Social Interaction Design

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Social Interaction Design (SxD) Site Audit

The site audit is a review of your web site or other social media service for social interaction and member participation. I look at how members are using your site, with an eye to opportunities and areas of improvement, and make recommendations and suggestions. Details, screen shots, and specs can be obtained from further engagement.

The audit is sketched below. Or download it: Brochure: social media audit nine page pdf)

Site objectives and goals

Social media are unique in that the value of their content is subject by user participation that is beyond the site's direct control. Individual user and audience engagement has to be fostered — and in a fashion that solicits the kinds of contributions from users that create value.

What are your site's objectives, and how well are they being met

What kind of activity do you wish to facilitate? Is it occurring?

What kind of value does your site provide?

What are the social barriers to participation on your site?

How well does in individual user experience match your stated goals for user and community participation?

Theme

Social media sites are thematic. They have a social purpose and thematic activity, such as: product reviews, job networking, dating, movie recommendations, restaurant reviews, video sharing, or what have you. That social purpose has to make sense to users on an individual basis while having a social application also.

Communicating your theme
Theme and motivation
Intended and actual social practices

Users will use your site according for their interests, regardless of whether or not they support and further the site's business. In extreme cases, an audience can hijack a social media service - changing or re-orienting audiences can result in a mutiny that may cost you your brand and user-base.

Seen from the user's perspective, your site's uses depend on what the site does, who's on it, and what they're doing. And all of that is shaped by your site's particular mix of profile pages, public communication, private messaging, balance of private and public, media formats, visibility of traffic, activity, use, member details, and much more. Users like to succeed, and are sensitive to where they succeed and how. And they will quickly read what's happening in any social medium on the basis of what others are doing - and not on the basis of what's in the fine print or home page copy.