1. Designing for
Community
Week Eight

2. Designing for
Community
• Why design for community
• MUDs
• Discussion Groups
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Wikis

3. Why Design for
Community?
• Creates a powerful meeting place, sounding
board
• Give audience a voice
• Creates strong site quot;stickinessquot; and loyalty
• Inexpensive way to keep site fresh
• Get great ideas for improvements/content

4. Types of Online
Communities

5. MUDs
• multi user dimensions/dungeons
• earliest online communities
• Community members build structure, society
• intense commitment
• some users can get addicted

7. Discussion Groups
• WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectric Link) the first
• thousands worldwide
• serve niches and communities of interest very
well
• easy to create
• require careful moderation

9. Blogs
• online diaries, aka weblogs
• maintained by one person or small collective
• easy to keep fresh
• often self-indulgent

11. Podcasts
• feedback comes from message boards, phone,
audio gmail
• more labour intensive
• powerful quot;cult of personalityquot; factor

13. Vlogs
• feedback comes from message boards, phone,
audio gmail
• more labour intensive
• powerful quot;cult of personalityquot; factor

14. Seesmic

15. Wiki
• Hawaiian for quot;quickquot;
• collaborative content development
• users engineer architecture
• grows organically
• needs clear rules and processes

18. Any online content
can spark community

19. On the web content
is only
a catalyst
for community
and conversation

20. Phillip Smith
Communitybandwidth

21. Thank you for
your kind attention