What is interaction?
interaction – noun
- reciprocal action, effect, or influence
- Physics
- the direct effect that one kind of particle has on another, in particular, in inducing the emission or absorption of one particle by another
- the mathematical expression that specifies the nature and strength of this effect
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/interaction
What is "increasing user interaction"?
- Getting more people to visit a website (visitors)
- Getting more people to use web services more (clicks)
True interactivity is not about clicking on icons or downloading files, it's about encouraging communication.
Edwin Schlossberg, designer, author and artist
5 keys to increase user interaction
- Relevance
- Usability
- Personalisation
- Freedom
- Community
Key 1: Relevance
Key 1: Relevance - who and what
Questions to ask:
- Who are the target markets?
- What information do they want?
- What freedoms and constraints are there?
Key 1: Relevance - who and what
Questions to ask:
- What are the target markets?
- Existing customers
- Potential customers
- Media
- Partners
- Public
- What information do they want?
- Prices
- Product data
- Reports
- Statistics
- Personnel information
Key 1: Relevance - the future
It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.
Aesop
Key 2: Usability - design
Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like... It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
Steve Jobs, C.E.O. Apple
Key 2: Usability - simplicity
After all, usability really just means making sure that something works well; that a person of average (or even below average) ability and experience can use the thing - whether it's a Web site, a fighter jet, or a revolving door - for its intended purpose without getting hopelessly frustrated.
Steve Krug, author Don't make me think!
Key 2: Usability - simplicity
37Signals, Backpage page blank slate
Original version
Key 2: Usability - simplicity
37Signals, Backpage page blank slate
Revision 1
Key 2: Usability - simplicity
37Signals, Backpage page blank slate
Revision 2
Key 2: Usability - simplicity
37Signals, Backpage page blank slate
Final version
Key 2: Usability - success
Care about helping the user kick ass. Care about giving the user an "I Rule!" experience, rather than the default "I Suck" experience we usually get.
Kathy Sierra, O'Reilly Head First author
Key 2: Usability - standards
Writing websites in adherence to W3C web standards means:
- Accessibility
- Compatibility
- Integration
- Increased speed
- Easy maintenance
- Stability
Key 3: Personalisation
Key 3: Personalisation
I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.
Mahatma Gandhi
Key 3: Personalisation - security
- User authentication
- Context - group membership
- User rights
Key 3: Personalisation - customisation
Allow users to:
- Save favourite searches
- Filter results
- Create customised views
- Pick-and-mix their subscription options
- Choose layout themes
- Resume old sessions
- Review past actions
Key 4: Freedom
Key 4: Freedom
Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.
Albert Einstein
Key 4: Freedom - web services
Extensible markup language (XML)
- Subscribe - RSS, Atom
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<title>The Geek Times</title>
Key 4: Freedom - web services
Extensible markup language (XML)
- Subscribe - RSS, Atom
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<title>The Geek Times</title> - Use - SOAP, WSDL
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:SOAP-ENC="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" SOAP-ENV:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
Key 4: Freedom - APIs / "mashups"
Allow people to use the data in new ways
- Cross-reference different datasets
- Most popular products bought by my department in the last 12 months
- Number of users cross-referenced with time of day and which products were on special offers for last month
- Output many formats (PDF, Word, XML, CSV, HTML, Text)
- Link with other systems; desktop, web, mobile
Key 4: Freedom - APIs / "mashups"
Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.
A. J. Liebling
Key 5: Community
Key 5: Community
Interaction is:
reciprocal action, effect, or influence
Key 5: Community
Interaction is:
reciprocal action, effect, or influence
It takes two, baby, it takes two, baby
Me and you, just take two
It takes two, baby, it takes two, baby
To make a dream come true, just take two
Tina Turner
Key 5: Community - true interaction
Make every person a stakeholder
Key 5: Community - true interaction
Make every person a stakeholder
- Comments, feedback, testimonials
- Bulletin boards, forums
- Newsletters
- Popularity lists (top 10 reports)
- Blogs, news and announcements
- Wikis
- Members pages
Key 5: Community - true interaction
Make every person a stakeholder
- Members pages
- Create custom views, reports, datasets and features then share them
- Create custom databases and applications then share them
- Create customised versions of the website to roll out across a department or organisation
Thank you
