FOWA Miami 2009 Workshop

Working titles

Credit: Flickr user ‘justin0842’

Design lessons learned in the trenches

A (semi-organized) brain dump of current design challenges

Stuff we got right and wrong (and what we’re doing about it)

Ground rules

via istockphoto.com

Ask questions anytime... yell out if I don’t see your hand

It’s more important to elaborate than to cover everything

You can DM me @dburka with specific things to cover

Today’s agenda

Credit: Flickr user S.O.F.T.

Today’s agenda 1. Get the basics out of the way




2. Designing for engagement




3. Positive behaviors by design




4. Handling (lots of) user feedback






5. Iterative design strategies + a case study






5. Iterative design strategies + a case study


+ Your suggestions

Encouraging people to participate

Challenge

“You probably have a community

whether you know it or not.”

Via ChinPosin.com

Joshua Porter (bokardo)

How do your people participate?

Different sites have different issues

Reduce the barrier to entrySimplify sign-up, not just registration

Credit: Flickr user ‘notsogoodphotography’

E-commerce example

E-commerce example

Dip a toe in the waterGet going quickly and get invested quickly


Start simple

Easier to grok, more engaging

Show, don’t tell

Showing is much more enticing (usually)

Increase benefit

Go beyond altruistic motivations

Credit: Flickr user ‘inoxkrow’

Promoting positive participation

Challenge

Personal profiles

Encourage trust and connections

Credit: Flickr user ‘mrclean’

Focus on tension points

Copy and design can go a long way

Credit: Flickr user ‘sarahkim’

Avoid negative competition

‘King of the hill’ contests don’t scale

Credit: Flickr user ‘cmichel67’

Digg top users listCons

Digg top users list

• Too basic, too static

Cons

Digg top users list


• Frustrating to climb ladder once others established

Cons

Digg top users list



• Taps into negative self-interest as wellCons

Digg top users list



• Taps into negative self-interest as well

• Cutthroats climb ladder at any costCons

Digg top users list



• Taps into negative self-interest as well

• Cutthroats climb ladder at any cost

• Creates very influential users

Cons

Digg top users listPros

Digg top users list

• Easy to understand: simple sum

Pros

Digg top users list


• Fantastic incentive to participate at the beginning

Pros

Digg top users list



• Taps into peoples’ self-interest in a positive wayPros

Digg top users list



• Taps into peoples’ self-interest in a positive way

• Healthy competition when benefit is lowPros

Digg top users list



• Taps into peoples’ self-interest in a positive way

• Healthy competition when benefit is low

• Creates recognizable ‘celebrity’ contributors

Pros

Digg top users list

Possible improvements?

Keep it positive Seems simple, but it’s difficult to stay focused on it

Focus on the individual Award individuals for personal accomplishments

Self-policing Empower users to take care of issues themselves

Handling (lots of)user feedback

Challenge

Mozilla.orgPublic site redesign in 2004

I don't like it a bit. What was wrong with the current one?


Looks like your average small company website.



Keep the old colors and ditch the new ones. It's too depressing.



Keep the old colors and ditch the new ones. It's too depressing.

IMHO the current design looks MUCH better than this mess.

Feedback is more than ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’

Feedback isn’t binary

Feedback isn’t binary • Much more than a simple “it’s good” or “it sucks”


• Many factors:


• Many factors:

• Timing


• Many factors:

• Timing

• User type


• Many factors:

• Timing

• User type

• Setting


• Many factors:

• Timing

• User type

• Setting

• Community type


• Many factors:

• Timing

• User type

• Setting

• Community type

• Etc...

Collecting feedbackHow do you collect feedback?

Collecting feedbackOff the top of my headFeedback at Digg, Pownce, silverorange

Email Twitter, blogs, etc Comments! Press Focus groups Phone Stats Forums

Conferences Parties!

Townhalls Internal conversations Task analysis

Established vs Young Experiences with the Digg and Pownce communities

via AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker

Young vs Established

Young vs Established• Pownce was relatively young


• ~270,000 users


• ~270,000 users

• Just over a year and a half old


• ~270,000 users


• Digg is relatively old


• ~270,000 users



• ~3+ million users and 30+ million uniques/month


• ~270,000 users



• ~3+ million users and 30+ million uniques/month

• Almost 4 years old


• Feedback has less volume



• Less feedback is easier to parse




• Less feedback makes it harder to find patterns





• People feel connected to the site’s growth






• Positive, energetic, forgiving






• Positive, energetic, forgiving

• Nimble and responsive site



Young vs Established• Feedback has more volume


• Difficult to parse and handle



• Patterns are less prone to error




• People have invested themselves





• Patterns and familiarities have formed






• Self aware communities and cliques exist







• Expectations of performance have been created







• Expectations of performance have been created

• And, your business may be slower too...

Types of feedback

Types of feedbacka

• Different types require different responses, carry

different weights

Positive feedback

Types of feedbacka

The new stuff looks great!! Now I know what

you’ve been working so hard on!!! Dad“Wow, this is so much better than the old

design. Now that I’ve had a chance to use it, I

love it. Thanks.“

Bug reports

Types of feedbacka

When I select a username I get a 404 error.

