more direct relationship exists between the site and the individual than in the other three types of relationships. The language people use to describe their relationship is Figure 2-2. Apple customer-led discussion support website Analyzing Your Users’ Relationships | 11
PACE wr TMLE TDoAYS PAPER Voc Try Electronic EoDon Log n Register Now Opinion ITORS HOW TO FIND【 AND KEEP THE EMPLOYEES YOU WANT. LEARN HOw Mere Areas in opnion The Great Immigration Panic ackmAn is al aroud that something penan Share your thoughts on this editorial I Prancy Poicy f it's about nI arrived. Burunlike the millions wo whom CoOking arents and I were always legal, and because a steak it's About com these people will have. Any atonal poliey address Figure 2-3. New York Times commumity comments on a blog post different, too, i.e., people refer to their "profile page"or just their"page. " In addition they feel a stronger sense of attachment to these sites, and they will talk about their photos or videos with a sense of ownership. Often, this is because the sites help them manage some aspect of their lives, from trips to photos to events they are attending These sites form part of their connected lives on the Internet. a major difference be tween these and the other types is that the entry to the site is often via a personal profile page and not a topic or the front page of the site. People visit to look at Tom s photos or to see which events Matt is planning to attend. this lack of a front door is significant Pros and Cons of Different Relationship Types In the first three types of relationships--customer-service-driven, publisher-driven, and member-driven-the emphasis is on the site as a whole and the conversations that occur within it. For many types of companies, this seems to be the right model of interaction-the conversations are, after all, about their products, stories, or shared hobbie 12 Chapter 2: Analyzing, Creating, and Managing Community Relationships
different, too., i.e., people refer to their “profile page” or just their “page.” In addition, they feel a stronger sense of attachment to these sites, and they will talk about their photos or videos with a sense of ownership. Often, this is because the sites help them manage some aspect of their lives, from trips to photos to events they are attending. These sites form part of their connected lives on the Internet. A major difference between these and the other types is that the entry to the site is often via a personal profile page and not a topic or the front page of the site. People visit to look at Tom’s photos or to see which events Matt is planning to attend. This lack of a front door is significant and a positive. Pros and Cons of Different Relationship Types In the first three types of relationships—customer-service-driven, publisher-driven, and member-driven—the emphasis is on the site as a whole and the conversations that occur within it. For many types of companies, this seems to be the right model of interaction—the conversations are, after all, about their products, stories, or shared hobbies. Figure 2-3. New York Times community comments on a blog post 12 | Chapter 2: Analyzing, Creating, and Managing Community Relationships
brasher andas na Find br:Sie Sections a 更 ducts I Discussions I Star a discussion 1 2nd na SAVE 15% d|ME曰RELL◎ MAGICO8 of 5 products from 226, 工 rheya yuasa2005200 9E31999 MmQT5202002 Figure 2-4. UK sports discussion forum(OUTDOORSmagic) showing community-generated reviews However, these three types of relationships can start to feel a bit like islands; they tend to look inward for reference and there are few tools to connect the conversation to the outside world. The fourth social network type-contributor-driven-tends to be more open, allowing hosted content to be displayed off-site by embedding tools that allow for redisplay; e. g, You Tube videos or Slide Share presentations. There are many reasons for this. For one. the content tends to work better in isolation. In addition it also works well as marketing for the hosting site: many people have seen a You Tube clip, even if they have not been to the You Tube site. Contributor-led sites sound like the perfect model, but they can lead to a situation in which the same discussions occur again and again, as new people ask questions that have already been answered. Furthermore, some communities can suffer if there is too much focus on initiation of conversations. A representation of who contributes to the community and their level of experience can help. For example, a useful feature can be to show who has been on the forum for a while. However, if you simply count the number of posts, as many bulletin boards do, you can end up just tracking those who have free time on their hands, which might not be what you want. Additionally, you want to help new users find answers to questions that have already been asked. This is analogous to turning a training book into a reference book-archiving the previous discussions for both new visitors and regulars is a boon. Features such as the question profiling service on Get Satisfaction, a multiproduct customer support service, are Analyzing Your Users' Relationships 13
However, these three types of relationships can start to feel a bit like islands; they tend to look inward for reference and there are few tools to connect the conversation to the outside world. The fourth social network type—contributor-driven—tends to be more open, allowing hosted content to be displayed off-site by embedding tools that allow for redisplay; e.g., YouTube videos or SlideShare presentations. There are many reasons for this. For one, the content tends to work better in isolation. In addition, it also works well as marketing for the hosting site: many people have seen a YouTube clip, even if they have not been to the YouTube site. Contributor-led sites sound like the perfect model, but they can lead to a situation in which the same discussions occur again and again, as new people ask questions that have already been answered. Furthermore, some communities can suffer if there is too much focus on initiation of conversations. A representation of who contributes to the community and their level of experience can help. For example, a useful feature can be to show who has been on the forum for a while. However, if you simply count the number of posts, as many bulletin boards do, you can end up just tracking those who have free time on their hands, which might not be what you want. Additionally, you want to help new users find answers to questions that have already been asked. This is analogous to turning a training book into a reference book—archiving the previous discussions for both new visitors and regulars is a boon. Features such as the question profiling service on Get Satisfaction, a multiproduct customer support service, are Figure 2-4. UK sports discussion forum (OUTDOORSmagic) showing community-generated reviews Analyzing Your Users’ Relationships | 13
flickr cn155 now Help Sign out You· Organiz· Contacts· Groups·Ex The word/ Places/United States CalMomiaJ San Francisco 16°c Persistence by Mumble Joe Search fore c 山圖画 圆卧■ Figure 2-5 Flickr page showing aggregated content for San francisco invaluable for this reason. Essentially, this service tries to find questions that have al readybeenansweredthatmatchthequestionbeingasked(seehttp:/getsatisfaction Analyzing the Essence of your Community's Needs Before you have people on your site, you need to have things for them to interact with. You need to identify the primary objects in your world that you can let your customers or readers own or give to you. It may be something more complex than just words a screen, perhaps something such as pictures or video. You need to determine the essence of the interaction between people in your community, be it restaurant meals, 14 Chapter 2: Analyzing, Creating, and Managing Community Relationships
invaluable for this reason. Essentially, this service tries to find questions that have already been answered that match the question being asked (see http://getsatisfaction .com/). Analyzing the Essence of Your Community’s Needs Before you have people on your site, you need to have things for them to interact with. You need to identify the primary objects in your world that you can let your customers or readers own or give to you. It may be something more complex than just words on a screen, perhaps something such as pictures or video. You need to determine the essence of the interaction between people in your community, be it restaurant meals, Figure 2-5. Flickr page showing aggregated content for San Francisco 14 | Chapter 2: Analyzing, Creating, and Managing Community Relationships