Designing for the Social Web (Voices That Matter) (Paperback)

by Joshua Porter (Author) "The Web is more a social creation than a technical one..." (more)
Key Phrases: endowment effect, feedback profile, designing for the social web, Top Diggers, Dell Hell, Jeff Jarvis (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

No matter what type of web site or application you’re building, social interaction among the people who use it will be key to its success. They will talk about it, invite their friends, complain, sing its high praises, and dissect it in countless ways. With the right design strategy you can use this social interaction to get people signing up, coming back regularly, and bringing others into the fold. With tons of examples from real-world interfaces and a touch of the underlying social psychology theory, Joshua Porter shows you how to design your next great social web application.

Inside, you’ll discover:
• The real reasons why people participate online and the psychology behind them
• The Usage Lifecycle—or how people use your web application over time
• How to get people past that trickiest of hurdles: sign-up
• What to do when you’ve launched a web application and nobody is using it
• How to analyze the effectiveness of your application screens and flows
• How to grow your social web application from zero users to 1000—and beyond

Designing for the social web is about much more than adding features. It’s about embracing the social interaction of the people who make you successful—and then designing smartly to encourage it.

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About the Author

Massachusetts-based JOSHUA PORTER is a web designer, consultant, and blogger who has been building web sites for over a decade. His company, Bokardo Design, focuses exclusively on the interface design and strategy of social web sites and applications. Josh also publishes the popular blog, Bokardo.com.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press; 1 edition (May 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321534921
• ISBN-13: 978-0321534927
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,186 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written, May 21, 2008

By	TR6zo - See all my reviews

First, this is not a programming book- there are no lines of code. Instead, this is about the design of social websites. It is very well written, with many illustrations and examples, in a style which makes it both easy to read and useful as a reference. It's clear that the author put a lot of time into this- probably because he's read countless books himself lacking in these areas. You can probably find books with more information on each topic he discusses but I have never seen one that pulls the information together so completely and coherently. For this alone, he deserves high marks.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good reference for people needing to get their sites caught up with the social web, August 13, 2008

By	Manny Hernandez "Author of Ning For Dummies" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Joshua Porter pours his knowledge about user interface design in social media in this title. While the AOF method (Activities, Objects and Features) he presents early in the book gets a bit confusing when you first read about it, very quickly you get his point.

The design framework he presents is aimed at taking new users of a social site through the steps that make up the usage lifecycle: not being aware of the site > becoming interested in it > using the site for the first time > becoming a regular user > becoming a passionate user.

I see a practical application of Joshua's design philosophy in the way Ning.com (a platform for you to create your own social network) is put together: it is easy for a new member to sign up and create/manage a profile page, interact with other members and sharing with others inside or outside the network so as to make more people aware of the network.

The main downside I found to the book was that, in an attempt to be more comprehensive, it went into certain topics that had little to do with design, such as the case with the chapter on "Authentic Conversations" (why they are the most important thing you can do for your social web site) and the closing chapter on "Funnel Analysis" which seemed a bit rushed and disconnected from the rest. Still, the chapter on authentic conversations was useful and even the one on metrics carried weight and useful tips, just not as much as the rest of the book.

Overall, a very good reference for folks needing to catch up with the social web in the sites they manage.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing New, but a great packaging of knowledge, June 5, 2008

By	Eric Marden "Web Developer, Music Maker, Phot... (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I highly recommend any web developer read this book. Its a very quick read (I think I spent 5 hrs total with the book over the course of a few weekends), and well worth your time.

It basically presents a lot of common knowledge about designing social features into web software as a coherent package. There aren't a lot of earth shattering ideas in the book, but having all the info in one place was very helpful. It focuses on the user experience, so don't expect any graphic design, or programming knowledge to be inferred, but it will get you thinking about how the social web works, and how to get it to work to your advantage. The last chapter on measuring your success is also quite good, and is tool agnostic.

There was nothing in the book that I didn't agree with, which is rarity for me. And all of the links cited in the footnotes will expand on the topics he presents to get the depth of the topic at hand the book may be lacking.

Buy it now.