11.24.2007

The mistake

I'm showing my Touch to one of my brothers in law and he plays around with it and then tells all about the Nokia similcrum that's waiting for him in a package at home. Yeah,it's bigger but it has all these other things you can add on. He seems to lose interest in my toy when I tell h that that's all there is, no addons in view. He isn't the same kind of user as me. He's buying devices. He has seven mp3 players that he sorts different types of content among. He's generous in accommodating design flaws. I'm not. My 16 year old played with the touch for a few minutes in a Starbucks and she understood the package immediately-- and somewhat offensively said that I wasnt really the target market (she was, she sez). Like iPod and iTunes from the start, the product is a designed experience. So, she sez, with that trademarked heavy-lidded incredulity, "They just made guesses?? They just guessed what people would want to do with it??! That is so random!"

But that is exactly it. Its a nice package of supremely confident guesses. And for me anyway so far all the guesses are correct.

So what's the mistake? It's in evaluating the objects in terms of technology rather than the integrated package of process and tool and use.

11.01.2007

Community Landscape

There's a confusion rolling around right now about the difference between a community (as a group distinguished by a shared interest) and the software that supports the current style of online community tools. Communities have made use of a wide variety of communications channels since the year dot. We're just adding to the channel options right now. And like the telephone, some of these tools and tricks are profoundly changing the behavior of communities. But I don't think they're changing what a community is.

I've been involved in online communities for more than 15 years now, since when your email address was a string of numbers (remember CompuServe?).

Anyone involved in a discipline requiring audience analysis and the analysis of communication channels develops a keen understanding of the attributes of a community.

Here are some examples of different styles of online communities for later discussion:
  • A forum for experts on hot button topics
  • A reference resource for specific types of business advice
  • A user group
  • A group of employees of a single company
  • A working group
  • A national sales organization, out in the field
  • A team of catastrophe adjusters in the field
  • The admins in a large company
  • Wine collectors
  • Yacht owners
  • Bentley owners
  • The members of a family trust
  • Usability experts

It's a mixed bag, but each has its distinct online channels.

Next: More on each and the difference and similarities.

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