Psych your mind! IA and Social Computing Strategy (Oz-IA08)

Management & Technology

Psych your mind!Psych your mind!IAs and Social Computing StrategyIAs and Social Computing Strategy

Matthew HodgsonACT Regional-lead, Web and Information Managementg , gSMS Management & Technology

Oz-IA Sydney, September 2008

Why Cheers and not The Establishment?y

VSVS• Reputation by word of mouth • Reputation by corporate brandingReputation by word of mouth• No barriers to entry• Friendly community

p y p g• Gatekeepers• Impersonal and elitistFriendly community

• Open square bar design• Everybody knows your name

Impersonal and elitist• Private ‘nooks’• No one knows your nameEverybody knows your name No one knows your name

CHOICE Magazine = Cheers?g

• Trusted, honest, household name• Community builders• Friendly champion for consumer causesFriendly champion for consumer causes…but…G t k tiGatekeeper perception:• “I can get free information elsewhere”Online branding:• Can feel impersonal – content doesn’t Can feel impersonal content doesn t

speak with a ‘human voice’No one knows your name:No one knows your name:• Pay first in order to have a (member) relationship

Problems we all share

Fighting for relevance:• Search ranking – Google likes blogs but not my website• Competitors are interacting with users – e g CNET Competitors are interacting with users e.g. CNET,

Amazon, epinions.com – and improving their marketability and reputationand reputation

It’ lt f ki i th ‘ ld ’It’s as a result of working in the ‘old way’:• Corporate website just a reflection of printed media• Publishing processes are not responsive enough to users’

information and communications needs• Don’t know how to change

CHOICE – deciding to actg

We want:• Conversations of our own• 21st century brand21 century brand• Greater market share

K b d k • Keep members and make new ones

Implement a social computing strategy:• Understand how to interact with users with Web 2 0-style Understand how to interact with users with Web 2.0 style

tools and online communities• Create new website with new IA UXD CMS using • Create new website with new IA, UXD, CMS – using

tagging, comments, user reviews

Strategy, planning for social computinggy, p g p gForrester’s POST model for implementation

People:• Assess your audience social behaviourObjectives:Objectives:• Decide what you want to accomplishSt tStrategy:• Plan how relationships with audience will changeTechnology:• Gather requirements to decide what social technologies to useGather requirements to decide what social technologies to use

Source: Forrester, 2007

Forrester’s POST model

Benefits:• Simple

U t d th fi t t i t t h l b t • User-centred – the first step is not technology but understanding and involving people

Disadvantages:Disadvantages:• There’s more to people than overt behaviourp p• There’s more to social computing technology than

wikis or blogging softwarewikis or blogging software

OZ‐IA PISTmodelPsychology:

U d t d l ’ i l • Understand people’s social behaviour and thinking processes

.

Information Architecture:S f f ti l• Scope of functions, language,structure of information, and layout on the screen

.

Strategy:• Aims objectives and goals to build relationships online• Aims, objectives, and goals to build relationships online.

Technology:Technology:• What ‘bits’ to use for delivery?

1. Psychologyy gypeople’s thinking & behaviour

Our behaviour is controlled by needsy

Source: Wikipedia (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, 1943)

When it comes to online interaction…

• Certain needs drive our behaviour more than others

Source: M Hodgson, 2007

But what about the environment?

Personal + group = influence decisiong p

Source: M Hodgson, 2007

Decision isn’t instant – it takes time

Source: Transtheoretical Model of Change. Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992; Prochaska & Velicer, 1997

Assessing adoption thinking & behaviourg p g

Issue – CHOICE wanted to know:• Would members decide to use social computing tools?• Would increased interaction result in more members?Would increased interaction result in more members?• How to implement social computing tools successfully?

Solution – CHOICE did user research:• Thinking: benefits of CHOICE• Behaviour: experiences with CHOICE Behaviour: experiences with CHOICE • Relationships: benefits of membership, would perception

change if social computing tools were introduced?change if social computing tools were introduced?

