Designing for the Social Web [Paperback]

Joshua Porter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321534921 | ISBN-13: 978-0321534927 | Publication Date: May 4, 2008 | Edition: 1

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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Editorial Reviews

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 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very uneven book, August 21, 2008

By 

M., Marcus (Helsinki, Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Designing for the Social Web (Paperback)

The book is a fast read. It's written in a conversational style, which means it's sometimes very verbose but rarely difficult to understand. There are some references, most of them to blog posts or web sites. A lot of the information sounds more like opinions and the background info is not really explained. The writer makes many unnecessary comments and opinions on things that are very loosely related to the treated subject.

The scope of the book is large. This means that the treatment of topics is shallow. Inside one chapter I could find very interesting paragraphs and then a couple of pages of uninteresting (too shallow or repetition of something that was self evident or repetition) musings. The book would have benefited from more editing and condensation of ideas, as it seems the writer would have had more to say on many topics. This is why it's a shame that the expression is not more condensed and organized.

I would recommend the book as an introduction to many issues concerning modern web site design from a non-technical perspective. I didn't find many new things in the book, but found some inspiring thoughts or comments on existing sites. The problem was that due to the unevenness, there was no fast way of recognizing the less interesting material. But, it's a fast & easy read, so not too much time is lost on the boring parts. I felt i got some ideas & inspiration from it which is always nice.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

TR6zo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Designing for the Social Web (Paperback)

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.

11 of 11 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 "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Designing for the Social Web (Paperback)

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.