Designing Social Interfaces, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2. Social to the Core

The Web is more a social creation than a technical one. I designed it for a social effect—to help people work together—and not as a technical toy.

—TIM BERNERS-LEE, WEAVING THE WEB (1999)

IN HIS BOOK A Timeless Way of Building, Christopher Alexander explains the purpose of pattern languages in part by saying that they are about imbuing built spaces with “the quality without a name.” There is something, often ineffable, about some architectural spaces that make them inviting, warm, humane, comfortable, healthy, and alive. Analyzing these spaces can tell us that the seating area is built on a good scale or that the lighting helps foster small group conversations, but underlying these granular design decisions are some higher-order principles that can be applied across the board.

Metaphorically, online social spaces operate similarly. A well-designed sign-up flow will have a real, direct impact on whether people feel invited and encouraged to join and capable of doing so. That’s just one of many specific interfaces you will need to define for your product. Internalizing some higher-level principles first can help you make better design decisions as you get down to the details.

This is equally true if you are introducing social aspects to an existing product or working on making changes or extensions to an already-built and shipped product.

So, before delving deeply into all of the specific design decisions you’re going to make when creating a new product, it ...