About Adrian Chan

Adrian Chan is a leading thinker of social media and social software design, a field he has coined "social interaction design." He consults to Web 2.0 companies as well as those seeking to implement social media strategies steering clients towards execution that satisfies their business and marketing interests.

His social interaction design approach combines tried-and-tested design methodologies with social theory applied to the world of online interaction and communication. His aim is to facilitate a critical understanding of what might be called the "social interface," where individual user practices become the social practices that bring a site or service to life. His approach seeks to account for the consequences of collective and community use, be they intended or unintended. Using social theory and psychology to better understand user motives and interests, his approach to social media is rare in its accounting ofr multiple user types and personalities, as well as for its broad range of use cases.

Adrian is a keen observer of social interactions (online and off) and a long-time student of the psychological and social dimensions of social action and communication.

Adrian started work as a content producer for educational and entertainment CDRom projects in 1993, writing and designing for companies such as Scholastic, PBS, and Sony. Like many others in the multimedia industry at the time, he migrated to web development around 1995. In the past couple years, Adrian has combined his two interests — communication and technology — by focusing on social media and web 2.0. Social Interaction Design (SxD) is a term he has coined to suit the particular design needs and interests of technologies of communication, especially social media.

Adrian was a co-owner of the San Francisco Bay Matchmaker dating site in 1998, and has since been an active user of many social media sites. He blogs on social media, film, and occasionally posts cultural commentaries on current events. He is deeply interested in global issues, was a blogger for the P2P Foundation, and participates often in Bay Area social media events. Over the years he has participated in a number of start-ups, and makes his living consulting to social media companies large and small. Most of his clients come to him seeking design and content improvements for better adoption and community participation.

Adrian has a personal interest in the application of theoretical fields to socio-technical products and services, and continues to read and study in a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, communication theory, media theory, and contemporary philosophy. Adrian is a regular participant in the Philosophical Reading Group at Stanford (hosted by Sepp Gumbrecht and Robert Harrison). He lives in San Francisco.

View Adrian Chan's current resume (pdf)

Adrian Chan graduated from Stanford University with honors in 1988. His interests include film, music, post-structuralism, linguistics, semiotics, communication theory, continental sociology, but also snowboarding, backpacking, rock-climbing, and scuba-diving.