SxDSalon: A group blog on social interaction design

Social recommendations and the Eliza Effect

In a post on on Algorithmic Authority one of Adrian Chan’s key points is to displace the critique of the authority claim from the recommendation itself to the users’ acceptance or rejection of the recommendation. “Authority, in short, depends perhaps on the user, not on the algorithm, for it is only on the basis of the user’s acceptance that authority is realized. It is subjectively interpreted, not objectively held.” However, there are a number of problems in se...

Geosocial filter failure

I have been off blogging for a couple weeks while taking time to make headway on a book on the principles of social interaction design. I don’t like being away from blogging this long. It can precipitate lifestyle changes in the offline department, which when combined with the recent stretch of fine Bay area weather we have been having, can becoming self-reinforcing. Pro-social in an offline way, anti-social in an online way. Today’s the day that I reflect on the boo...

Geosocial filter failure

I have been off blogging for a couple weeks while taking time to make headway on a book on the principles of social interaction design. I don't like being away from blogging this long. It can precipitate lifestyle changes in the offline department, which when combined with the recent stretch of fine Bay area weather we have been having, can becoming self-reinforcing. Pro-social in an offline way, anti-social in an online way.Today's the day that I reflect on the book, come up with examples, and ...

Trust is contextual

As healthcare reform passes, I’m having a strong but respectful disagreement with a friend over twitter on the nature and impact of this change. I know him through professional circles and I’d recommend him for jobs; and I’d trust him to pick me up on the highway if I was stuck in his town. But I wouldn’t trust him for advice in political matters. There are friends whose political judgement I trust and seek out, but whom I wouldn’t trust to take me to a concert ...

Designing for play at Ignite Bay Area

Just got sent a link to all the videos from Ignite Bay Area last month. Here’s my “Designing for Play” talk, a topic I’ll be exploring in greater depth at Web Visions, the Web 2.0 Expo, and Web Directions @media later this year: There’ll be another Ignite in May coinciding with the Web 2.0 Expo, so get your submission in now. document.getElementById("post-4727-blankimage").onload();

Tags as collecting behavior

When I first started curating the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library, I put “tags” near the top of my list of user interaction patterns to investigate. By that time, Yahoo! had already acquired several pioneers in the tagging realm, Flickr and Delicious, and there were some subtle distinctions in how they implemented the experience. We got down in the weeds on these and did a lot of research, ultimately settled on offering high-level guidance, and finished the patterns in the course of wr...

Eleven tips on how to apply social interaction design thinking

One of the key social interaction design deliverables is the social interaction design requirements document. Like the market requirements document, this spec covers social needs and requirements. Social needs of the product, of users, and of course, the business served by each. And its value applies equally to social media startups, campaigns, enterprise applications. Writing a social requirements spec, much like the MRD, involves organizational and company goals. What are your...

Eleven tips on how to apply social interaction design thinking

One of the key social interaction design deliverables is the social interaction design requirements document. Like the market requirements document, this spec covers social needs and requirements. Social needs of the product, of users, and of course, the business served by each. And its value applies equally to social media startups, campaigns, enterprise applications.Writing a social requirements spec, much like the MRD, involves organizational and company goals. What are your business interest...

Social dynamics and agile social design

The launch of any new social tool is a moment of high anticipation and anxiety for any development team. Try as they might, through internal use and limited alpha testing, engineers and designers must hold their collective breath for what happens when their product goes live. There’s nothing like the real world for final proof of concept. As pregnant as this moment is for the vendors and creators of the full spectrum of social applications — blogs, wikis, communities...

Social dynamics and agile social design

The launch of any new social tool is a moment of high anticipation and anxiety for any development team. Try as they might, through internal use and limited alpha testing, engineers and designers must hold their collective breath for what happens when their product goes live. There's nothing like the real world for final proof of concept.As pregnant as this moment is for the vendors and creators of the full spectrum of social applications — blogs, wikis, communities, apps, games, you name ...