Social Applications
Social Applications or Social
Software is now maintream - has to be if it is listed in
Wikipedia, right :)
As the definition states, the software allows users to interact and
share data with others. In other words, the applications are
personalized. So, what are the features or elements of such
applications that truly make them useful.
The pyramid to the left starts at the bottom with a broad spectrum of
applications with a focus on Products and Features. Clearly
all
applications need to work as advertised or be Functional.
Applications should also be Reliable,
scalable, available and accurate. The Usability
and ease of use (or Convenience)
of the application are important. We are now reaching the point in the
spectrum where the chasm between general applications and social
applications is crossed. Social applications need to portray
a memorable experience that is worth sharing - or they need to be Pleasurable.
Finally, the application needs to be Meaningful
in that it has personal significance. As we move towards the top of the
pyramid, we observe that the focus is on the User's Experiences and
their activities. It is less about the user interface and more about
the features that tap into the motivations and beliefs of the consumers
of the application. So, what is an example of such an application. Say
you go on a
family vacation and you post pictures on flickr. However, not
everyone wants to go through the whole slide show of 700 pictures. So,
you
tag them and you would like to create an application that runs a
slideshow
of photos of a particular tag (which is an input to the application).
Now, you want to mash in Google Maps into that slideshow so that
people can see where that photo was taken. Such an application
satisfies all the elements of the social application pyramid.
There have been some eminent people extolling social applications.
Marc Andreessen talked
about it soon after Facebook opened their platform. He says,
"This is a dramatic leap forward for the Internet industry"
Tim O'Reilly says, "We're just at the beginning of
understanding how the social graph will
change every web application... what is emerging is the identity and
social subsystem of the future internet operating system."
BJ Fogg, in an interview
with Fast Company says, "The ability for ordinary people to
create something, put it out in the
world, and use metrics and iterations to make it better and better.
It's going through this loop of innovation and product design, being
guided by users and user data. It's continuing to improve
products and experiences based not on
guesses, not on consultants, not on checklists, but on real data and
real usage. That's very exciting, and it's only going to get easier."
Thursday Jun 05, 2008