Can you guys look into it?“The thing jumps around after I click on the

other thing. It’s annoying. Please fix it, thanks.“

Negative feedback

Types of feedbacka

I want it to be like it was before...

I hate it! (the designer should be fired!!)

It doesn’t do something I need...

It would be easy just to...

It’s ok, but what took so long?

“““““

Expert feedback

Types of feedbacka

I am going to both share my opinion on

what the problems are and actually

address them...

“

Implicit feedback

Types of feedbacka

Implicit feedback

Types of feedbacka

• Observing user behavior

Implicit feedback

Types of feedbacka


• Objective metrics

Implicit feedback

Types of feedbacka



• Speaks for the non-commenters

Implicit feedback

Types of feedbacka




• People don’t do what they say

Implicit feedback

Types of feedbacka




• People don’t do what they say

• Digg commenters are typical of this: “That’s why

I never come here anymore”!!

Reacting to feedback

Reacting to feedbackb



• First step: Don’t do anything!




• Immediate reaction will be to go back to the old way





• Hesitate to create a ‘back’ switch






• Don’t paint yourself into corners






• Don’t paint yourself into corners

• Don’t end up implementing a patchy fix instead

of seeing the problem





• Wait for a period and then collect the feedback




• Identify themes and strong ideas





• Try to make quantifiable judgements






• Cherry pick great ideas (especially from experts!)






• Cherry pick great ideas (especially from experts!)

• Take implicit feedback seriously... could be the

opposite of the explicit feedback

Riots, petitions, mass-defection threats, etc.

Handling the extremes

Extreme feedbackc



Extreme feedbackc

• Take feedback seriously, but don’t sway your vision and don’t panic



Extreme feedbackc


• BE AS HONEST AS YOU CAN BE



Extreme feedbackc



• You don’t have to go into technical specifics, but...



Extreme feedbackc




• Don’t be unnecessarily vague



Extreme feedbackc




• Don’t be unnecessarily vague

• Try (key word!) to get out in front of issues...

Managing changeIterative design strategies

Challenge

Your design sucksTrust me, you can do better

Credit: Martin_Heigan

In-n-Out Contract work VS In-house work

Credit: Mark Trammell aka chasingfun

Handling feedbackWhat do people want and why do they want it?


Desire pathsDon’t try to predict everything

Credit: Phil Gyford

Adapt to ScaleIt’s a great problem to have

Subtraction is iteration tooTry to remove as much as you add

Credit: Rev Dan Catt

Realign, don’t redesignCameron Moll is clever

Credit:kimballhoman + (flickr)

so I can shoot them in the face”

Stuart Butterfield, Flickr

“Every time I hear a designer say the word

innovation I reach for my revolver....

March, 2008

Adapt to surviveIf iterative design isn’t instinctual, be convincing

Digg commentsA case study

Get it out there

Step 1

Add sophistication

Step 2

by dburka 20 minutes ago

by marktrammell 16 minutes ago

Of course, what McCain is trying to avoid anyone noticing is that the problem isn't regulators failing to do

their job; it's that that man he tapped to write his economic policy - Phil Gramm - removed oversight of the

instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.

Reply to this comment


We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the

finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.

5 Replies to this comment

by kevinrose 10 minutes ago

We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out

the finance sector.





by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago


the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when

Phil hit the road.


Start revising

Step 3

Add multiple levels of nesting

Set goals

Reduce complexity of nesting

Discourage top-posting

Increase participation

Improve quality of discussions

Address scaling issues

Make things feel simpler & improve interactions


by marktrammell 16 minutes ago

Of course, what McCain is trying to avoid anyone noticing is that the problem isn't regulators failing to do

their job; it's that that man he tapped to write his economic policy - Phil Gramm - removed oversight of the

instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.






by kevinrose 10 minutes ago


the finance sector.





by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago


the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when

Phil hit the road.



Measure success








Measure success








Measure success








Measure success








Measure success








Measure success








Measure success








Measure success







One long year...( I’m sorry )

Credit: Flickr user xjrlokix

Then we got it rightWell... sort of

Gather feedbackExplicit and implicit

(Idea is to avoid feature creep and gauge success)

Set new goals


Improve performance

Add most requested functionality

Create some compsSomewhere to start discussion

User test #1Focus group novices and experts

Ask for more feedbackReally? Yes.

Create refined compsIn this case html/css/js comps

ImplementWork closely with the development team

User test #2Perform task analysis

Things we didn’t doSet a public timeline

Try to get it perfect

Include everything people wanted

Launch it!Start gathering feedback again...

Summing up...

Credit: Flickr user ‘ucumari’

Summing up...Feedback, feedback, and more feedback



Follow how people actually use your system





Subtraction is iteration too





Measurable goals are crucial






Avoid concrete timelines and avoid bloat






Avoid concrete timelines and avoid bloat

Leave time to iterate, in fact plan for it

Homework: Read Stewart Brand’s How Buildings Learn: What happens after they’re built

I’m dburkadigg flickr twitter dopplr clustershot last.fm

weblog: deltatangobravo.com email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]