Archetypes in traditional mediayp

Six archetypes of social computingyp p g

33%33%

19% 13%19%

15%19%

52%Source: Forrester Research, 2008

A look at member personasp

Born: ChicagoLives: BostonWife: VeraWife: VeraBest-friend: Cliff ClavinCareer: Accountant (soon to be unemployed)Social behaviour: Collector (jokes)(j )Membership attitudes: Trust

Born: BostonLives: Boston (with his mother)Wife: NoneBest-friend: Norm PetersonCareer: PostmanSocial behaviour: Critic (commenter)Member attitudes: Trust

Who do you trust?y

Source: Edelman, 2008

How do you build trust?y

Trust, membership and communities, p

During Preparation phase:g p p• Trust is a pre-requisite leading into Contemplation

I fl d i i t d t d j i• Influences decision to adopt and join

Build trust in online environments by:• Giving opportunities to interact – meeting ‘role’ needs• Establishing identity – ie. “he’s like me!”Establishing identity ie. he s like me!• Building reputation – consistency of content from

thauthors

But trust is not the end … I trust I trust them

I think like I interact with There’s still a final I think like them … but

I’m not

I interact with them … but I’m

not a

There s still a final decision to be made in the Contemplation

formally one of them

full memberin the Contemplation phase

Cognitive dissonanceg

I behave like a I behave like a member

…but I’m not a member

Cognitive dissonanceg

I must formalise myI must formalise myinvolvement and commit … or …

Actions for IAs

Generating cognitive dissonance is the key to the decision.

Promote identification:Sh b fil th lik !• Show member profiles – they are like me!

• Guest profiles – reinforce that they’re not a memberEncourage interaction prior to Contemplation stage:• Make it easy to interact – build reputationMake it easy to interact build reputationBuild trust:

R i f i t f t t & i t ti ti• Reinforce consistency of content & interaction over timeActing on Contemplation (behaviour):• Make it easy to join (or run away … unlike Facebook!)

2 Information2. Information ArchitectureArchitecture

ti th f t i t f creating the perfect environment for cognitive dissonanceg

Roles, content & interaction needs,

Our designs need to take account of:g• Roles & behaviour, language, information structure

and presentation influencing Contemplationand presentation influencing Contemplation• Creator – I want to make content• Joiner – I want to join a group

Critic I want to comment and trackback• Critic – I want to comment and trackback• Collector – I want lots of tags, lots of pagesg p g• Spectator – Just watching the action for now

I ti E ti th t t hil• Inactive – Entice them to stay a while

Facebook v MySpace – group‐dynamicsy p g p y• Facebook has quicker uptake – clearer group membership

Amazon – identification• I should buy what people like me buy!

What other What other people are

buying

What other people are

thinking

What other people are

doingdoing

What other lpeople are

saying

Ninemsn – meeting ‘Collector’ needsgWhat message does this say to

Sending it to

does this say to Joiners and Collectors?

Sending it to other people,

friends, communities

Flickr – meeting ‘Joiner’ needsgHe’s a Pro and

he ‘thinks’

Amateur

like me!

photographer

‘Professional’ photographer

= Joiner

Human interaction --

just click on myjust click on my image!

Toshiba – ‘Creator’ and ‘Critic’ needs

Why write a review when

there’s no community here to listen to what you have to say?

Where are h j ithe joiner

needs met?

Epinions – ‘Joiners’, ‘Creators’ and ‘C iti ’ d ‘S t t ’‘Critics’ and ‘Spectators’

No ‘corporate-line’, just people like me

An invitation to participate for p p

Joiners

Identity

Answering “What’s in it

for me”for me

CHOICE – Identification, ‘Critic’, and‘Collector’ needs‘Collector’ needsBuilding trust

What other people are g

with the author

saying

How people like to classify the

article

CHOICE – Identification, ‘Critic’ needs ,What other people are

sayingsaying

Id titIdentity: people who

think like me

CHOICE – Identification, ‘Critics’, ‘Collectors’ needs‘Collectors’ needs

What other people are

sayingsaying

Share with How other Share with other

people

people think about the

article

Share your thoughts with g

this community

IA reinforce relationshipsp

My blog page(s)

All my comments

Content page Profile page

My intersections with other

communitiesAll my articles

Personal profiles are criticalp

Benefits:Benefits:• Information is no longer faceless, anonymous

E t bli h dibilit d ti l t ti• Establishes credibility and articulate expertise• Builds trust – easier to trust people than a machinep p• Builds community – for members and non-members

Disadvantages:• Some authors would rather remain hidden (using a

ghost writer can avoid this though)g g )• Some chaos? – need good governance and rules

Actions for IAs

Widgetize everything! Big ideas, little components:g y g g , p

Thi ki i th thi ki f C iti J i t • Thinking: give the thinking of Critics, Joiners, etc, a predominant place in the interface

• Behaviour: promote interaction (prior to contemplation stage) between the user and others contemplation stage) between the user and others, between user and the content

• Relationships: show the relationships between users and users, users and content , and content , ,with like-content

3. Strategygyinside and outside the walls

Components of a strategyp gy

Aims:• Articulate what do we want to doG lGoals:• What’s the change we want to engender – thinking, g g g,

behaviour, and/or relationships?How will we do it how do we get there?• How will we do it, how do we get there?

