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A Notion of Social Taste

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Xianhang Zhang

The document discusses the differences between designing social software versus non-social software. It notes that the primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something, rather than just getting a task done like with non-social software. The document advocates that social software must be studied in the context of actual user behavior and social implications, rather than just focusing on the interaction design. It also discusses several social theories that could help guide social design, such as theory of mind, cognitive limits on group sizes, and how people present themselves differently depending on context.

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Xianhang Zhang
The biggest influence on the design process is whether the software you are building is social in nature or not. And we as a design community have not yet come to realize this.
The primary goal with non-social software is to get something done We are primarily concerned with issues of usability and efficiency I want to make an attractive image I want to produce a good report
The primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something Im a cool guy who does cool things with my cool friends
The primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something I want you to know I just graduated
The primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Traditional HCI is concerned with the relationship between the person and the computer: Interaction
Social software must view the machine as a conduit for communication Communication If youre only focusing on the Interaction Design, youre only solving a minor part of the problem Interaction Interaction
Social software is a conduit for conducting social relationships But it is not the only conduit Every conduit has a set of policies For social software, the policies are enforced by code But other policies exist as well, enforced in other ways
A Notion of Social Taste
Social software must be studied in the context of use Testing Social Design early is very difficult Bringing users into a lab doesnt work Healthy policy can only come about through good design Social software is alive The slate cant be wiped clean and restarted If you make a mistake, youll have to live with it
There is a wide disparity in technical skills which makes interface design very tricky Luckily, there is a much narrower disparity in social intelligence There is potential for cognitively complex social tools if this intelligence is leveraged correctly
Social Design Theory of Mind Implicatures Structure of Spaces Dunbars Number Self Presentation Social Capital
A Notion of Social Taste
Maxim of Quality Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. Maxim of Quantity Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. Maxim of Relation Be relevant. Maxim of Manner Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be brief. Be orderly.
We generally tend to follow these maxims Resolving conflicts with implicatures She has a great personality What we could have said but didnt is important to interpreting meaning
Receiving a friend request from someone you dont consider a friend can be highly awkward Reject? Accept? Ignore? Some solutions Ive seen: Ignore the request for over a year Declare youve forgotten your password and create a brand new profile (MySpace) Is this a problem that can be fixed with design?
Click Add as Friend Reject Ignore
Rejecting a friend request is awkward because it requires an action If I reject, I know that you can see that I rejected you I know that youll try and figure out why I would reject you (implicature) I know you know that I know a rejection is an implicature
Click Add as Friend Ignore Reject Click Add as Friend Click Add as Friend A friend request has been sent to John Fox.
I know that you cant know whether Ive rejected you I know that if you try and find out, you risk sending me another friend request I know getting another friend request would be an implicature I know you know me getting a friend request would be an implicature Therefore, I feel safe rejecting the friend request
We behave according to our Theory of Mind models We can use Theory of Mind to predict the social implications of our design Social Design is not modular and decomposable Features affect the implications of other features
Cognitive limits on size of social groupings Derived from empirical correlations of neo-cortex size in animals Limit is ~12 people Limit is ~150 people Other limits exist at higher scales
We behave differently at different scales Social mechanisms are not scalable Different social mechanisms are most effective at different scales Multiple scales can reside in the same software (cliques) Designing for multiple scales is a difficult problem
1920: Modernist Urban Planning the elimination of disorder, congestion and the small scale, replacing them instead with preplanned and widely spaced freeways and tower blocks set within gardens. Abstract, ideal notions of the usage of space 1960: New Urbanism Reaction against the hubris of modernism Designers were studying how people actually use space
A Notion of Social Taste
A Notion of Social Taste
What insights can we borrow? Spaces need to be watched and maintained Use signals & decorations to convey the purpose of a space Highlight, not hide pathological behaviors What techniques can we borrow? Study actual use, not imagined use Decompose complex structures into patterns
A Notion of Social Taste
Project on rethinking privacy and access control Access is granted based on the ability to answer a question eg: What is my favorite place to go rock climbing Previous privacy settings were always at a per user basis, but this is not how people behave Currently in development, preliminary beta due Sept
We have multiple facets of our personality Which facets are expressed depends on the audience and the context Mixing facets causes tension and anxiety
Origins in 1970s Sociological theory One of the major non-economic forms of capital Analogous to reputation in online communities Largely tacit
Reputation Systems
Googles social networking site. Incredibly popular in Brazil and India Why?
Social Capital can be an enormously powerful social tool Not just reputation systems Huge implications for Enterprise 2.0
Social Design has been sadly ignored by the HCI community We need to establish it as a separate discipline from Interaction Design Social Design is hard in many ways We can get a big head start by borrowing theories from other fields Empirical validation will be tricky Developing a field of Social Design is an urgent priority, this is too important to wait!

