uber.la

Apr 29 2011

Let's Meet Up Somewhere Other than Facebook – alternative streams of connecting

Category: community building,design & user experience,social media,social media marketing,tech opinion,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 11:57 pm

[I wrote this in April 2011, long before we knew what Google was cooking up. But this is a nice recap of what we do and don't like about social media. And boy did Google+ step in and grab the brass ring. See more on the Google+ tab.]

picture 8 Lets Meet Up Somewhere Other than Facebook alternative streams of connecting

Facebook is failing us. But facebook is the best that we have. Damn. And Twitter is not really a good place to stay in touch.

So if we designed a meetup place online what would we keep and what would we ditch?

Keepers

Easy posting of multiple types of content
Easy following and organizing of friends and associates
Easy customization of our news feed page, how to see the data that's important to us
A way to coordinate action and meetups (like groups and events and causes all wrapped into one)
An easy way to repurpose our lifestream for others to subscribe to

Leavings

Advertising
Privacy invasion
Use of our demographic data to feed marketing
Owning our content, foreva!

So what can we do? Where can we go?

Keep using FB
Use Twitter, Instant Messaging, TXTs, Meetup.com, evite.com
Start our own blog, posterous page, ning community
Something else

Alternative community sites

LinkedIn (expanding beyond business talk)
Meetup.com (let's gather)
WordPress site (your name goes here)
Flikr (all about the image)
Pandora.com, blip.fm, last.fm (connecting via musical likes and dislikes)

What do we want to connect?

Consistant channel for communicating with friends and family
Checking-in (I'm here now, where are you, come find me here)
Leaving behind our lifestream of ideas, images, random thoughts, songs, connections with others
Making friends (friends finding friends of each other and becoming friends)
This song struck a chord in me, does it remind you of anything
Dating, or not-dating connections (this is what I'm into, do you like me?)
Building trust within our circles of influence, sharing that trust with others

My dream of a social future.

The tools are here. Major social platforms like SocialText, Teligent and Jive exist in the for-profit world of enterprise social media, but we need one of them, or possibly an emerging platform to make the tools available to build the next thing. Ning had a shot at it, but had to come to grips with the reality of charging for accounts.

So perhaps someone will cook up the next facebook. Maybe Google's brain power is going to deliver something of value, since Buzz and Wave were bombs. But I am hoping for a better connection. I'll use what we've got, and I'll use it as BIG as I can, BUT… we need something better, safer, faster and less ad/marketing driven. Don't you think?

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://uber.la/2011/04/lets-meet-up/

Additional posts of interest:

Reference:

TechCrunch: Nine Ways to Build Your Own Social Network

Tags: alternative community lifestream, blip.fm, building trust, circles of influence, communicating with friends, customization, demographic data, ditch, finding friends, instant messaging, leavings, likes and dislikes, meetups, news feed, online community, online trust, our social circle, pandora, privacy invasion, profit world, random thoughts, social connections, social graph, social network, teligent

Comments (4)

Apr 28 2011

When You Can't Beat the Competition, Well… Make Yours Look Like a Robot Dog

Category: design & user experience,just for fun,social media — jmacofearth @ 9:52 pm

In the WTF department, I have to ask… a large group of executives, a staff of engineers, and untold numbers of workers, came together to design this coffee maker. We're talking millions of dollars in marketing this "innovative" design. What do you think?

Who do you think had this brilliant idea and presented it to the team.

"Remember the Aibo? Everybody loved that thing. So, let's make ours look like that. Like a robot dog."

Lots of nodding heads. I guess the suggestion came from very high up, because if the emperor is wearing clothes in this picture, I don't see them.

Sure you can be losing your shirt to the Keurig and need to get a new groove on, but does any one think this think is cute? And even if you thought it was cute, would you pay over $100 for a dog-like coffee maker?

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://uber.la/2011/04/look-like-a-robot-dog/

Other things I think are funny or warped:

An earlier draft of this post:
So I'm stunned by the coffee that comes out of my Keurig. And I'm not the only one who's IN TO IT. Two of my coworkers have also bought a Keurig. Here's what this WINNER looks like in my local grocery store.

So you can imagine the other manufacturers are trying to get in on the game. But the designers at Nescafe came up with this…

Tags: dolche, keurig, looks like a dog, looks like a robot dog, nescafe, single shot coffee maker, who approved this design?, WTF department

Comments (1)

Apr 26 2011

Design for Design's Sake: Or Listening to Sales/Marketing Rather Than Your Customer

Category: dell,design & user experience,executive learnings,social media,tech opinion — jmacofearth @ 10:45 pm

The "design" I was trying to make a point about was the "design for design's sake" work that often ends up in poor functionality and a terrible user experience.

If you look at Apple's site for example, there is a lot of design involved.

APPLE: Count the number of controls in the top 20% of Apple's site. 9 options in the navigation ribbon, and four promotional boxes.

Now look at Dell's or HP's website disasters.

and

I do believe there are competent designers at those other companies. I've even met and worked with them. One of these companies embraces design as the wayfinding function. The other two companies add new navigation systems on top of old navigation systems until you can't really figure out where to begin your journey.

I am happy to see the Flash Intro has for the most part made it's exit except in entertainment and high-end advertising. But it seems to me that the corporate design groups need to be given leadership and teeth.

Companies try to follow Apple's design ideas for awhile, I remember when the Dell navigation ribbon became more Apple-like, but over time, the executive branches get back into the web-design or anti-design game. Sales wants BIGGER BUY NOW BUTTONS, and marketing wants BIGGER PRODUCT SHOT or FEATURES and BENEFITS BULLETS, and the dis-empowered corporate designer has to grin and bear it.

In the efficient communication platform of corporate America, and for most companies, the BLOG is the Website of today. And templates can handle 95% of the design required to make a beautiful blog. And from there the focus should be on the content.

And of course a blog format would not work for Dell's or HP's online store. But I think they would be well served to get closer to Apple's 9 navigation items and quit trying to please everyone. I'm not sayin their sales or market cap will approach Apple's but it sure would be easier to navigate their site and buy a computer. That's what they are really trying to do. But don't go to Dell dot com and try and figure out which computer to buy.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://uber.la/2011/04/design-for-your-customer/

Tags: communication platform, corporate america, creative design, dell's global online group, design by corporate input, design by corporate leadership, design groups, design ideas, eDell, efficient communication, executive branches, flash intro, game sales, global site design, input document, just strap on another navigation ribbon, navigation systems, simplified navigation, too many choices, too many controls, too many skus, too much navigation, user centered design