• Over what time period?pObjectives:

H ill k h t th ?• How will we know when we get there?

CHOICE – Inside the walls

Aims:• Move from print to modern online model• Utilise social computing as a vehicle for organisational Utilise social computing as a vehicle for organisational

changeGoals: Goals: • Change in thinking – value ‘normal people’ (vs researcher)

i d treviews and comments• Behavioural change – changes to business processes• Relationship change – start to generate ‘conversations’ with

external audiences

CHOICE – acting on the strategyg gy

COMMUNICUNICATION

NICATIONCOMMUN CHOICE Staff

CA

TIO

N

Website userMagazinereader

CO

MM

UN

ICCOMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

Consumer

Wh l M d lCh i M d l Wheel ModelChain Model

CHOICE – acting on the strategy (cont)g gy ( )

Content creation: • Governance model - move to decentralised

St li t b ttl k d i f ti • Streamline to remove bottlenecks and information gatekeepers

Blog internally: Get people used to what will happen externally• Get people used to what will happen externally

Build online communities: • Experiment with YouTube and Flickr accounts for

projectsprojects

CHOICE – Outside the walls

Aims:• Improve face of online businessAff t h i thi kiAffect a change in thinking:• CHOICE as a relevant 21st century brandyBehavioural change in users:• Active interaction with CHOICE, rather than passiveRelationship change:Relationship change:• Community building• Personal one-to-one communications

Putting IA into the strategyg gy

Requires us to identify how we’re going to change:q y g g g• Thinking: identification, to join (or not to join)

B h i j i t ll t t• Behaviour: join, create, collect, comment• Relationships: create between individuals and with p

groups, associations, identifying ‘friends’.

In order to meet:P l i l d• Personal social needs

• Group social needs – social cohesion and normsp

Strategy results – objectives to aim forgy j

Traffic:Traffic:• 50% of blogs generate 75% web traffic for corporate

sitesMedia exposure:Media exposure:• 59% of blogs generate journalist contact• 53% of journalist contacts become journalist

publicationsp

Source: Backbone Media, 2005

4. Technologygylet there be widgety-things!

Web technology has maturedgy

• Web is no longer a reflection of print counterpartg p p• Barrier to end-user participation has dropped (again)

W ’ t t h l• We’ve got new technology:– Web 2.0 frameworks– Blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, social messaging and

more!more!• Old technology:

N tti th i l ti t ff i th l !– Now putting the social computing stuff in there also!• Enabler of human interaction:

– Some people will use this tool, but some won’t

Web 2.0 framework

Source: www.futureexploration.net

Actions for IAs

Think broader:Think broader:• Social computing strategy technology ≠ wikis,

blogs Twitter etcblogs, Twitter, etcThink deeper:• More lower-level than off-the-shelf software• Web apps that deliver the IA widgetsWeb apps that deliver the IA widgetsTechnology alignment:

M t h h l IA d t t ith th i ht • Match psychology, IA and strategy with the right technology components

Conclusionswhere do we go from here…?

Social computing strategiesp g g

Only truly effective if:y y• Take account of people’s behaviour and thinkingU th f t tUses these factors to:• Determine aims, goals and strategy – plan on how it , g gy p

all evolves from pre-contemplation into actionInfluence thinking behaviour and relationships • Influence thinking, behaviour and relationships –decisions to adopt social computing tools, interact with other people on our websites

• Help manage internal and external changeHelp manage internal and external change

Its more than radical trust & wikis

Psychology:y gy• Know the psychology of trust – thinking and behaviour• Understand the power of cognitive dissonancep gIA:• Align widget-style components with persona/role interaction g g y p p

needsStrategy:• Determine aims, goals and strategy – plan on how it all

evolves from pre-contemplation into actionT h lTechnology:• The right tool for the right job – not just throwing-up blogs

and wikisand wikis

Take home messagesg

To architect great online environments:To architect great online environments:• Be strategic – think and act PIST• Leverage psychology theory and IA best-practice• Use personas to understand and articulate roles’ • Use personas to understand and articulate roles

interaction preferences, thinking and behaviour• Create Opera Houses that are more than just Opera

Houses

The ultimate goal …g

Online since 2008

www.cheers.com

Management & Technology

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Management & Technology

Psych your mind!Psych your mind!IAs and Social Computing Strategy

Management & Technology

Matthew HodgsonACT Regional-lead, Web and Information ManagementACT Regional lead, Web and Information Management

SMS Management & Technology

Blog: magia3e.wordpress.comg g pTwitter: magia3e

Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/magia3eSlideshare: www.slideshare.net/magia3e

Email: [email protected]: [email protected]: 0404 006695