There is an interesting post on TechCrunch today on The Twitter Cycle, going from curiosity, abandonment, to full out addiction. The post reports the worldwide numbers are out from comScore and Twitter's global visitors have hit 37M.
I read this wonderful article in the New York Times last week on "The Familiar Place" and even though I was actively reading the article, all I could think about was how the article was so valuable for User Experience Designers to consider. The idea of "familiarity" is core to good user experience design. It's one of the basic tenets of Steve Krug's book, Don't Make Me Think. Experiencing "familiar" concepts online, helps people navigate more comfortably throughout an online experience whether its their first time or 100th time.
The idea of allowing familiarity in a Web experience to be "an artifact of consciousness" is really key to intuition and ease of use. If it's familiar, the "concept" has been experienced before - and one would hope successfully.
Klinkenborg's article explains that even the unfamiliar can broaden [the users] experience and ability to navigate more comfortably in the process and in the future.
The interesting shared element here in my adaptation of the article and the literal story told by Klinkenborg is that technology also facilitated the path taken.
Looking at designing good UX online inherently relies upon technology to facilitate, simplify and guide a user from one point to the next.
What you can create as far as familiar concepts along the path helps make the experience more familiar and friendlier for future visits.
See what's familiar to you and what works. At the end of the day, you are creating "conscious artifacts" that faciliate good usable design.
Thanks to Corel77, I saw this great video which visually depicts deadlines throughout the week. Awesome! Happy Friday, y'all!
I never ceased to be amazed by the timely accumulation of trending behaviors that manifest in what appears to be all at once, but really occurs slowly and progressively over time. Today, almost every conversation I had centered on how fatigued people are with the always on, never done feeling of their digital life. Whether as a consumer or a business, I find it fascinating that TrendWatching just came out with a report today on "Foreverism - Consumers and businesses embracing conversations, lifestyles and products that are 'never done'." Now, what's interesting in this report is that the behavior is positively flocking towards this always on, always open, always responding interaction.
But, outside of this report, I have to start asking what's the cost for keeping all this all going...
This is a fascinating and fantastic report on the living state of consumer and business interactions, but today, I find myself asking "Forever on, Foreverism, we now know. What about Foreverism Fatigue? The report is right, no longer can we "dip our toe in to test the waters." People expect all in, full-on engagement, but does everyone have a sustainable plan? Do you?
Whether your participation or interaction is responsive, organic or fully strategized, it's worth considering the notion of Engagement 2.0 now and in the months to come.
How do you plan to sustain engagement? How many channels, personally and professionally do you manage? What are the most effective and what can you do to leverage the Social Web to make it work for you?
Foreverism is a brilliant capture of today's digital life - both personally and professionally. Now the question is who has the staying power and the most effective strategy to combat what I call Foreverism Fatigue or Foreverism Flight. It could happen and more than likely for many, it will. Be prepared. Be adaptive. Be strategic for the long haul. There's plenty more to come.
P.S. "Process is the Product" is such an excellent viewpoint in this report. It's the mature outlook of beta. Love it!
Thanks TrendWatching!
I remember several years ago raising an issue on Twitter about corporate usage policies and received a lot of resistance about creating any policy for an open dialogue and open community. Maybe at the time I had a surly group of idealistic followers, but their replies strongly reflected that there should be no policy to disrupt or direct an authentic conversation. So maybe two years ago, there were more idealists wanting to hold on to the openess and interchange now afforded by micro-blogging services, like Twitter.
But, as Twitter and the community evolves and grows, there's more discussion about what is the "right" corporate policy for employees engaging in Social Media.
This week, BusinessWeek, posts the question, "What's the right corporate policy for Twitter, Facebook and blogs?"
The post looks at the Wall Street Journal's "conduct rules" for Twitter, the New York Times policy for social media usage and the BBC guidelines for personal use of Social Networking and other third party websites, to name a few.
Interestingly, this post leads to an excellent series of posts on Social Media from "A Twitter Code of Conduct" to an interesting video on how BusinessWeek's Executive Editor John A Byrne uses Twitter.
The best take away is the golden rule for users: "Don't be dumb." In more professional organizational terms, a good Twitter policy reflects a give and take and a matter of mutual trust and respect between employer-employee to do and say the right thing. The common-sense approach recommended is: "don't say anything you wouldn't say to your mom."
That is a good place to start.
Twitter + Common Sense = Good Policy
There is a great article posted by Gary Hamel on The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500. It outlines a list of "12 work-relevant characteristics of online life" that the new generation of employees will use measure whether your company is “with it” or “past it.”
There's a great post by Phil Johnson on AdAge's Small Agency Diary, Selling Social Media Isn't Hard; Implementing It Is. Most of you who know us will read this post with a smile. The idea is you "can't understand [social media] without experiencing it first hand, but likewise, you have to be prepared, resourced and actively involved once you "join the community."
This is a great post for all the important things to consider as you venture into Social Media or are maintaining your social media strategy.
Some helpful references on Social Media policies for your organization and your social media strategy:
Social Media Policies Found - IT Business Edge
Social Media Policies and Procedures - Daniel Hoang
Anthropology: The Art of Building a Successful Social Site - ReadWriteWeb
The Future of the Social Web: In Five Eras - Jeremiah Owyang
Who Owns Social Media Campaigns? - ClickZ
Social Media Benchmarks: Realities and Myths - Click Z
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