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A Notion of Social Taste

  • 2. The biggest influence on the design process is whether the software you are building is social in nature or not. And we as a design community have not yet come to realize this.
  • 3. The primary goal with non-social software is to get something done We are primarily concerned with issues of usability and efficiency I want to make an attractive image I want to produce a good report
  • 4. The primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something Im a cool guy who does cool things with my cool friends
  • 5. The primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something I want you to know I just graduated
  • 6. The primary goal of social software is to convince someone of something ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
  • 7. Traditional HCI is concerned with the relationship between the person and the computer: Interaction
  • 8. Social software must view the machine as a conduit for communication Communication If youre only focusing on the Interaction Design, youre only solving a minor part of the problem Interaction Interaction
  • 9. Social software is a conduit for conducting social relationships But it is not the only conduit Every conduit has a set of policies For social software, the policies are enforced by code But other policies exist as well, enforced in other ways
  • 11. Social software must be studied in the context of use Testing Social Design early is very difficult Bringing users into a lab doesnt work Healthy policy can only come about through good design Social software is alive The slate cant be wiped clean and restarted If you make a mistake, youll have to live with it
  • 12. There is a wide disparity in technical skills which makes interface design very tricky Luckily, there is a much narrower disparity in social intelligence There is potential for cognitively complex social tools if this intelligence is leveraged correctly
  • 13. Social Design Theory of Mind Implicatures Structure of Spaces Dunbars Number Self Presentation Social Capital
  • 15. Maxim of Quality Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. Maxim of Quantity Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required. Maxim of Relation Be relevant. Maxim of Manner Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be brief. Be orderly.
  • 16. We generally tend to follow these maxims Resolving conflicts with implicatures She has a great personality What we could have said but didnt is important to interpreting meaning
  • 17. Receiving a friend request from someone you dont consider a friend can be highly awkward Reject? Accept? Ignore? Some solutions Ive seen: Ignore the request for over a year Declare youve forgotten your password and create a brand new profile (MySpace) Is this a problem that can be fixed with design?
  • 18. Click Add as Friend Reject Ignore
  • 19. Rejecting a friend request is awkward because it requires an action If I reject, I know that you can see that I rejected you I know that youll try and figure out why I would reject you (implicature) I know you know that I know a rejection is an implicature
  • 20. Click Add as Friend Ignore Reject Click Add as Friend Click Add as Friend A friend request has been sent to John Fox.
  • 21. I know that you cant know whether Ive rejected you I know that if you try and find out, you risk sending me another friend request I know getting another friend request would be an implicature I know you know me getting a friend request would be an implicature Therefore, I feel safe rejecting the friend request
  • 22. We behave according to our Theory of Mind models We can use Theory of Mind to predict the social implications of our design Social Design is not modular and decomposable Features affect the implications of other features
  • 23. Cognitive limits on size of social groupings Derived from empirical correlations of neo-cortex size in animals Limit is ~12 people Limit is ~150 people Other limits exist at higher scales
  • 24. We behave differently at different scales Social mechanisms are not scalable Different social mechanisms are most effective at different scales Multiple scales can reside in the same software (cliques) Designing for multiple scales is a difficult problem
  • 25. 1920: Modernist Urban Planning the elimination of disorder, congestion and the small scale, replacing them instead with preplanned and widely spaced freeways and tower blocks set within gardens. Abstract, ideal notions of the usage of space 1960: New Urbanism Reaction against the hubris of modernism Designers were studying how people actually use space
  • 28. What insights can we borrow? Spaces need to be watched and maintained Use signals & decorations to convey the purpose of a space Highlight, not hide pathological behaviors What techniques can we borrow? Study actual use, not imagined use Decompose complex structures into patterns
  • 30. Project on rethinking privacy and access control Access is granted based on the ability to answer a question eg: What is my favorite place to go rock climbing Previous privacy settings were always at a per user basis, but this is not how people behave Currently in development, preliminary beta due Sept
  • 31. We have multiple facets of our personality Which facets are expressed depends on the audience and the context Mixing facets causes tension and anxiety
  • 32. Origins in 1970s Sociological theory One of the major non-economic forms of capital Analogous to reputation in online communities Largely tacit
  • 34. Googles social networking site. Incredibly popular in Brazil and India Why?
  • 35. Social Capital can be an enormously powerful social tool Not just reputation systems Huge implications for Enterprise 2.0
  • 36. Social Design has been sadly ignored by the HCI community We need to establish it as a separate discipline from Interaction Design Social Design is hard in many ways We can get a big head start by borrowing theories from other fields Empirical validation will be tricky Developing a field of Social Design is an urgent priority, this is too important to wait!

Editor's Notes

  • #2: Want to talk a bit about my work studying social software and how do we establish a design methedology for social software